Black-eyed Pea Cakes

So did you have your black-eyed peas, turnip greens and ham on New Year's Day? I wondered why it was a Southern Tradition to eat this combo on the New Year beginning so I looked it up on wikipedia.  It's really just about the peas, they are said to bring prosperity.  It was originally a Jewish tradition that wasn't adopted by non-Jew's until the Civil War.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-eyed_pea

Anyway, David and I have always made Hoppin' John on New Year's Day w/ smoked sausage and turnip greens.  As a rule my husband doesn't eat leftovers. If he does it's usually when I have planned to put them another dish.  I now have 1/2 a pot of black-eyed peas/Hoppin' John in the refrigerator and David is out of town. 

I recently made a dip/spread w/ white beans.  It is a vegetarian dish and we LOVED it! We've had it several times since.  I had found this Fried Bean Cakes recipe and wanted to try it.  I thought it would be a good side since my guys seem to eat beans and like them.  This is a great idea of those leftover black-eyed peas from New Year's.  We are having them tonight.

Fried Bean Cakes

3 cups cooked and drained (or leftover) beans or black-eyed peas
1 large egg or 2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1 small red onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
2 large garlic cloves, very finely minced
1 scallion, chopped
1/2 roasted, peeled, and seeded jalapeno pepper, finely minced
unbleached all-purposed flour
vegetable oil for panfrying

Mix together all of the ingredients except the flour and oil, mashing the beans w/ a fork or by hand.  Form into patties, coat w/ flour and fry over medium heat in a small amount of oil until browned, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on each side.

The Hoppin' John's Lowcounty Cooking cookbook recommends a sun-dried tomato mayo for a sauce.  I had a prepared Chipolte Mayo in the fridge and used it. Delicious!  My cakes had rice (b/c of the Hoppin' John) and I diced up the smoked sausage and added it to the mix.  John recommended Shrimp in his cookbook too.