New twists to traditional favorites

By JENNIFER BIGGS

In Spain and Mexico, the New Year’s tradition is to eat 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight as the New Year dawns. In the Philippines, food stays on the table from the old year to the new to ensure a plentiful table all year.

In Japan, it’s soba noodles for a long life. In the South, for luck and money, it’s black-eyed peas and greens on New Year’s Day.

And don’t forget the cornbread, which by some accounts stands for love in the coming year.

This year, though, why not try something new and give your meal a Southwestern twist with refried black-eyed peas and spicy turnip greens?

Mike Klank, who owns Taqueria del Sol in Atlanta, has successfully combined South with Southwest for years.

“The turnip green recipe we do is a great one, and it was pure luck, I tell you,” he said.

His business partner is Eddie Hernandez, originally from Mexico, who started out as a cook for Klank.

“One day a guy brought in a whole bunch of greens and asked us to cook them and Eddie looked at me and said, ‘Mike, what the hell do I do with these?”’

A few years ago, John T. Edge of the Southern Foodways Alliance asked Klank if he had ever made refried black-eyed peas.

“I said ’No, but I guess we will. It sounds pretty good to me,”’ Klank said.

REFRIED BLACK-EYED PEAS

1 pound dried black-eyed peas

1 tomato

1 jalapeno

1‚Ñ4 medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic

8 ounces dry chorizo, diced

1‚Ñ2 cup oil

Salt, to taste

Cook peas in water until done and drain. Roast tomato and jalapeno in oven, rub with a little oil to soften, then puree in blender and set aside.

Saute onion, garlic, and chorizo in oil until soft.

Add cooked peas and tomato-jalapeno puree; cook until peas start to soften and break down (you can mash them). Add salt to taste.

Source: Mike Klank and Eddie Hernandez, Taqueria del Sol

EDDIE’S TURNIP GREENS

6 cups cleaned, cooked and chopped turnip greens

1 cup chopped onions

1‚Ñ2 cup chopped garlic

1 tablespoon ground chile de arbol

6 ounces margarine

11‚Ñ2 cups diced tomatoes

3 cups chicken stock

Salt, to taste

In a saucepan saut onions, garlic and chile de arbol with margarine until onions are translucent. Add tomatoes and cook 5 minutes. Add cooked greens and chicken stock, bring to a boil, boil for 5 minutes then lower flame and simmer for 15 minutes. Add salt to taste.

Source: Eddie Hernandez, Taqueria del Sol

JANE’S TEXAS VIA VERMONT MEXICAN CORNBREAD

Vegetable oil cooking spray

11‚Ñ2 cups stone-ground yellow cornmeal

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1‚Ñ2 teaspoon baking soda

1‚Ñ3 cup plus 1 tablespoon. mild vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1 small onion, diced

1 cup canned creamed corn

2 to 3 fresh jalapenos, diced

1 cup (4 ounces) grated Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray an 11-by-15 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Put the cornmeal in a medium bowl and sift the salt, baking powder and baking soda into it. Stir well.

Whisk together the 1‚Ñ3 cup oil, eggs and buttermilk in a large glass measuring cup. Place the remaining tablespoon of oil in the prepared pan and place the pan in the oven. Have the remaining ingredients prepped and ready to roll.

Combine wet and dry ingredients, stirring with a fork to get rid of lumps, but don’t overbeat. The batter will be a little thinner than some cornbreads.

Quickly stir in the onion, creamed corn, jalapenos and cheese. Remove the hot pan from the oven and transfer the batter to it, then return to oven. Bake until golden and crusty around the edges, 20 to 22 minutes. Makes 12 squares.

Source: “The Cornbread Gospels,” Crescent Dragonwagon