New Year's Day 2011

On New Year's Day I cooked a meal that should bring us luck in 2011. I did a little research and found some other foods besides black-eyed peas that are believed to bring good fortune in the New Year. I read that fish is lucky and to stay away from chicken. I have always had black-eyed peas on New Year's Day but I did not know about all the other foods and traditions from around the world. I decided to make a black-eyed pea salad and bake some Orange Roughy for lunch. This is all new for me considering I don't cook very often. Matt has always been the better cook in our household. I can cook simple things but I think I will enjoy cooking more and teaching myself to cook different things besides my usual menu. I was an overachiever New Year's Day and made two meals. That is a first for me. I ended up making venison chili that evening for dinner because it was so cold outside. Here are some photos from New Year's Day and the food I made. I hope I can keep this up in 2011.

Black-Eyed Pea Salad, Orange Roughy, and Mimosas

• Black-Eyed Pea Salad Recipe
• 2 (15.5 ounce) cans black-eyed peas
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 
  
• In a medium bowl, toss together black-eyed peas, tomato, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, red onion, celery, and parsley. In a small bowl, mix balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Toss into the vegetables. Cover, and chill in the refrigerator 8 hours, or overnight.

Easy to Bake Fish Fillets

3/4 c. chopped celery
6 tbsp. chopped onion
1/4 c. fresh parsley
4 tsp. butter, melted
1 lb. fish fillets
Salt
Pepper
Paprika

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix celery, onion, parsley and butter together. Place fish fillets in shallow baking dish. Place vegetable mixture over top. Sprinkle lightly with salt, pepper and paprika. Cover with foil and bake in 450 degree oven for 30 minutes. Fish is done when it flakes easily with a fork. Serves 4.

 

I hoped that Hodge would eat the New Year's Day meal but he preferred having a corn dog.  

Texas Venison Chili

2 lbs. coarsely ground venison
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 c. chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lg. green pepper, cut in strips
3 tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. sugar
3 1/2 c. whole tomatoes
1 c. tomato sauce
1 c. water
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. kidney beans

Brown venison in vegetable oil. Add onions, garlic, and green pepper. Cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add chili powder, sugar, tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, and salt. Simmer 1 1/2 hours. Just before serving, add kidney beans. Serves 6-8.

The chili was great with corn bread and slices of  avocado.