Great New Year's Day recipe

As you might have already guessed, I love the idea of themed and holiday food, so I was thrilled when my experiment this year with a black-eyed peas recipe turned out to be something I could feed my family for more than just New Year's Day. Assuming I'm still blogging come the end of the year, I'll try to repost this for your own New Year's 2008 celebrations.

The original idea was Hoppin' John, but I've never seen or eaten what I take to be traditional recipes, so I think it wouldn't be fair to call it that. Let's just call it

Hoppin' JaneAnne

1/2 lb good bacon
1 T olive oil

Cut the bacon crosswise into 3/8-inch pieces. Saute over medium heat until the fat is rendered and it's starting to crisp. Pour through a strainer over a Pyrex measuring cup and set aside.

1 med onion, chopped (I used the Cuisinart)
2 C loosely packed, coarsely chopped (1-in pieces at smallest) greens (I used 5 leaves, with stems, of rainbow chard, but just about anything would work)
salt and pepper

Add 1 T or so of reserved bacon grease back into pan (I used a 12-inch nonstick frying pan, but I think I would have used a risotto pan if I had one). When it is hot, add the onion. When it is just becoming translucent (longer if you are using a more delicate green), add greens and a little salt and pepper. Saute until greens are wilted and tender, then set aside (I pulled out the stems so I could cook them with the other ingredients since they were still crunchy).

1-1 1/2 C arborio rice
salt and pepper
1/2 C white wine
4-6 C chicken broth, preferably unsalted
2 C butternut squash, cut into 3/4-in cubes (about 1/2 of a medium-large squash)
1 can plain black-eyed peas, drained

Add a little bacon grease to the pan, then add the rice and a little more salt and pepper. Saute until the rice is starting to toast and become translucent, then add the wine. After the wine has been absorbed, add the reserved bacon, the squash, (reserved chard stems) and broth to cover (about a quart in my pan--lots more than I would normally add at a time when cooking a risotto, but I needed to cover the squash so it would cook at the same pace as the rice). Adjust heat so mixture cooks at a gentle simmer (so more of the liquid is absorbed than boils away), stirring occasionally and adding broth as necessary until rice and squash are tender.

Stir in reserved greens and onion mixture and black eyed peas, adjust seasonings and serve.

One thing I had planned to include in this recipe was a little chopped celery, which I would have sauteed with the onions and greens at the beginning. It was great without it, however. Kind of like a risotto (which Number One loves), but without the cheese (Number Two is allergic to cow's milk). Sorry there aren't any pictures!