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Happy 2014! I hope everyone had an amazing New Year’s!

In New York City people tend to make a BIG deal of New Year’s Eve. Since the town we call home sets the precedent for what a New Year’s celebration is supposed to be, New Yorkers tend to go big. Usually a little too big.

Russell and I however usually stay home, cook a big meal, and watch Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. I proposed on New Year’s Eve a few years ago, so we tend to think of that night as a night for each other. A night to be alone together. Rather than go out and party like lunatics, we prefer to stay at home with each other and our pups. Our little family is a motley crew but we’re happy being with each other.

This year however a good friend invited us to a party directly across the street from our apartment, so we decided we should probably put some pants on and go be social. Of course, like the rest of New York, we let the mood of the evening get the best of us and we got carried away. We had an amazing evening having a blast with our friends and we’re so glad we went, but considering out plans for the next morning, maybe we should have stuck with tradition and stayed home. We had a little bit of a hard time getting moving the next morning, but in the end we pulled it together and had a pretty wonderful New Year’s day too.

This year we decided to host a brunch for New Year’s Day and bring together the people we love in New York and get the new year started right. 2013 was an amazing year for us and we thought a brunch with our favorite people would be a great way to make sure 2014 would be just as great. In 2013 we were married, we got our second schnauzer Betty, I celebrated my 30th birthday, we visited Europe, and I started Brooklyn Homemaker. It’s going to be a tough year to beat, but we’re sure going to try!

Planning a menu for New Year’s day is pretty much a no brainer. Southern food is super traditional for New Year’s day so I didn’t really have to put any thought into other options. There is a lot of symbolism behind the foods we eat on New Year’s day, and everything on the plate is supposed to help bring something great into your life in the coming year.

Black eyed peas are one of the most important foods on the New Year’s plate, and for good reason. Black eyed peas have been a symbol of good luck in Jewish culture for centuries, but in Southern cooking, the tradition dates back to the Civil War. The story goes that when Union troops rolled through the southern countryside they stripped large areas of all stored food and livestock and destroyed many crops and farms. At the time, black eyed peas weren’t really eaten in the north and usually went overlooked or ignored, leaving that crop to be what helped feed Southerners while they rebuilt. Since black eyed peas swell when you cook them, they’re also supposed to symbolize prosperity and growth in the new year.

Other Southern traditional foods include braised greens, usually collard, turnip, or mustard greens; along with pork or ham of some kind. Greens are meant to symbolize money since they’re, well, green; and since pigs can’t look backward without turning around, they’re meant to symbolize forward motion and moving on from the past.

I decided to go all out traditional Southern with black eyed peas, braised collard greens, buttermilk biscuits, and pork sausage gravy. When making these foods, ham is usually used to help flavor your peas and greens, but of course, I don’t live in the south. I live in Brooklyn, so I had dietary restrictions to keep in mind and had to find vegetarian alternatives to add flavor to my peas and greens, and had to thicken my sausage gravy with rice flour for my friends who simply will not tolerate gluten. In the end though, our plates were packed with flavor and I wouldn’t have changed a thing! To accompany our meal I served up a big pitcher of Southern sweet tea, and those of us that wanted some hair of the dog spiked it with lemon vodka. Afterward we dug into a harvest cake, similar to carrot cake, complete with cream cheese icing and pecans.

Below I’ve shared my recipes for vegetarian black eyed peas and collards. There’s a bit of spice to both recipes to help build flavor, but of course you could skip that if you’re not up for it. Come back soon for a special post on making biscuits and my recipe for gluten free (or not) sausage gravy. I suspect that you’ll probably want to know more about my harvest cake too, so keep checking in and you won’t be disappointed!

Vegetarian Black Eye Peas

Servings: 12+
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1 lb dried black eyed peas
2 tablespoons butter
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 26 oz can diced tomatoes
1 4 oz can diced green chilies
1/4 cup cider vinegar
water
1 teaspoon salt

Rinse your dried black eyed peas with water, and then soak them in water overnight. You want the water to be a few inches above the dried beans because they’ll expand.

In the bottom of a heavy bottomed stockpot or dutch oven, combine the onions and peppers and cook over medium high heat until tender and beginning to brown. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes more, stirring frequently. Drain and rinse the soaked beans, and add to pot. Add canned tomatoes and chilies, including liquid, along with sugar, pepper, and vinegar. Top off with enough water to come to the top of the beans.

