New Years Day dinner. same but different

It all started at the grocery store yesterday... No wait, it all started for real several years ago when I spotted an old time butchers bone saw at an antique store.  The kind they used before they got motorized and the blade looked unused. I thought I might have a use for it someday.  Now back to yesterday.  I was planning to get a big meaty ham shank or two for dinner today but they only had pork shanks of a brand I had a couple times before.  They were pork, not cured ham and the pork that was there was very scanty. It was mostly bone  with a bite of two of pork, so I got a nice sliced Carando ham. You know those hams are never spiral sliced  all the way down. There is quite a bit of bone and meat on the end that is hard to get off,  so I cut that end off with the bone saw and used it instead of the usual shank or hock.  It turned out great. It was just as good as prior NYD dinners plus there was a lot more meat and lots of sliced ham for dinners to come.  I cooked the black eyed peas the same as always with the ham and bone. The ham fell off the bone and was easy to slice up.  I did the collards differently. Instead of boiling it for a couple hours, I cooked it like spinach:  I put it in the skillet with just the water that I rinsed it (I cut off the stems first) . When it had cooked down, I added some oil, onions and garlic and cooked them until the onions softened, then I added some red pepper powder and the ham from the beans and cooked it until the flavors were blended. I added the collards back, added a little bean water and simmered it for a few minutes before serving.  I'll probably do dinner this way from now on.

Here is the recipe in total.  I cut  down the recipe and used a fine chopped onion  with the greens instead of scallions and left out the allspice because I didn't have either of those.

Black-Eyed Peas With Ham Hock and Collards

• AVID TANIS YIELD About 12 cups cooked beans, 10 to 12 servings TIME2 hours

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds black-eyed peas, soaked overnight if possible

• 2 pounds smoked ham hock, meaty ham bone or slab bacon

• 2 teaspoons kosher salt

• 1 large onion, peeled and stuck with 2 cloves

• 1 bay leaf

• ½ teaspoon black pepper

• ½ teaspoon allspice

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 4 garlic cloves, minced

• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper

• 2 pounds collard greens, cut in 1-inch ribbons (about 8 cups)

• 1 bunch scallions, cleaned and chopped, for garnish

PREPARATION

1 Drain peas and put them in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed soup pot. Add ham hock or bone (if using slab bacon, cut it into 2-inch chunks), cover with 10 cups water and turn heat to high. Add salt, onion stuck with cloves, bay leaf, black pepper and allspice.

2 Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Skim off and discard any foam that rises to the surface. Simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until peas are tender. Throughout cooking, add water as necessary, always keeping liquid level 1 inch above surface, stirring with wooden spoon occasionally. Turn off heat. Check broth for salt and adjust seasoning. Mixture should be fairly brothy. With a pair of tongs, remove ham hock, ham bone or bacon. Chop meat and skin in rough pieces and set aside.

3 Put a large wide skillet over medium-high heat. Add vegetable oil and heat until wavy. Add garlic and red pepper and let sizzle without browning. Add collard greens and stir to coat. Season with salt and add 1 cup water, stirring to help wilt greens. Add chopped ham and reduce heat to medium, then cover with lid slightly ajar and cook until greens are soft, about 20 minutes. Check seasoning.

4 To serve, put greens and meat in low soup bowls, then ladle over hot black-eyed peas. Sprinkle with scallions.