WHERE has his been all my life? pR0n, PrOn, and more pR0N!

Very first thing, I MUST tip my hat to Cowgirl! Thank you, thank you, thank you, and again thank you. This was off the hook, incredible.

This was inspired by the following threads, with Cowgirls permission, of course;

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]http://cowgirlscountry.blogspot.com/2009/01/cornish-hens-on-drum-smoker.html[/FONT]

[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]http://cowgirlscountry.blogspot.com/2008/08/hoppin-john-campfire-style.html[/FONT][FONT=&quot])[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]I'd never even heard of "Hoppin John" until seeing it here a few months back. Even then I didn't give it a whole lotta thought, but then I decided to make it as part of the "Make it Like Cowgirl" throwdown. And the game hen..........WOW! I used a different brine and seasoning, but it was fantastic![/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]Okay here is the cook. Fist of all, I don't have a tractor rim to build a fire in, nor do I have a UDS, so I had to improvise using my Smokey Joe and Weber Kettle;[/FONT]


Here are the fixin's for the game hens. I wanted to use my newly aquired "Chicken Soak" from Kosmo's Q, and also the "Dirty Bird" rub. And the sausage was to be thin sliced and slipped under the skin (great idea!);

And then the fixin's for the Hoppin John. I cooked the black eyed peas earlier, and reserved the broth for this.;

The hens in the "bath";


I let these soak for 4 hours, then rinsed, dried, slipped the sausage under the skin, buttered and seasoned;

Fired up my "tractor rim" substitution cookers;

Put the hens on with a little cherry wood for smoke;

Then I got the Hoppin John going as well;
Cooked up the bacon to get it nice and crispy, then added the vegies;

Saute`d those for a few minutes;


Added the broth and the rice, and then covered;

I let that simmer for 10-15 minutes, then added the black-eyed peas at the end to get everything hot. The Game hens finished first, cooked to an IT of 150-160, and then covered while the Hoppin John finished, maybe 5-10 minutes later;




Somewhere in there, I managed to get these in the oven;

I'd never had these before, delicious!
A few plated shots;



I kid you not my brethren, this was INCREDIBLE! Thanks again Jeanie for the inspiration! I tweaked the recipes a little for my own taste and ingredients on hand, but I think I kept it pretty close to what Cowgirl prepped in her threads.

You can find the "Cook it Like Cowgirl" throwdown here; http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=216627.


Thanks for looking all, I hope you got some enjoyment from the post. I couldn't recommend this more, you must try this!


Keep on Qing,


KC

AussieTitch said:

Great looking cook mate, why is it called Hoppin John?

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Thanks Titch. The name seems to be somewhat of a mystery.

From Wikipedia:
The origins of the name are uncertain; one possibility is that the name is a corruption of the Haitian Creole term for black-eyed peas: pois pigeons (pronounced: [pwapiˈʒɔ̃]).
The Oxford English Dictionary's first reference to the dish is from Frederick Law Olmsted's 19th century travelogue, A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States (1861).[7] However, a recipe for "Hopping John" in The Carolina Housewife by Sarah Rutledge,[8] which was published in 1847, is also cited as the earliest reference.[9] An even earlier source is Recollections of a Southern Matron,[10] which mentions "Hopping John" (defined, in a note, as "bacon and rice") as early as 1838.[11]



Another interesting note;
In the southern United States, eating Hoppin' John on New Year's Day is thought to bring a prosperous year filled with luck.[2][3] The peas are symbolic of pennies or coins, and a coin is sometimes added to the pot or left under the dinner bowls.[4] Collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, chard, kale, cabbage etc. along with this dish are supposed to also add to the wealth since they are the color of American currency.[5] Another traditional food, cornbread, can also be served to represent wealth, being the color of gold. On the day after New Year's Day, leftover "Hoppin' John" is called "Skippin' Jenny," and further demonstrates one's frugality, bringing a hope for an even better chance of prosperity in the New Year.[6]




KC
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoppin'_John#cite_note-11

USMC said:

Looks great Code! :thumb: You should enter it in the chicken throwdown too!

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Thanks USMC. I may do that, but seeing that that is a special month long throwdown, I figured I'd wait and see if something else comes to mind, but still could happen:-D.

KC