Southern Ham Hock Black Eyed Peas Recipes

SOUTHERN STYLE BLACK-EYED PEAS WITH HAMHOCKS

Steps:

• Pour the dried beans onto a plate and discard any stones or discolored peas. Stir and dissolve 3 tablespoons of coarse grey sea salt in 3 quarts of water. Add the beans and cover with plastic wrap. Brine the beans overnight at room temperature (on your kitchen counter). The next day before you're ready to cook your beans, dump them into a colander and rinse well under cool water.
• Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.
• Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large 6-qt dutch oven, over medium-high heat. Add the salted pork or bacon and cook until some of the fat has rendered, about 4 minutes. Add the hamhocks and cook everything together until the pork has crisped, about another 10 minutes or so. When the pork has crisped up, remove it and the hamhocks from the pot and onto a plate, leaving the oil in the pot. Set aside to cool. Reduce the heat to medium.
• Add the diced onions to the leftover oil, and stir with a wooden spoon until the onions have picked up any flavor bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add a good pinch of the grey sea salt to the onions to help them release their liquids a bit more and soften up. Add the crushed red pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, bay leaves, and smoked paprika to the onions, stirring until combined. Continue to cook the onions down until they've become translucent and have softened (be careful not to burn them, if they're browning too quickly, lower the heat and/or add a little more oil), about 7-10 minutes. Once the onions have softened and more flavor has developed at the bottom of the pot, de-glaze with the white wine (off heat). Bring the pot back to the heat and cook until most of the wine has evaporated and you can leave trails with your wooden spoon, about 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
• Place the hamhocks back into the pot and add the chicken broth and water. Add the beans and make sure they're covered by the liquid. It's up to you whether or not you want to add the salt pork or bacon back to the pot now at this point. Bring everything up to a boil, cover and place the dutch-oven into your 300 degree oven on the lower middle rack to continue cooking for 1 hour.
• Remove the hamhocks from the pot and place on a small plate or cutting board. Remove as much meat from each hamhock as you can, being sure not to add any of the super fatty pieces. Once you've extracted the meat, chop it into small bite-sized pieces and add it back to the pot. Place the bones of the hamhocks in the pot as well, and stir to combine. Cook an additional 15 minutes. Check the doneness of the peas. Once they're creamy, smooth, and melt-in-your-mouth, they're ready. Remove from oven.
• Here's where you tailor this dish to your own black-eyed pea preference. If you like your peas more on the brothy side, you can leave them alone and skip to the last 2 steps. If you like your peas on the stewy side, remove 2 cups of the broth only, into a bowl and set aside. Ladle an additional 2 cups of the bean and broth mixture into a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth. Add pureed beans back to the pot to give the dish a last touch of creaminess. Keep in mind this dish will thicken slightly as it cools. If you need to thin it out, use some of the reserved cooking liquid - but if they're perfect and to your liking, discard it. Alternately, you could use the back of a spoon to mash some of the beans against the sides of the pot to give the dish more body. Give it a taste and season as necessary - although you may not have to do anything. Finish by adding a teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves, stirring until combined.
• Serve and enjoy.

BLACK-EYED PEAS WITH HAM HOCK AND COLLARDS

Steps:

• Drain peas and put them in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed soup pot. Add ham hock or bone (if using slab bacon, cut it into 2-inch chunks), cover with 10 cups water and turn heat to high. Add salt, onion stuck with cloves, bay leaf, black pepper and allspice.
• Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Skim off and discard any foam that rises to the surface. Simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until peas are tender. Throughout cooking, add water as necessary, always keeping liquid level 1 inch above surface, stirring with wooden spoon occasionally. Turn off heat. Check broth for salt and adjust seasoning. Mixture should be fairly brothy. With a pair of tongs, remove ham hock, ham bone or bacon. Chop meat and skin in rough pieces and set aside.
• Put a large wide skillet over medium-high heat. Add vegetable oil and heat until wavy. Add garlic and red pepper and let sizzle without browning. Add collard greens and stir to coat. Season with salt and add 1 cup water, stirring to help wilt greens. Add chopped ham and reduce heat to medium, then cover with lid slightly ajar and cook until greens are soft, about 20 minutes. Check seasoning.
• To serve, put greens and meat in low soup bowls, then ladle over hot black-eyed peas. Sprinkle with scallions.

SOUTHERN BLACK-EYED PEAS

Steps:

• Place peas in a Dutch oven; add water to cover by 2 in. Bring to a boil; boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; cover and let stand for 1 hour. Drain and rinse peas, discarding liquid; set aside., In the same pan, saute onion in oil until tender. Add the pork belly, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, pepper flakes and pepper; cook 1 minute longer., Add the broth, ham hocks and peas; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 35-40 minutes or until peas are tender, stirring occasionally and adding more water if desired., Discard bay leaves. Remove ham hocks; cool slightly. Remove meat from bones if desired; finely chop and return to pan. Discard bones. If desired, top with additional fresh thyme.

SOUTHERN BLACK-EYED PEAS

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, cover peas with water to 3 inches over the peas.
• Bring to boil, reduce heat, then simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Place ham hock, sliced onion, bacon, pepper, garlic and salt in the slow cooker/crock pot.
• Pour in 3 cups water.
• Cover and cook on HIGH until peas are tender and ready to go into the crockpot.
• When peas are tender, transfer to the slow cooker/crock pot.
• Reduce heat to LOW; cover and cook for 7 to 9 hours.
• Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with hot cornbread.

BLACK-EYED PEAS AND HAM HOCKS

Steps:

• Rinse dried peas thoroughly, sorting any tiny pebbles or other debris.
• In a large stockpot, bring 3 cups of water to a boil with black-eyed peas, ham hocks, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Reduce to a simmer and cook, uncovered, 1 1/2 hours, or until peas and ham hocks are tender. If ham hocks require further cooking, simmer in water in a separate pot until meat is easily pulled from the bone.
• Cool ham hocks and remove all meat from the bone. Stir ham into the peas, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper as needed, and serve.

SOUTHERN HAM HOCK BLACK-EYED PEAS

Steps:

• Add peas to a large dutch oven.
• Add chicken stock, water, onions and ham hocks.
• Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer for 1 hour.
• Remove lid and add chopped garlic and jalapeños, cover and simmer another 30 minutes or until they are tender.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Remove ham hocks before serving. (You can add the meat from the hocks if you desire. I don't).
• Enjoy.

BLACK-EYED PEAS WITH HAM BONE OR HAM HOCK

Steps:

• 1. Sort the beans and remove any stones or bad beans. Rinse with cold water and set aside.
• 2. In a stock pot, Bring ham bone or ham hock and 1 quart of stock to a boil; simmer for 1 hour before starting to cook beans.
• 3. Add the black-eyed peas into pan with pork and add the other quart of stock and enough water to cover the beans by 2 inches.
• 4. Add black pepper, onion and garlic. Bring back to a boil and simmer 1-1/12 hours or until beans are tender. Add salt. (If you are using ham hock, omit the salt. The ham hock will give the peas a more complex flavor and enough salt.)
• 5. Allow beans to rest for @ 30 minutes before serving.

DOWN-HOME BLACK-EYED PEAS

Steps:

• Pick over the peas, rinse them, and place them in a large Dutch oven or soup pot with the water. Bring the beans to a boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 1 hour.
• Stir in the ham hocks, onion, celery, salt, cayenne pepper, and bay leaf; bring to a boil, cover the pot, and simmer until the ham hocks are tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Stir in the okra and simmer until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaf before serving.