Beans 5 Ways Part 2: Hoppin John!

I've pulled out the black eyed peas.  I soaked them 6 hours.  Now I'm ready to make some Hoppin John!

 

Black Eyed Peas

  I've had black eyed peas once, that I can remember, but for some reason I keep a bag in my pantry.  The traditional dish looks simple enough, a lot like your basic pork and beans, except the beans are white and black.  I found some beautiful pictures of Hoppin' John and then I found a step by step illustrated recipe.  It takes the traditional black eyed peas and then dresses them up with extra veggies, spices, and rice.  It looks yummy! 

I used a little bit from both The Pioneer Woman and Garden and Gun recipes.  I bought a ham hock and I also had bacon in the fridge, but I decided to just use the bacon this time and put the ham in the freezer for another day.
 Black eyed peas are more like a pea. They only take six hours to soak and about 1/2 an hour too cook.  They can also be cooked without soaking if you bring them to a boil and simmer for a couple hours, this could be perfect for use with a crock pot and ham hock.

And now for my first mistake.  I started my onions first, by sauteing them in olive oil while I chopped the peppers.  Then I remembered that I wanted to cook it with bacon, meaning the olive oil was overkill, and by the time I got my peppers chopped my onions were soft and the bacon was boiling in the juices instead of browning.  I highly recommend frying the bacon in your pan then adding the onions. 

At the grocery store I found a bag of tricolor

mini sweet peppers on sale, so I got that and a big poblano pepper.  I love cooking with colors!

Into the Pot!

Don't Forget the Rice!  I used a whole box of chicken broth, and in the end I had a lot of extra liquid.  I suspect that adding a cup of rice at the same time as the beans should even things out, and you wouldn't have to cook your rice in a separate pot....I'll have to try that next time.

I think things went pretty well.  I didn't originally use much hot spices, but I think spicier is better, so I'm adding Tabasco the my recipe.  I'm fairly certain that this is a dish that tastes best on the second day.  Tomorrow, I'll be serving mine over jasmine rice.  

Here's my final recipe for your consideration....

 

Soak 1 pound black eyed peas 6 hours.

In a large pot:
Fry 1 pound chopped bacon.
Add:
1 chopped onion
1 mashed clove garlic
1 large green chili (poblano)
6 mini sweet peppers
1 chopped celery heart
2 cups chicken stock(just enough to cover the beans, or try 1 cup of rice, 4 cups broth)
2 whole bay leaves
generous black pepper, and Tabasco
salt to taste

Bring to boil, simmer until beans are tender.  (about one hour) Remove the bay leaves.

Serve With Rice, or Cornbread

see also:
Beans 5 Ways:
Garlic Sausage Lentils
Hummus
Ramjah
Adzuki Bean Paste

Beans 5 Ways: Part 1

I've got a plethora of dried beans (and peas).  I've bought them for emergency food, camping, and just because they're cheap food with an excellent nutritional profile.  The only problem is I just don't use them.  They sit in my pantry getting older, and taking up space....So, in the next few weeks I am going to try some new recipes, and hopefully add a few to my repertoire.

Chick Peas

  I'm probably most excited to try hummus.  I Love hummus.  My favorite hummus comes from Cafe Soriah in Eugene, but alas I do not think they're going to share thier recipe.  I'm going to have to take my chances with a promising recipe I found online here.  For those of you that don't know, hummus is basically a puree of chickpeas and mashed sesame seeds(tahini), with lemon juice, cumin, and garlic.   It's a great savory spread or dip.  (go to: Hummus)

Kidney Beans

  Kidney beans are great, on salad, in chili, or just with salt...but I don't usually take it any further, and I usually use canned beans.  So I'm going to try my hand at this Ramjah (kidney bean curry)...I don't often eat or cook Indian food, but it sounds soo good.

Lentils

  I've got some Bob's Red Mill soup and rice mixes that include lentils, and they are pretty darn good, and make a great easy meal.   Rachel Ray has a simple looking recipe for Sausage with Garlic Lentils that I'm going to try.  Her foods always look amazing, if a little fatty for everyday meals.  I think I'll use the al fresco pre-cooked chicken sausage that I can get at WinCo. (go to: Garlic Sausage Lentils)
 

Black Eyed Peas

  I've had black eyed peas once, that I can remember, but for some reason I keep a bag in my pantry.  The traditional dish looks simple enough, a lot like your basic pork and beans, except the beans are black and white.  I found some beautiful pictures of Hoppin' John and then I found a step by step illustrated recipe.  It takes the traditional black eyed peas and then dresses them up with extra veggies, spices, and rice.  It looks yummy!  (go to: Hoppin John!)

Red Azuki Beans

  This is probably going to be the strangest one for me.  I've had things stuffed with bean paste before, from the Asian food store, they all seemed over-processed and just weird.  I'm hoping that by making it myself I can get that idea out of my head, and maybe my family will actually enjoy it.  The recipe I've found is well written and seems simple...

  So, there it is, If you want to play along just click on the links above ^
In Part 2, I planned to go into detail about my first recipe.....Hummus....I've got everything but the tahini, fresh lemons and parsley.  Unfortunately they don't sell tahini at my regular store...So check out Part 2: Hoppin John!
Part 3: Garlic Sausage Lentils
Part 4: Hummus
Part 5: Ramjah
Part 6: Adzuki Bean Paste