1 John 1 Easy English

[Lu Rounsaville]

Husbandrecently had surgery and is still getting back to normal. We are booked on St. John On Your Own with the ferry pick up at port. Have been to St. Thomas but not St. John. Can we walk around and shop fairly easily? Should we just go to St. Thomas and the shops there? Don't care about visiting the beaches here. Just looking for something enjoyable and easy to walk around. Are the shops at St. John close to where ferry docks so not a whole lot of hard walking? Is it better to just hop over to St. Thomas again? Thank you for your help. He walks okay, just legs get quite tired and hurt sometimes.

There is a shopping/dining area right by the dock; it's called Wharfside Village. If he can do stairs, St John Spice has a fabulous shop upstairs just steps from the ferry. Lots of people love their Kiss of the Jumbie coffee blend, but they have tons of other stuff.

Mongoose Junction is another shopping area, but it's a further walk away, maybe 1/4 mile? The Big Planet store there has nice men's shirts and other casual clothes and accessories. Store has steps and there are more steps at Mongoose than Wharfside. Mongoose has more stores and a more artsy feel.

John Soules Foods Steak Fajitas are fully cooked, fire-grilled, full of that authentic fajita seasoning you love, super tender and ready in minutes beef. At John Soules Foods we put care into our food ensuring meal times are delicious and easy for you. Our high-quality grilled meats are gluten free and 100% all natural. Enjoy more time at the dinner table with your family with John Soules Foods, the #1 brand for fajita meats in America. Fresh for 5 Days After Opening

Microwave: 5-6 Minutes

Place thawed Steak Fajitas into one layer on a microwave safe dish and cover. For 3 to 6 ounces, microwave on HIGH for 30 seconds to 1 minute. For the entire package, microwave on HIGH for 5 to 6 minutes. Cook times may vary as microwaves vary in cooking intensity.

They say if you don't eat black eyed peas on New Year's Day, you'll have bad luck all year! So, I make this Hoppin John with rice skillet several times the first month of the year, just to make sure luck flows our way. This recipe is super easy and is made all in one pot; simply serve a scoop over rice and enjoy.

It's hard to imagine anything more comforting than a bowl of rice and beans. During the New Year season, we eat a lot of black eyed peas for good luck, and this recipe is my favorite way to put them to use. If a bowl of peas, pork and rice doesn't bring you luck, at least it is delicious!

I love that this recipe uses dried black eyed peas, yet still comes together as a one pot meal! I typically make rice on the side for serving. Another way to make it more filling is to add some sliced sausage when you're sauting the onions. First, let answer a lot of common questions about Hoppin John!

Okay, now that we've answered all of the questions about it, let's talk about how to make it! Yes, this recipe calls for dry beans. I know you love my Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas, but this recipe starts with uncooked beans. If you make a half-pot and have leftover dry beans, make this!

Typically, Hoppin John has peas, pork and rice. Those are the only qualifications for me, but I would also like to add that adding Cajun spices and the Cajun trinity (celery, green bell pepper and onions), takes this dish to a whole new level. I'm always looking for ways to use my jar of Cajun spices after making my Vegetable Bean Soup, too!

After 7-10 minutes, the bacon will start to crisp up, and then it's time to add the onion, celery, bell pepper and bay leaves. Cook the vegetables while stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes, just to soften. If the onions start to brown around the edges, lower the heat.

Next, stir in the Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, dried thyme and cook for about 30 seconds, just to release the aroma and flavor of the herbs and spices. Again, we're not adding any salt because the Cajun seasoning contains plenty of salt.

To reheat, pour into a pan with an extra splash of chicken broth and bring to a simmer. You can also freeze individual portions in freezer storage containers for up to 3 months. To reheat, defrost in the fridge overnight (or defrost in the microwave on LOW), and bring back to a simmer before serving over fresh rice.

*Cajun Seasoning: Buy a store-bought bottle that says 'Cajun Spices'. Check that the ingredient list contains salt, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, peppers and thyme. Because Cajun seasoning contains salt (a lot of it), I'm not calling for any additional salt in this recipe. You can add more to taste at the end of cooking, if you think it needs it.

Thyme: Use dried thyme leaves, not ground thyme.

