Black Eyed Peas
When I saw these fresh Black Eyed Peas, I had to get them. I'm relatively new to using these, and when I have used them, they are from the can. So I grabbed the fresh ones thinking I would figure out how to cook them later. I knew bacon and caramelized onions were in my head. I'm also not a huge fan of beans and legumes due to the texture, but I wanted to try them out anyway. After all, I do live in the south now. I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious they were! Of course bacon makes everything better......
Here's what I did.
Start with some chopped bacon, the more the better! Keep your heat on medium, so you can render all that fat out. When it starts getting crispy, remove some and set aside, then add your onions and garlic. Cook those until they are nice and golden.
Next add your fresh peas. You can also use canned peas, you just wont need to cook them as long as you would with the fresh ones. Once the peas have been bathed in all that glorious bacon and onion goodness, stir in your stock. I happen to have home made stock from a ham bone, so I used that, but you can use chicken or beef stock. Toss a pinch of salt, some black pepper and a few red pepper flakes. Keep it light on the salt until the end, remember you have lots of salty bacon in there, so you may not need much more.
Put the lid on, lower your heat and simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour, until all the liquid has been soaked up. The peas will be nice and tender, thick and rich.
Spoon peas into a serving bowl and sprinkle that bacon you reserved from earlier on top. A little sprig of parsley will look nice too. Enjoy!!
BLACK EYED PEAS
| Prep Time: 5 Min | Cook Time: 1 Hour, 10 Min | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 6 |
Ingredients:
4-6 slices smoky bacon, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups fresh black eyed peas
1 1/2 cups stock
Salt/Black Pepper/Red Pepper Flakes
Instructions:
In a medium sized sauce pan, start rendering bacon on medium heat. Once it starts getting crispy, remove some and set aside. Stir in onions and garlic and cook until lightly golden, about 5 more minutes or so.
Next, add the black eyed peas and combine well with bacon and onions, coating the peas with the bacon fat.
Add the stock, a pinch of salt, fresh cracked black pepper and red pepper flakes.
Lower the heat and simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour. You want all the liquid to be absorbed by the peas. They will be rich and thick when done.
Re-season to taste, then spoon into serving bowl and top with reserved bacon.
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