There are several things about New Year’s Day that I follow; the no washing (any reason not too), do not take things out of the house including garbage, make sure you pantry is full and most of all the black eyed peas. Since my husband is out of town working it will be just me and the kids and Dad this year for New Years.
Menu:
Black Eyed Peas
Potatoes
Corn Bread
And greens if I have some.
First lets start with the black eyed peas, since they are easy to cook I will not soak them over night. I got a great bunch of fresh from the store so will be making them fresh. I hope it will have a great taste, this is a new recipe for me.
Black Eyed Peas
Ingredients
1 – 16 ounce bag of dried Black Eye Peas
4 – ounces of Pork Seasoning: Hog Jowl, Fatback, Ham Hock
1 – Tablespoon of Sugar
1 – teaspoon of Black Pepper
1 – teaspoon of Salt, more or less to suit your personal taste
1/2 – medium Onion, chopped
8-10 – cups of water
Instructions
Open package of dry beans and spread out on a large plate or pan.
Sort through peas, removing any stones, sticks or hard objects. Discard any dark looking beans.
Place peas in a large pot and cover with about 2 inches of cool water. Set aside to soak.
Let soak about 6 hours or preferably overnight. See package for other options.
Next morning, pour peas into a colander and drain. Rinse under cool running water till clean.
In a large pot, place about 8 to 10 cups of water. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat.
Place a few slits in your pork seasoning of choice and add to the boiling water.
Reduce to medium-heat and let simmer for about 30 minutes.
Add the rehydrated peas to the pot of water.
Bring the peas back to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 45 minutes.
Stir the peas about every 15 minutes watching that the liquid doesn’t boil away. Add more if needed.
After about 45 minutes, remove the pork seasoning and set aside to cool.
Add the sugar and then the black pepper and stir well. Taste to see if more salt is needed.
Most beans absorb a lot of salt. Add a little at a time, let cook a minute or two and taste again.
Chop up half a medium onion. Chop any meat portion of the hog jowl and add both to pot.
Let the onions cook on medium-low heat until they are translucent. Continue to stir about every 10 minutes.
Taste the peas for tenderness. When cooked to your liking,remove from heat and serve.
Enjoy!!!
Notes
Actual cooking time will vary depending on your taste preference for tenderness of the peas. Don’t overcook until mushy. Peas can be cooled and refrigerated for several days. Add a little more water as needed when reheating. About 2-Tablespoons of bacon grease can be used instead of hog jowl or fatback. If you use bacon grease, you will skip the 30 minutes cook time for the pork pieces. It’s best to add the bacon grease seasoning after the peas have cooked for about 45 minutes. Continue to stir and taste until tender and seasoned to your families taste preferences.
Potatoes:
You can either have mashed, boiled or fried I will be having fried. Nothing like using that bacon and extra onion to make a great pan of potatoes.
Peel as many potatoes as you think you will need. I usually do about 6 medium
1 Onion, diced
4 strips of bacon, cooked and diced or just use bacon grease.
Directions:
I use a mandolin to cut things it give a uniformed size and just faster to be honest. Place bacon pieces and grease in pan and heat. Add onion and just cook long enough to make soft. Then add the potatoes.
Turn occasionally as they fried making some golden brown (my favs)
Cornbread:
Follow the package directions for this.
Hope you enjoy. I will add pictures a little later.
That's For Dinner 