Hoppin' John - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 cups long grain rice, uncooked
1 lb dried black-eyed peas (some people use other beans like lentils)
2 teaspoons fresh thyme
1/2 lb smoky bacon (not everyone uses this, but it adds flavor)
2 bermuda onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
3/4 lb chorizo sausage, chopped (same as bacon)
salt, to taste
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Tabasco sauce, to taste

Preparation

Boil the peas and thyme until the peas have split.
Drain, reserving about a quarter cup of water with the peas.
In a heavy-bottomed pot, fry up the bacon until just crisped and remove with a slotted spoon.
In the same pot, add the onion, garlic and chourico, cook until golden and the chourico is just browned.
While this is going on, boil the rice in plenty of well-salted water until tender.
Drain and keep ready.
Drain off most of the fat. Add the peas and water, stir and cover a few minutes.
Add the cooked rice and reserved bacon and mix well.
Cook over lowest heat until nearly dry.
Take care not to scorch the mixture.
Adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper and the tabasco.