Tags
black-eyed peas, ham and beans, holiday recipes, lucky recipes, new year's recipes, peas and beans, pork and beans
The celebration surrounding the New Year is nearly as heaped in food traditions as Thanksgiving and Christmas. There are individual family classics-in our house, we eat Swedish meatballs, sauerkraut, pork, and Chex mix! And there are classic foods like black-eyed peas. The Foodtimeline.org says black-eyed peas are thought to bring luck because of their round shape, which signifies that the old year has been completed. The dish is often cooked with pork, which is a symbol of prosperity.
I’ve always wanted to make a batch and I found a super simple recipe in the Old House Holiday and Party Cookbook, published in 1969 and written by Emily Dick, owner of the now-defunct Old House Restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky. I’m publishing this in time for you to go out, buy a bag a black-eyed peas and soak them! It’s a really delicious and hearty way to start your new year. It’s a one-pot dish. You can use ham in place of salt pork but I found a store that carries salt pork, which I’m going to use in all my bean recipes from now on-it’s just superior to ham, in my opinion.
Ingredients
2 cups black-eyed peas
1/2 pound salt pork
1 slice red pepper or 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
8 cups water, divided
1 chopped onion
Instructions
Soak the beans in four cups of water overnight. Drain just before cooking.
Rinse the salt pork. Put all the ingredients in a heavy pot with a lid and bring it to a boil.
Reduce the heat, and let it simmer until the peas are tender-about two hours.
Enjoy!