The end of 2011 was sad with the thought of forever losing Flamingo’s Doughnut Café. But what can perk up a New Year’s Day like the traditional Hoppin’ John meal? I usually try to seek out a restaurant that features it as a special. For a couple of years, we always found one particular restuarant that it on their New Year’s Day menu. About three years ago, they didn’t and I was done with them. Listen at me, I sound like I’m in the mafia. They didn’t honor our unspoken understanding just one time and now, they’re dead to me.
We were able to find an amazing Hoppin’ John at One Hot Mama’s last year. That restaurant is super close to the condo and the two thick slices of smoked ham were tender and out-of-this-world delicious. This year, we made it our mission to be at One Hot Mama’s again on New Year’s Day.
We arrived around 2pm and lucked into an open booth. Hubby and I both ordered the Hoppin’ John special. It was almost the same savory picture perfect meal, the collard greens, black eye peas and cornbread were spot on. This time around though, the ham was sliced super thin and looked…grilled?
Last year’s ham slices were thick, tender, juicy and just the right amount of smokiness. (Quite possibly the best Hoppin’ John meal I’ve ever had.) But this year’s version was much drier and tougher. Perhaps throwing such thin slices (of which there were many) onto the grill robbed them of their tender juiciness? The char marks on the ham should’ve been my first clue. Oh well, I’m still hoping for the best in 2012.