This is the traditional Southern dish to eat on New Year's Day with greens and cornbread.

Serves six

1 cup small dried beans, such as cowpeas or black-eyes

5 to 6 cups water

1 dried hot pepper, optional

1 smoked ham hock

1 medium onion, chopped, about 3/4 cup

1 cup long-grain white rice

Wash and sort the peas. Place them in a saucepan, add water and discard any peas that float. Gently boil peas with pepper, ham hock and onion, uncovered, until tender but not mushy — about 1 ½ hours or until 2 cups liquid remains.

Add rice to the pot, cover and simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes, never lifting the lid. Remove from heat and allow to steam, still covered, for another 10 minutes. Remove the lid, fluff with a fork, and serve immediately.

From "Hoppin' John's Lowcountry Cooking: Recipes and Ruminations from Charleston and the Carolina Coastal Plain," by John Martin Taylor (2012, University of North Carolina Press).