A Southern New Year´s Day Supper

Black-eyed peas and collard greens ensure luck in the coming year.

Southern tradition demands that you eat black-eyed peas on New Year's Day for good luck in the upcoming year. In this menu for six, we've paired them with other soul-food classics, including collard greens braised with a ham bone (a terrific use for any leftover Christmas ham), spicy fried chicken and flaky buttermilk biscuits. For dessert, sneak in one more indulgence at the tail end of the holidays with our ultimate carrot cake.

the menu

Menu Timeline

One day ahead:

Make black-eyed peas; cool and refrigerate them in their cooking liquid.
Bake the carrot cake; make the frosting and frost the cake when it's completely cool. Cover the cake and refrigerate.

In the morning:

Remove the cake from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.

Two hours before supper:

Make the seasoned flour and the seasoned yogurt for the fried chicken.
Cut the butter into pieces for the biscuits; return to the refrigerator.
Whisk together the dry ingredients for the biscuits.
Clean and chop the collard greens, and slice the onion for the collard greens.

One hour before supper:

Preheat the oven to 500°F.
Reheat the black-eyed peas in their liquid and keep warm; drain just before serving.
Make the collard greens.
While the collards are simmering, mix, roll out and cut the biscuit dough.
Bake the biscuits.
While the biscuits are baking, fry the chicken.

Shopping List

Fresh Produce

1-1/2 to 2 lb. collard greens (1 large or 2 medium bunches)
1 lb. carrots
1 medium yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced lengthwise
1 bulb garlic
1 small bunch thyme

Meat, Eggs & Dairy

8 chicken drumsticks
1 smoked ham hock (or a leftover ham bone from a baked ham)
4 large eggs
1 lb. cream cheese
12 oz. (3 sticks) unsalted butter, more as needed for greasing cake pan
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt

Other Groceries:

2-1/2 cups homemade or low-salt canned chicken broth
1-1/2 cups dried black-eyed peas
4 oz. (1-1/4 cup) walnuts or pecans
1/2 cup dried currants
1/4 cup walnut oil (preferably toasted walnut oil)

Pantry Staples:

27 oz. (6 cups) all-purpose flour, more as needed for rolling dough and coating cake pan
1-2/3 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
3-3/4 cups vegetable oil
4-1/4 oz. (1 cup) confectioners’ sugar
2 Tbs. chili powder
1 Tbs. pure vanilla extract
2-1/2 tsp. malt vinegar; more as needed
2-1/4 tsp. baking soda
2-1/4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. Bell’s Poultry Seasoning
2 tsp. onion powder
1 to 1-1/4 tsp. cayenne
1 tsp. table salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. celery seed
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground mace
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
2 bay leaves
Hot sauce to taste
Kosher salt
black peppercorns