Meaty, Smoky Black Eyed Peas.
Inspired by NOLA-style white beans and a need to use up the holiday ham bone.
Inspiration taken from the legendary Jazzfest Meaty White Beans. Serves eight.
Ingredients
1 lb black eyed peas
1 lb smoked sausage, sliced into coins
1 ham bone or 1 smoked hamhock and any leftover Christmas Ham that made it to New Years.
8 cups water
2 bay leaves
1 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
4 stalks of celery, diced
2 serrano peppers, diced (optional!)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons white pepper
several hefty sprinkles of Tony's, or 1 teaspoon each garlic powder and onion powder
cayenne to taste
black paper to taste
kosher salt to taste
Instructions
Optional step- soak or pressure cook black eyed peas. This isn’t really necessary for black eyed peas, but it makes a significant difference if using great northerns or something more traditional for white beans.
Sear chopped sausage in enameled cast iron pot. Remove from pan after browned. Recipe works perfectly well in any deep soup pan, but you’ll need to be more attentive to something searing in a thinner material like steel or nonstick.
Sweat chopped vegetables and add paprika, white pepper and other seasonings. Onion, bell pepper and celery- referred to as the Holy Trinity in southeast Louisiana- are the base for many classic Cajun and Creole dishes. I like to add chopped seed-in serrano peppers for a little extra heat.
Add sausage, hamhock, and any leftover holiday ham. Cover with 8 cups water and bring to a simmer.
Add peas and simmer until tender- at least 1 hour. The longer you simmer, the more porkiness you’ll pull from your ham bone.
Salt to taste while smashing tender peas against the side of the pan. This adds creaminess and thickens the stew without any need for flour or cornstarch.
Ladle into bowls and serve with chopped green onions and long grain rice. Chopped parsley is a nice touch as well.
Additional Thoughts:
I have no idea how to trim a ham bone. Look at that thing. What a mess. Grocery store hamhocks will work marvelously as well and keep in the freezer for ages.
White beans are, I think, a lesser-known cousin of red beans and rice, and one of my favorite cold weather comfort foods. I remember my dad saying not long after we moved to New Orleans that it was the weekly special white beans at Frankie and Johnny’s that really impressed upon him that food is taken a bit more seriously in NOLA. I make it a few times a year and am obnoxiously particular about which beans I use- Mom is great about keeping me stocked with Camellia Great Northerns via the post office.
Something I’ve done recently is let my white beans simmer in the electric smoker for a few hours with soaked hickory chips. It adds a bit of extra smokiness on top of that imparted by the paprika the hamhock. But if it’s cold and drizzly out it doesn’t make enough of a difference to justify leaving the cozy indoors. Coziness is a key component of this meal.
I normally try to reduce recipes because I’m never cooking for more than two people right now, as much as I wish otherwise. But this freezes well and never gets old, so I’m making a bunch and not eating anything else for a few days, fuck it.
In the world where I run things, there are no working days between the middle of December and Mardi Gras. I don’t particularly like relying on Catholicism to set the labor schedule, but ending the holiday season with a week-long party in early February rocks.
Things To Do In Denver When You’re Dead is a hungover New Years song. I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead is an insomniac’s New Years song.
I;m thinking about thos beans
Great way to get my black eye peas on New Years. I halved it and it was wonderful thanks