Hopping John Soup 

Makes 4 to 5 quarts

1 onion, chopped 

1 cup celery, chopped 

1 tsp. minced garlic 

2-3 cups diced ham 

8 cups homemade chicken stock (or use water with chicken soup base or canned chicken broth) 

2 - 16 oz. packages frozen black-eyed peas (or use 6 cups freshly cooked black-eyed peas or 4 cans black-eyed peas) 

1/2 tsp. dried thyme 

1 bunch fresh collard greens, chopped (about 2 cups when measured after chopping, but next time I would use more) 

Optional: ham flavor base if needed

To Serve - while soup is heating up add pinch red pepper flakes (optional) and 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar, or more to taste

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a large pot and heat - about 30 mins, stir to mix ingredients.

Use a slotted spoon to divide mixture between heated quart jars - fill to between 1/2 and 3/4 full of solids and then add broth from pot to each jar to 1 inch headspace (if there is not enough liquid left from pot finish filling with hot water), remove air bubbles, put on lids, and process in a pressure canner for 90 mins for quarts (75 mins for pints) at 10 pounds of pressure.

TO SERVE: Empty quart jar of soup into a pan use an immersion blender, food processor, or hand masher to partially process (smash) about half the soup. You want a mixture of broken and unbroken black-eyes peas, with some thickening of the soup from the pureeing process. Be careful not to over process. Add red pepper flakes and vinegar and simmer 10 minutes. Serve hot.

Tomorrow's Soup of the Day... Italian Chicken Soup

Black-Eyed Pea and Sausage Soup 

2 lbs dried black-eyed peas, soaked overnight 

2 quarts tomato juice (I used 2 qts of home canned tomato juice) 

2 cups carrots, diced 

4 cups potatoes, diced 

3 cups celery, chopped 

1 teaspoon canning salt and pepper (Black or White) 

1 bay leaf 

3 cups onions, diced

1-2 lbs. bulk sausage, browned and drained... or sausages in casing, cut in bite-sized pieces

2 lbs bacon, diced OR 1 cup of diced ham 

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except sausage, bacon and onion in large pot. Cook over medium heat until soft (this took almost 45 mins on low). Cut bacon into small pieces and fry in skillet. Remove bacon and cook onion in bacon grease until soft, drain on papper towels. Add sausage, bacon and onion to bean mixture and heat until it simmers. Taste for salt and pepper. Remove bay leaf before putting in jars. 

Fill hot mixture into sterilized jars, filling to within 1" of tops of jars (I found that using the home canned tomato juice the juice in the soup was pretty thick and there was not enough of it. So I used hot water to finish filling the jars to 1" headspace). Pressure can 1 hour and 15 mins for pints and 1 hour and 30 mins for quarts at 10 lbs. 

I ended up with 14 pints 

NOTE: The National Center for Home Food Preservation has not done much testing on the safety of canning bacon. What little research they have done they have determined that 1 to 2 slices of bacon per jar is safe enough. Their concern is the fat content in bacon and the chance it can go rancid or harbor botulism that cannot be destroyed by temps reached in home canning. Some people have suggested that 2 pounds of bacon in this recipe is not safe. To be honest I didn't use the full two pounds ... more than 1 pound ... but not 2 pounds. If you decide to make this recipe just be aware that this is not an approved recipe from the NCHFP. But you can substitute ham in this recipe for the bacon.

Tomorrow's Soup of the Day... Chicken Booyah

Black Eyed Pea and Cabbage Soup 

Makes about 3 to 4 quarts or more (depends on amount of cabbage used) 

Ingredients

1 lb pkg black-eyed peas, sorted and rinsed. (I soaked black eyed peas overnight in a bowl of water filled to about 1 inch above peas.) 

OR 

4 cups of frozen peas 

3 or 4 potatoes, cut 1/2-inch pieces 

2 medium carrots, chopped 

4 cloves garlic, finely minced or about 2 Tbsp.

2 cups water 

1 quart of beef or ham broth (homemade preferably) 

1 small cabbage or 1/2 of a large cabbage, shredded or chopped 

1 onion, cut in half and sliced thinly 

1 sweet pepper - seeds removed and chopped (optional) 

1 tsp of canning salt (optional) 

Add beef or ham broth and water to a large stock pot and heat to a boil. Add carrot, potatoes, black eyed peas, sweet pepper (if using), salt (if using), and onions. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 30 mins. Add cabbage last 5 mins of cooking (you only want it to wilt down, not cook). Stir soup occasionally. 

Using a slotted spoon divide soup solids between 3 or 4 quart jars to about two thirds full. Finish filling with soup broth to 1 inch headspace. Wipe rims with wet paper towel, assembly lids, tighten finger tight. Process 1 hour and 15 mins for pints and 1 hour and 30 mins for quarts at 10 lbs of pressure in a pressure canner.

Tomorrow's Soup of the Day... 

Black-Eyed Pea and Sausage Soup