Southern New Year's Day Soup

Here in the South, you're supposed to have collard greens and black eyed peas on New Year's Day to ensure wealth and health throughout the new year. It's scientific, so you have to do it. This year, I combined Alton Brown's Christmas Soup and a recipe I have from a local bar owner, and I made my own! Bear with me, as this is the first recipe I've ever "written".

This is the equipment you'll need-- a sharp knife, a cutting board, and large pot. The mortar and pestel is totally optional; I just wanted to use my new kitchen gadgets!

Here we have: two large onion, chicken bullion cubes, two pounds of Conecuh County sausage (If you can get it where you are, DO IT! It's made in Conecuh County, AL, and it's phenomenal.), black eyed peas, one head of garlic, a bunch of parsley, one beer, two pounds of small red potatoes, apple cider vinegar (with the mother), red wine vinegar, and collard greens.

First, chop up the sausage. If you can't get Conecuh, any link sausage will work. I cut mine on the smaller side so that it would go further.

                                       
Now, you need to brown the sausage.

At the same time, start cooking the black eyed peas. Put them in a pot with enough water to cover them. They need to boil for twenty minutes. DO NOT SALT THEM YET.

 Take the sausage out, and drain it once it's browned.

Add the onions to the same pot you cooked the sausage in. Be sure to scrape all the yummy sausage bits off the bottom of the pan.

 Cook until they're translucent.

Once your onions are cooked, boil nine cups of water and add ten chicken bullion cubes. You can use chicken broth, also, but I was using what I had on hand. If you've made your own broth, it will be even more delicious.

If you want to, you can grind the garlic with your mortar and pestle. I only did it this way because I wanted to use mine. By no means should you go out and buy one if you're without.

 Now take your red potatoes, and cut them into little bite sized chunks.

 Chop a handful of parsley.

I used about nine ounces of collard greens. You can use more or less depending on how much you want in your soup. Make sure you rinse them off!

These are the vinegars I used. Pour a half cup of each into the soup as soon as possible, along with the beer! I used Budweiser, but any full flavored brew would work. Next time, I'm going to try an IPA!

Once you've done all your chopping, add everything to the bowl except the sausage, and cook it for about two hours to let all the delicious flavors marry. About an hour before you serve, add the sausage back to the pot.

Serve yourself some of the delicious soup you've slaved over, and enjoy! If you want to be truly Southern, make yourself some cornbread to throw in.

The cornbread recipe I use will follow soon!

It gets better the longer it sits, but if you still have some after about four days, just take the rest and freeze it for later!

Ingredients:

9 cups of boiling water

10 chicken bullion cubes

2 pounds of Conecuh sausage

24 oz black eyed peas

2 large onions

1 head of garlic

4 tablespoons of parsley

2 pounds of small red potatoes

1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup of red wine vinegar

1 Budweiser

6 oz collard greens

Boil 9 cups of water-- add 10 chicken bullion cubes and let dissolve

chop Conecuh sausage and cook for about 15 minutes on medium heat

boil black eyed peas in UNSALTED water for 20 minutes

take sausage off, and drain on paper towel covered plate

add the onion and garlic to the pot-- cook about ten minutes or until translucent

scrape the bottom to get all the sausage goodness 

take black eyed peas off, drain and set aside

add the 9 cups of chicken broth to the pot

add the red potatoes, making sure you cook them until they're tender

add the beer

add the black eyed peas and collard greens

add the red wine and apple cider vinegars

cook for about to hours

add sausage to pot and cook another hour

while it's cooking, make your favorite cornbread