My fathers family have some deep southern roots and certain traditions resonate with me. Every New Years Eve I set up the peas to soak. New Years day I set it up to simmer all morning, the smell of it is the smell of our year beginning. I make this huge pot to share with anyone who stops by that day. We believe this is a beautiful blessing of good luck and an excellent way to set the tone for the year, sharing a hearty and nourishing meal with people we love.
This is a far from traditional version of this dish. Part of the reason for that is that for so many years, I had severe food allergies, specifically I reacted to any pork products (food poisoning style reactions, seriously unpleasant, exetensive work on gut remediation has sorted this over the last few years). This means no ham hocks, I’ve replaced it with the turkey bacon to give it the smokey flavor the ham would usually give it so be sure to use a flavorful, good quality bacon. You can certainly opt for regular, pork bacon or even panchetta, if you do, don’t add the olive oil.
I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
MWAH!
-TKW
Black Eyed Peas
Ingredients
Soak Overnight The Following
- 3 Cups Dry Black Eyed Peas
- 6 Cups Water
- 2 Cloves Garlic, Chopped Fine
- 1 Tbsp White Onion, Chopped Fine
- 1/8 tsp Ground Cumin
- Dash Ground Pepper
- Dash Garlic Salt
Marinated Chicken Breasts
- 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
- 1 Clove Garlic Chopped Fine
- One Drop Taste Of Italy Essential Oil
- One Drop Lemon Essential Oill
- 2 Chicken Breasts, Chopped Into Small Pieces
Chop The Rest of the Ingredients Small
- 1/4 Package Turkey Bacon
- 1 Head Garlic
- 1 Large Carrot
- ½ Red Bell Pepper
- 1 Bunch Green Onions
- 1 Rib Celery
- 1 Small Bunch Parsley
- 4 Tbsp Olive Oil
Broth
- 5 Branches Rosemary
- 1 tsp Ground Sage
- 1/8 tsp Garlic Salt
- ½ Cup Butter
- 64 oz Chicken Stock
- 3 Boullion Cubes
Instructions
- Rinse the peas and then cover them in the 6 cups of water with the garlic, onion and spices overnight
- Rinse then chop the chicken, massage the pieces with the olive oil marinade and let marinate while you chop the other ingredients
- Saute the turkey bacon in the olive oil, when crispy, scrape into the large pot you will be simmering everything in
- Add the chicken to saute pan, when browned, scrape into the large pot with the bacon
- Saute onions, celery, carrot and garlic in sauce pan until onion is glassy, scrape into the pot with bacon and chicken
- Rinse peas and add to pot
- Add chicken stock, and other seasonings, including the boullion cubes
- Add another Tbsp of olive oil to saute pan and saute parsley until it smells savory, scrape pan into pot
- De-glaze the saute pan with a splash of chicken stock then pour into the pot
- Simmer on medium low until peas are tender
- This should be a brothy soup, if the peas absorb the liquid, add either more broth or water to reach the desired consistency