December 29, 2015
Happy almost- New Year! My hope to you is that all your wishes come true and this is the best year for you and your family, ever.
Thank you for sharing a teensy tiny bit of your life with me by
subscribing to my mailing list, and for your support and kindness.
I am sincerely thankful.
I have four REALLY good black eyed pea recipes for you today. If you've never had black eyed peas --- they come canned or dry (I prefer dry) and are cream colored with a tiny black fleck.
They are considered a "good luck food" -- the folklore is that if you eat black eyed peas on New Years Day your year will be full of prosperity and good fortune.
Before I began slow cooking daily in 2008, I had never eaten black eyed peas, and I really only
thought of the rock group ----- but now, I make a point to eat these "lucky" beans a few times a year.
do they work? Who knows. But I'm happy, the kids are happy, and I get to write to you and somehow call it work ---- so I'm certainly not going to stop eating them!
:-)
Way back in 2008 when I started A Year of Slow Cooking I didn't know what I was doing. My first attempt at making
Black Eyed Peas wasn't all that successful --- thankfully I've learned an awful lot since then! I now have a few FANTASTIC (if I do say so myself, and I totally do ;-) ---) recipes that you should make.
Let's ring in 2016 with luck on our side!!
QUICK NOTE: all of these recipes call for dry black eyed peas. Yes, there are some that come in a can, and yes you can use those.
I would recommend the dry version, though, because the taste will be of the seasonings
that you add to the pot, and you won't get that slimy and over-salty taste you sometimes get from canned beans.
The best way to cook dry beans is to soak them overnight in a bunch of water, and then drain and rinse well in the morning.
If you don't have time to do this, that's okay! Simply place the dry beans into a large stockpot with enough water to cover the beans by about 2 inches.
Boil the beans rapidly, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and cover. Let the
beans sit in the hot water for 1 hour before draining, rinsing, and using in the slow cooker.
This was the soup that made me fall in love with black eyed peas. This soup serves 8 people, and has spicy habañero smoked sausage (I used chicken sausage) in it for a delicious smoky heat.
The broth base is chicken broth, and it freezes and reheats well.
Hoppin' John has rice, black eyed peas, and collard greens (or kale) in it. I love this complete-meal-in-a-bowl, and I think you will, too.
Hoppin' John is the traditional New Year's Day dish in the south and the green from the collard greens (or kale, or spinach is fine, too) is supposed to symbolize money.
Chili is wonderful. If you are worried that you're not going to want the traditional smoky, sausage-y flavor of black eyed peas, but still feel like you should eat them because of the whole TEMPTING FATE thing, then this chili is for you.
Because it's chili.
It has all the normal things in it that chili has: ground meat, chili powder, cumin, tomatoes, corn...) and you can doctor it up with traditional chili toppings of cheese, salsa, sour cream, and avocado.
5 Ingredient Black-Eyed Peas serves 6
This recipe isn't available online --- it is from page 121 of my newest cookbook ---- but if you want to make some black eyed peas this
year and you're crunched for time or really just don't want to fool around in the kitchen too long, this is a winner recipe and it's easy-peasy.
1 pound dried black-eyed peas, sorted 1 pound smoked turkey or chicken sausage, sliced 4 cups beef broth 1 bunch collard greens, stems removed and leaves
torn Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste (depends on the saltiness of the sausage -- probably will need about 1/2 teaspoon of each)
Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Place the beans in a large pot of water to cover by 2 inches, and soak overnight (or use quick-soak method I described up above). Add the drained beans to the crockpot
insert. Stir in the sausage, broth, and collard leaves. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or on high for about 5 hours. The beans are finished when they have reached the desired tenderness and the flavors have melded. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
I hope you and your family have an absolutely wonderful New Year and the very best wishes to all in
2016
lots and lots of love, steph
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