Lucky Black Eyed Peas With Rice Bacon Recipes

LUCKY BLACK EYED PEAS WITH RICE & BACON

Steps:

• Cook bacon in large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat until crispy.
• Drain off all but 1 T of the drippings.
• Add onion; cook, stirring, until lightly browned, 5 minutes.
• Stir in red pepper and garlic; cook, stirring, 1 minute.
• Add rice; cook, stirring, until lightly colored, about 3 minutes.
• Stir in chicken broth, peas, salt, thymeand peppers; heat to a boil.
• Cover; reduce heat.
• Cook until rice is tender, about 10 minutes.
• Stir in parsley.

HOPPIN' JOHN -- RICE AND BLACK-EYED PEAS

Steps:

• In a 4 qt or pan brown bacon and cook onion in bacon grease until the onion is transparent. ** For vegan, omit bacon and use approximately 1/4 cup of vegetable oil to cook onion.
• Add uncooked rice, black eyed peas (with juice) and water to your bacon onion mixture. Mix well. **For vegan add liquid smoke at this point to replace the smoke flavor that would have been added by the bacon.
• Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium.
• When the tops of the bursting bubbles of boiling water are all of the liquid that can be seen above the rice, remove the pan from the heat and cover.
• Wait at least twenty minutes, WITHOUT PEEKING!
• Don't do it. You'll loose precious heat and steam.
• Serve with bread of your choice, or with the veggies of your choice and plenty of hot sauce. Of course, the variety of hot sauce you choose will depend on your tolerance for heat. If you would like, this could be served as a side dish, as well.

BLACK-EYED PEAS WITH BACON

Steps:

• Rinse and sort black-eyed peas. Place peas and bacon in a Dutch oven; add water to cover. Bring to a boil; boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat; let soak, covered, 1 hour. Do not drain., In a cast-iron or other heavy skillet, heat butter over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook and stir until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in thyme., Stir into pea mixture. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, until peas are tender, stirring occasionally, 30-40 minutes. Sprinkle with salt to taste. If desired, garnish with fresh thyme leaves and additional crumbled bacon.

LUCKY BLACK-EYED PEAS

Steps:

• Saute chopped onions in oil in a 3-quart sauce- or soup-pot; set aside.
• Sort peas carefully to remove stones and dirt, rinse well. Dump peas in pot with onion; add half the garlic cloves and the ham hocks, bay leaves, chopped parsley, cayenne pepper, Tabasco sauce and black pepper.
• Cover with water; cook on high until just boiling, and turn down heat to low, to simmer. Add HOT water as necessary to keep peas covered. Stir occasionally.
• Cut smoked sausage into 3/4-inch slices, then cut slices in quarters. After peas have simmered for about 1-1/2 hours, remove ham hocks and set aside to cool. Add sausage and remaining garlic. (It is not necessary to cut up garlic. It'll fall apart -- and your fingers won't smell for days.) When ham hocks have cooled enough to handle, remove skin and discard. Remove meat from bones and gristle from meat. Shred meat and return to pot. Return large bones to pot. Cook on low for another hour or until peas melt in your mouth, keeping them covered with water and stirring as needed to prevent sticking. Peas should be like a bean soup with plenty of liquid, or you can smash up a few peas to create a smooth, thick consistence.
• Carefully, salt to taste. Remove bay leaves and bones. Serve with a dash of vinegar (malt, if possible) and steamed white rice (to cool the palate -- optional). Makes 30 1/2-cup servings. Recipe may be halved. Do not freeze leftovers.