Steve Wiley’s Happy New Year’s Brunch

We all know the New Year's tradition, black eyed peas for luck, corned beef for health, & cabbage for wealth. I'm not crazy about cabbage. My parents used to serve it boiled...yuk! For years, I excluded cabbage from my New Years fare. (That must be why I'm not rich.) I found a unique way to include cabbage...

The Bloody Mary:

2 oz. vodka, 2 olives, a dill pickle slice, V-8 juice, 2 Tbsp. medium salsa, 3 dashes, worchestershire, 5 dashes Tabasco habanero, Big Easy Mafia seasoning, 1 tsp. creole mustard, a rolled up slice of corned beef, and a cabbage leaf.

The blackeyes:

I boiled a ham bone & a chicken carcass to make the stock, chilled it overnight & skimmed it. I put 2 bags frozen blackeyes in a black pot & covered 'em with stock. Then, I cut up a pound of pork & venison sausage & boiled it. When the fat started floating to the top, I poured the water off & did it again.While that was going on, I trimmed the fat from 1/2 package of thick sliced bacon & nuked it for 4 minutes. Then I cut up the remainder of a Honey Baked ham (about a pound) & added that. Seasoned with Big Easy Mafia seasoning & three kinds of Tobasco, Mexican Style Jalapeno, original, and chipotle.' Then it simmered for about 3 hours. It came out OK, if I say so myself. Happy New Year!