Black Eyed Peas for New Years Day
December 30, 2018
Eating Black Eyed Peas on New Year’s Day is a Southern Tradition for Luck and Prosperity in the New Year. I think we could all use some luck in 2019!
- Prep: 20 mins
- Cook: 1 hrs 5 mins
- Yields: 4 - 6 Servings
Ingredients
1 pound Rancho Gordo Super Lucky Black Eyed Peas, cleaned and rinsed
¼ pound (4 or 5 pieces) bacon, chopped into rough squares
2 small carrots, peeled and chopped
2 small to medium white onions, chopped
2 - 3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
½ cup whole canned tomatoes with some juice, roughly chopped
Directions
1Soak the Black Eyed Peas for 2 hours, covered by about 2 inches of water.
2In a soup pot, gently cook the bacon on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it’s just done, about 10 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove the bacon pieces and let them rest on a paper towel.
3In the remaining bacon fat, sauté the celery, onion, carrot, and garlic on medium heat until soft, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. When the vegetables are soft, add the Black Eyed Peas and their soaking water. Add enough water to cover the peas by about an inch. Stir, add the bay leaf and then raise the heat to high and bring the contents to a rapid boil. Keep boiling, partially covered, for 15 minutes.
4Add 1 tablespoon salt and adjust the water so that the peas are again covered by about an inch. Reduce to a gentle simmer until the peas are soft, about 35 minutes.
5Add the tomatoes and the tomato paste. Stir and then gently heat through, about 15 minutes on medium heat. Add pepper to taste and the reserved bacon pieces. Adjust seasonings and serve.
Susan
December 31, 2020
The recipe you have is nice. I’m from the Deep South – and these are merely meant as alternatives based on our recipes.
Clean & soak a bag of Rancho Gordo black eyed peas. I soak them 8 hours or over night. Next day?
Fry up a good lb or so of smoked hog jowls &/or bacon cooked in whatever pot you plan to use for your black eyed peas.
Reserve the meat but keep the fat in the pot that you will use to cook your black eyed peas.
To the fat rendered in your cooking pot – add about 3 medium or 5 small onions – DICED FINELY. Cook the onions until barely translucent. Maybe 3 – 5 minutes.
NOTE – I don’t add salt at this point as adding it too early seems to toughen the beans.
Quickly add lots of fresh thyme (maybe 1 TBSP), or if you prefer sage? Do it. Whatever you like. We also add 5-ish bay leaves (depends on size, freshness, & how much you like them) and either 6 cloves of garlic passed thru a garlic press (or smash the heck out of the garlic cloves) or a good TBSP of dried garlic. Fry whichever aromatics you prefer with the onions for another minute or two – tops. Stay on top of it stirring so nothing scorches your preferred seasoning mix.
Add about a gallon sized bag of homemade chicken stock. Or? Buy chicken stock from a grocery if you don’t make & freeze your own. (I make my own; freeze it; and defrost the night before. But whatever works for you is fine.). Bring this mix to a boil.
Add the Rancho Gordo black eyed peas, reduce to low/simmer, and cook for 2 or 3 hours. Halfway thru the cooking time add about 1 tsp of baking soda. It will foam then subside. The key here is it helps to soften the skins. (If you already have soft water in your area, you don’t need to do this.)
30 mins before done add 1 TBSP (or cube) of chicken bullion. I have a brand preference here – but again? Whatever bullion works for you will be great. (Notice some salt is being added, but we are near the end now.)
Wait 15 minutes – taste – and add more salt only if necessary. Plus add fresh cracked black pepper (again to taste.) Continue for another 15 minutes or so. Now it’s time to dish it up…
Serve with toppings so people can choose. My normal topping options? Put out the bacon/jowls all crunched up; more fresh diced onions; diced fresh tomatoes; sour cream; hot sauce; some small hot pickled peppers; diced pickled okra; or whatever else you like (e.g., a spoonful of salsa is nice change especially next to the sour cream.). Point being – set out toppings then let people pick their choice.
Optional – I almost always cook plain long grain rice and serve the black eyed peas over the rice – according to our family’s granny? That makes it “Hoppin’ John.” She also says adding some fresh okra wile cooking the black eyed peas plus some shrimp at the end makes it “Limping Susan.”