Bring pot to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until beans are tender. Add salt, taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Vegetarian Collard Greens

Servings: 6ish
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2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb (or large bunch) collard greens, stems removed and leaves roughly chopped or torn
2 cups vegetable stock
2 tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup cider vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

In a heavy bottomed stockpot or dutch oven over medium high heat, melt butter and cook onions until tender and translucent. Add red pepper flakes and garlic and cook 2 minutes more, stirring frequently. Add collard greens, stir well and cook another minute or two. Add vegetable stock, tomatoes, and vinegar, and season with salt and pepper.

Bring to a simmer, cover, & cook for about 45 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

Okay. So. Here’s the thing.

When I was a kid, my grandmother always called stuffing, “dressing”. I would try my hardest not to give her side eye and move on with my day. I always thought, “it’s not Thousand Islands, it’s stuffing”. It seems that this is what happens below the Mason-Dixon line. Southerners tend to refer to the dish as dressing no matter what, and us Yanks always call it stuffing. I learned later that, at least in this situation, she was right. The real answer is that if you bake it stuffed inside of a bird (or anything else with a cavity to stuff), then yes, it is stuffing. That’s because you stuff with something it, but if you serve it on the side, baked separately, it is called dressing. That’s because, while they weren’t cooked together, you use one to “dress” the other.

So, as much as it pains me to admit it, Grandma was right, and now I’m sharing a recipe for “dressing”. Look at me, sharing a Thanksgiving recipe over a full week before the big day! Aren’t I organized and proactive? Yep. Sure am. It’s almost like I’m a real blogger or something!

As someone who truly LOVES food, both preparing and eating, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. The pies, the huge spread filled with a variety of veggies, the giant golden bird, and a feast that seems to go on all day, eating “dinner” in the early afternoon and going back for seconds and maybe even thirds between naps. Christmas is great, but in my family it can be a bit hectic and stressful, but on Thanskgiving you get all the food and all the family without the pressure. Even when I was a vegetarian, Thanksgiving was my favorite because I love all the sides almost even more than the Turkey itself.

This year we’re not able to head home to be with family for Thanksgiving, so we’re hosting our own here in Brooklyn with a couple of friends. One of our guests is a vegetarian, so as much as I’d love to fill the dressing with sausage and chicken stock, I’ve thought of something just as good! This dressing is STUFFED (get it?) with the meaty texture and earthy flavor of mushrooms and the savory goodness of celery, onions, leeks & herbs.

Rather than buy a stale old bag of pre-cubed bread, I started with a fresh country sourdough loaf which I cut into 1/2 cubes. I like to trim the crusts off, especially the bottom crust, because they can be tough and chewy in the finished dressing. Once the loaf is completely cubed I dried them in the oven on 275 for 30 minutes or so, turning occasionally to prevent browning. Starting with fresh bread gives you a dressing with a firm custardy texture rather than the bread crumb mush that you sometimes end up with when you used boxed or bagged mixes.

All the herbs and savory vegetables combine with the mushrooms in such a rich earthy way and make for such a flavorful dressing. Everyone, vegetarian on not, will love it. If you arent’ worried about making your Thanksgiving feast vegetarian friendly, you can definitely swap the vegetable stock for chicken or turkey.

Oh my god you guys, it’s just over a week away! I’m so excited!
It’s going to be a busy week!

Mushroom, Leek & Sourdough Dressing

Servings: 8-12ish
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5 tablespoons butter, divided
3 large leeks
1 small onion, diced
5 stalks celery, cut into large dice
coarse kosher salt & pepper
3/4 lb white button mushrooms, cut into large dice
1/2 lb portabello mushrooms, cut into large dice
2 tablespoons sage, finely chopped
2 teaspoons thyme, finely chopped
8 cups sourdough, cut into 1 cubes and dried
3 to 4 cups vegetable (or chicken or turkey) stock
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

To prepare your leeks, slice the white and tender green parts in thin disks, and slice each disk in half. Discard the deep green leaves. Place all the sliced leeks into a bowl and top with cold water. Leeks are very sandy so this is important. scoop the leeks out being careful not to disturb the sand at the bottom of the bowl. Repeat, and set aside.

In a large skillet, melt 3 tablespoons of butter and saute onions and celery over medium high heat. Season generously with salt and pepper. When the onions are getting soft and translucent, after about 5 minutes, add all of your mushrooms, leeks and herbs. Turn the heat up to high and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid from the mushrooms evaporates and the leeks are soft and tender. Mushrooms have a lot of moisture so this could take up to 20 minutes or so. Remove mixture from heat and transfer to a large bowl to cool completely.

Add bread crumbs into cooled mushroom mixture and stir until well combined. Stir in stock and adjust seasoning if needed. Stir in eggs and transfer mixture to a 2 quart oven safe dish. Dot the top with remaining butter and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 25 minutes, remove foil and bake 25 minutes more.