Turnip Greens

Turnip greens are real Southern food.

And us Cajuns are also Southerners, so it’s no wonder we like our turnip greens.

No Cajun recipe collection would be complete without this southern cooking recipe.

You rarely see this great vegetable in restaurants, although some Southern based cafeterias like Piccadilly serve them. You can also get turnip greens on the plate lunches at Reeves grocery store in Baton Rouge.

Turnip greens are pretty much something you get at home, or don’t get at all.

How to Cook Turnip Greens

Ingredients needed to make Turnip Greens

1-2 bunches of turnip greens (washed in salty water, rinsed well and chopped)
2 medium-large size turnip roots (peeled and diced)
Seasoning ham or smoked pork sausage
4-6 cups vegetable or chicken stock
Cajun Trinity (3 cups of onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic)
Salt and Cajun seasoning (1 teaspoon each)

Cooking Directions

Prepare all your ingredients in order to easily put together.

Using fresh turnip greens, soak the greens in salted water.

You will need to rinse and soak again a few times to make sure all the grit is removed.

Chop into small bite-size pieces.

(Hint: we found a 2 lb pre-washed pack at the supermarket – ready to go turnip greens.)

Cook your bacon, ham, or sausage in a skillet.

Drain, cut-up and set aside.

Turnip roots – peel the thick outer skin.

Cut-up into diced bite-size pieces.

Chop your onions, bell pepper, celery and garlic.

(Or, you can use frozen “season blend”)

Ready to Cook:

Begin by pouring 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or fat from the seasoning meat in a stock pot.

Saute the Cajun Trinity (or “season blend”) for 5 minutes.

Pour in 4-6 cups stock.

Add diced turnip roots.

Bring to a boil.

Cook for 15 minutes.

Add the turnip greens, seasoning meat, salt and Cajun seasoning.

Cover and lower the heat to medium #4.

Cook for 45 minutes.

Serve in a bowl with a good hot biscuit or cornbread for dipping the “pot licker”.

P.S. – If you have a question or comment about this recipe
(or any other recipe) please post your question or comment
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recipe.

Hoppin’ John

I was born and raised in Louisiana Cajun cooking country, and my husband is a “cracker” from north Florida transplanted to Cajun country, and neither of us had ever heard of Hoppin John when a subscriber of our Cajun recipes emailed us and asked us to make it and publish it on our Cajun Cooking blog.

So, not wanting to disappoint a loyal reader, I went to Google to see just what in the world Hoppin’ John was.

Black eyed peas is what I found out, laugh out loud.

We call Hoppin’ John black-eyed peas around here, and sure I know how to cook black-eyed peas!

We’ve since asked around, and found that plenty of our friends and relatives knew what Hoppin’ John was, they just didn’t call it that.

Hoppin’ John is more of a “low country” of South Carolina and Georgia southern food term than a Cajun recipe term.

Anyway, I may be prejudiced, but I do think we make Hoppin” John, or black eyed peas, whichever you prefer to call it, pretty darn good.

So, here’s our Hoppin’ John recipe, hope you enjoy it.

Hoppin John Ingredients

1 (1 pound) package dry or frozen black eyed peas

Seasoning meat like ham, thick bacon or sausage – cooked

1 medium diced onion (1 cup)
1 bell pepper (1 cup)
3 stalks diced celery
1 jalapeno (diced & no seeds)
1 (10 ounce) can Rotel tomatoes
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning (like Tony’s)
1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
4-6 cups stock (vegetable or chicken)
Chopped green onions for garnish
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 cups cooked long grain white rice (1 cup rice, 2 cups water, 20 minutes on low heat)

Putting it all together…

The night before cooking Hoppin John, soak the dry black eyed peas in a bowl of water.

Cover and set aside until you are ready to cook.

Then drain the peas in a colander.

Prepare all of your ingredients – chopping, dicing and measuring.

In a 6 quart pot, heat the 2 tablespoons of canola oil on medium high heat (#6).

Saute the onion, bell pepper, garlic and celery.

Add the 4-6 cups vegetable or chicken stock.

Add the Rotel tomatoes, seasonings, jalapeno, black eye peas, and cut up seasoning meat.

(We slowly cooked 3 links of sausage on the grill the night before. You can also saute in a skillet.)

Make sure the mixture is covered with water.

Add water if needed.

Bring to a boil.

Cover and lower the heat to medium low (#3).

Simmer for 1 1/2 hours stirring occasionally.

In the last 1/2 hour, cook the rice according to package directions.

About ready to serve – spoon out a couple spoonfuls of black eye peas in a bowl.

Smash with a fork. (This will act as a thickener for the Black Eye Peas gravy.)

Pour back in the pot and stir.

Spoon out some rice in a deep bowl.

Ladle on the Hoppin John and ENJOY!

This is a great dish for New Years Day or anytime of year.

What a great comfort food.

Also see our recipe for Turnip Greens that we cooked the same night.

Here is another recipe for black-eyed peas the way Mike cooks them –

https://www.cajuncookingtv.com/black-eyed-peas-recipe

Hope you enjoy!

Beryl

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