Looks like my New Year’s Day ritual of eating Hoppin’ John for good fortune in the coming year has already paid off. It has provided me with enough leftovers to make a fabulous slow cooker meal that’s even better than the first time around. Since I didn’t want the leftover Hoppin’ John to stick to the pan while reheating, I used a slow cooker to reheat it, with some extra vegetable stock to loosen it up and a few shakes of Cajun seasoning. It was then I remembered one of my favorite recipes from Vegan on the Cheap — the slow cooker chili topped with chipotle cornbread dumplings. And the rest of the meal wrote itself. Instead of making dumplings, I just made my normal cornbread batter with the addition of a few tablespoons of pureed chipotles in adobo. I spread the batter on top of the hot Hoppin’ John that was simmering deliciously in the slow cooker, and within an hour, the cornbread topping was “baked.” Phenomenally tasty, I must say. And so easy.


If you thought the holiday gift-giving season was over, then you may not know about LaBefana, the Italian witch who delivers gifts down the chimney on January 6th. In the spirit of LaBefana, I’ll be doing a giveaway of my latest book Party Vegan, beginning on January 6 when I’ll also tell you more about the legend of LaBefana.

Until then, I want to wish everyone a wonderful 2011 and thank you all for your friendship and support for my blog and my cookbooks. I hope you continue to enjoy them in the coming year. To let others know about my books, I’d very much appreciate it if you could spread the word by writing a brief review on Amazon or anywhere else you post reviews.

Thanks and Happy New Year!

Labels: chipotle cornbread topped hoppin' john