In Texas they have a won­der­ful New Year’s Eve tra­di­tion of serv­ing black-eyed peas, they say that eat­ing them will ensure a happy and pros­per­ous new year. The peas are most often dished up as Texas caviar, a salad that uses apple cider vine­gar, chilis and sweet pep­pers. Fresh Approach Cooking has a great recipe (pic­tured), using speck. What the heck is speck?

Speck is a juniper-flavoured ham that is cured and cold-smoked, then matured for five months. It is the most revered and promi­nent ingre­di­ent of the Alto Adige region of Italy, an area that is influ­enced by its German neighbours.

Of course there are other ways to incor­po­rate some black-eyed peas into your New Year’s Eve din­ner. They are great in suc­co­tash, that clas­sic fry up of corn, red pep­per and lima beans. Then there is the Southern clas­sic, Hoppin’ John, in which they are cooked with a smoked ham hock and served over rice. According to <a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoppin” onclick=“javascript:_gaq.push([’_trackEvent’,‘outbound-article’,‘http://en.wikipedia.org’]);“_John” target=“_blank”>Wikipedia, any left­over Hoppin’ John is referred to as Skippin’ Jenny the next day. Cooking Light has a great recipe that incor­po­rates kale.

Sorry to be sug­gest­ing so much pork, obvi­ously these dishes are all great vegan options if the meat is omit­ted. One of the best vegan recipes we’ve tried is this one for pea and quinoa cro­quettes from Vegan With a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

Whatever you’re serv­ing for din­ner, we hope you enjoy it with the peo­ple who mat­ter the most to you. Get ready to pop the cork and pucker up for your New Year’s Eve kiss! Happy New Year every­one. See you in 2010.