Others say the black-eyed peas tradition dates back to the Civil War when Vicksburg, Mississippi, was cut off from food supplies and the people resorted to eating the crops used to feed cattle (which is why cowpeas are one of the other names for field peas). This saved the people from starvation and made the peas a symbol of resourcefulness and good fortune.

Dried beans: This is a quick and easy version using a can of black-eyed peas. If you have dried black-eyed peas, I recommend cooking them separately and then proceeding with this recipe.

Your blog looks great and I am interested in your recipe but the type is TOO light. It is hard to read. Yes I am older but I have decent eye sight.

I won't be checking this recipe out because of the poor type color. It is artistic but I believe form should follow function. That was what I was taught in Art School a million years ago.

I'm sorry to hear it's difficult for you to read! I've increased the font size and worked with a designer to try and make my site easier to read and more accessible in the last couple of years. I will look into how to possibly darken the font text to see if that helps.

Not bad. I doubled the bacon (because....bacon), doubled the black eye peas and added about 2 cups more of stock. Threw in some liquif stock consentrate for good measure. Very easy to put together and filling! Always looking for recipes that have limited dishes. This fits. Thanks!

I've heard of Key Lime Pie but I never knew what went in it. I love making pies. (The first pie I ever made, apple, won a blue ribbon at our state fair, which, coincidentally, sells Key Lime Pie on a Stick! Oddly enough, I don't care for pie myself so I always give them away.

My boss' mother invited me to their home for Easter and I was at a loss as to what to bring but now I know it has to be your mom's Key Lime Pie! I'll have a trial run before Easter and bring it to work to see how it goes over and will report back.

P.S. I had to know what the culinary term was for pricking the pie crust with a fork so I checked several sites with lists of culinary terms. They all called it pricking.

Vinegar is a new trick. I thought I was clever when I picked up the add clear alcohol (e.g. Vodka) for part of the water, I'm sure you've seen Alton Brown's trick for this, to reduce gluten formation. Wonder which is better, my guess is vinegar, or you would have done the other way!

Chef, I made your mom's key lime pie and it lasted a whole minute-and-a-half before I collected the empty pie pan. (For pies only, I love using glass pans.) Seriously. 1 1/2 minutes.

Your mom's tip about microwaving the limes for 10 seconds and then rolling them really did give twice the juice, too!

QUESTION: I know key limes have a stronger flavor, so, I was wondering... Do you think adding a bit of lime zest would add to the intensity of the lime flavor?

By accident yesterday I ended up with pie crust that had been left on the counter for an hour or so. My SO started making a quiche and got distracted so when I wandered into the kitchen about an hour later, I found half rolled pie dough on the counter and, because of the time and the fact I wanted to eat, decided to finish the job without rechilling the dough.

I blind baked the shell and then made the quiche, half expecting to be a disaster.

It turned out to be the flakiest and tenderest dough I've ever had.

So, your mom may be right -- there may be no need to rest the dough in the fridge at all.

Chef John,

I all my ingredients ready to go, and figured I would watch the video one more time just before making the crust. I noticed your printed recipe just calls for butter, while your video calls for unsalted butter. Which is it?

My first crust might be a bit salty, because I added salt to the flower, as well as used salted butter.

My second crust might be a bit closer to what you wanted, as I used salted butter, but did not add salt to the flour.

Just wanted to point this inconsistency out so you can correct your printed recipe.

Thanks again for the great website!

I thought it was Christopher Kimball from

Cooks Illustrated who came up with the vodka pie crust.

Anyway, I tried it and liked it but it definitely needs to be chilled or it's way too soft to roll (I speak from experience).

For my other piecrust (without vodka), I find that chilling makes it too hard to roll.

Jackie

I just made 3 pies for easter using this recipe. It was hard to roll out after being in the refridgerator. I tried leaving it out for a bit to soften up, but was still hard to roll out, definitely not like in Chef John's video. Maybe i needed more liquid?

chef it came out great, specially I like the food processor. I haven't seen anybody using it in any other video, really made the job easy. I was not having vineger so made it without one, can't resist the temptation.

Tim

Chef John

I have a question! I noticed that the key lime pie was pre-baked but that you didn't use ceramic beans to hold down the dough. I don't have beans so I tried this and the sides of the pie fall down! How do you do it?! Thanks!!

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