Black-eyed Peas for Good Luck this New Year!

It's a tradition in my family to eat black-eyed peas with white rice on New Year's Day so you will have good luck all year long.  So here's the recipe :

Black-eyed Peas

1 1/2 cups dried black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed

1 smoked meaty ham hock (I used the left over bone from the Christmas ham)

1 small onion

1 small carrot, peeled

1 leafy celery top

1 bay leaf

1 clove garlic, peeled

6 cups water

Bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer, covered, until the peas are tender, about 45 minutes.  Drain, reserving about 1 cup of the cooking liquid.  Discard the bay leaf and celery.  Return the peas to the pot along with the reserved cooking liquid.  Shred the meat from the ham hock and add the meat to the peas.  Cut the carrot into 1/2 inch chunks and add to the peas.  Stir in 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over  white rice.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!