The Pioneer Woman Tasty Kitchen
Profile photo of ThreeManyCooks

New Year’s Black-Eyed Peas

Posted by in Holidays, Step-by-Step Recipes

Tasty Kitchen Blog: New Year's Black-Eyed Peas, Slightly Updated. Guest post by Maggy Keet of Three Many Cooks, recipe from Three Many Cooks.

 
For Southerners, black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day are as mandatory a tradition as turkey on Thanksgiving Day. We’ve had black-eyed peas, collard greens and cornbread on New Year’s Day for as long as I can remember. Even the year my family spent the week after Christmas in Hawaii. While most families would have traded the sweet tea and peas for an umbrella drink and a luau, my mom’s side of the family considered this the unforgivable sin. My Granny and her younger sister, Dot, conspiring like young girls, packed dried black-eyed peas in their luggage bound for Waikiki Beach. Without them a proper New Year’s was not possible. So on January 1st, 2004 eight of us squeezed into a beach-side condo to enjoy black-eyed peas and not much more.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: New Year's Black-Eyed Peas, Slightly Updated. Guest post by Maggy Keet of Three Many Cooks, recipe from Three Many Cooks.

The specific recipe isn’t important. The fundamentals remain unchanged: black-eyed peas and a dime. The one who finds the dime will also find luck in the coming year. I think I was a better Southerner as a little girl, because back then I believed in the dime magic. Now it’s lovely to think it might be so.

This is a new version of the family classic my Mom and I came up with this year.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: New Year's Black-Eyed Peas, Slightly Updated. Guest post by Maggy Keet of Three Many Cooks, recipe from Three Many Cooks.

Begin by soaking the beans overnight. If you forget (as we did) you can quickly soak your beans by pouring boiling water over them. Then they’re ready in an hour or two.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: New Year's Black-Eyed Peas, Slightly Updated. Guest post by Maggy Keet of Three Many Cooks, recipe from Three Many Cooks.

Once soaked, drain the beans.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: New Year's Black-Eyed Peas, Slightly Updated. Guest post by Maggy Keet of Three Many Cooks, recipe from Three Many Cooks.

Start by dicing an onion. Everyone can do that with relative ease.

But chopping a bell pepper is a bit more difficult. My Mom says the secret to chopping round vegetables is getting them flat ASAP. I only learned this little trick a few months ago and it’s been a culinary game-changer.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: New Year's Black-Eyed Peas, Slightly Updated. Guest post by Maggy Keet of Three Many Cooks, recipe from Three Many Cooks.

First, lop off the ends of the pepper.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: New Year's Black-Eyed Peas, Slightly Updated. Guest post by Maggy Keet of Three Many Cooks, recipe from Three Many Cooks.

Slice down the length of the pepper, lay the pepper on its side, and use the knife to remove the membranes inside. Once the pepper is flat, it’s easier to slice into strips.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: New Year's Black-Eyed Peas, Slightly Updated. Guest post by Maggy Keet of Three Many Cooks, recipe from Three Many Cooks.

See? Easy peasy.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: New Year's Black-Eyed Peas, Slightly Updated. Guest post by Maggy Keet of Three Many Cooks, recipe from Three Many Cooks.

Next, cut up your salt pork.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: New Year's Black-Eyed Peas, Slightly Updated. Guest post by Maggy Keet of Three Many Cooks, recipe from Three Many Cooks.

Sauté the salt pork for a few minutes on each side until lightly crisped and brown. In my opinion, we could stop the recipe here and simply eat these! But we must show some restraint and carry on with the recipe.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: New Year's Black-Eyed Peas, Slightly Updated. Guest post by Maggy Keet of Three Many Cooks, recipe from Three Many Cooks.

Add your chopped onions and peppers to the pot.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: New Year's Black-Eyed Peas, Slightly Updated. Guest post by Maggy Keet of Three Many Cooks, recipe from Three Many Cooks.

Cook until peppers are tender and onions are translucent.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: New Year's Black-Eyed Peas, Slightly Updated. Guest post by Maggy Keet of Three Many Cooks, recipe from Three Many Cooks.

Add the soaked beans to the pot, followed by the chicken broth.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: New Year's Black-Eyed Peas, Slightly Updated. Guest post by Maggy Keet of Three Many Cooks, recipe from Three Many Cooks.

Then the most important part of the recipe: Add the dime! (When we photographed this dish we couldn’t find a dime, so we used a quarter. Call it inflation).

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: New Year's Black-Eyed Peas, Slightly Updated. Guest post by Maggy Keet of Three Many Cooks, recipe from Three Many Cooks.

When the beans are cooked and soft and the broth becomes opaque, add the thyme.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: New Year's Black-Eyed Peas, Slightly Updated. Guest post by Maggy Keet of Three Many Cooks, recipe from Three Many Cooks.

We garnished with minced red onion and vinegar.

We may live in the North, but Mom makes sure we respect our Southern roots. (You can take the girl out of the South, but you can’t take the South out of the girl.) Come Saturday afternoon, we’ll be eating these beans with collard greens and cornbread.

Happy New Year, one and all, from Three Many Cooks! Hope 2011 brings you, well—everything promised in that little dime.

 
 

Printable Recipe

New Year’s Black-Eyed Peas, Slightly Updated

4.87 Mitt(s) 8 Rating(s)8 votes, average: 4.87 out of 58 votes, average: 4.87 out of 58 votes, average: 4.87 out of 58 votes, average: 4.87 out of 58 votes, average: 4.87 out of 5

Prep Time:

Cook Time:

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 12

12
x

Print Options

Page size Letter 3x5 4x6
Text Size Small Medium Large
Content Include description
Include prep time, etc.
Show image

Description

Ring in the New Year with Black-Eyed Peas, Slightly Updated.

Ingredients

  • ¾ pounds Slab Salt Pork, Sliced Thick And Then Into 2-inch Pieces
  • 1 whole Large Onion, Cut Into Medium Dice
  • 1 whole Large Bell Pepper, Cut Into Medium Dice
  • 2 pounds Black Eyed Beans, Soaked In 12 Cups Of Water Overnight And Drained (See Note For Quicker Method)
  • 2 quarts Chicken Broth, Plus 1 To 2 Cups Water As Needed
  • 1 whole Coin (i.e. A Dime)
  • 1 pinch Salt And Ground Black Pepper To Taste
  • 2 Tablespoons Tablespoons Chopped Fresh Thyme Leaves
  • 1 whole Medium Red Onion, Minced
  • 1 dash Red Wine Vinegar (or Pepper Sauce) As Desired

Preparation Instructions

Heat a large soup kettle over medium-high heat. Add salt pork; fry until golden brown and fat has rendered, 4 to 5 minutes. Add onions and pepper; sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add peas, chicken broth, and coin. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered and stirring occasionally, until peas are fully tender and cooking liquid turns from translucent to opaque, adding water as necessary to keep peas moist but not soupy, about 1 hour. When peas have fully softened, season generously with salt and pepper and stir in thyme. Continue to simmer to blend flavors, a couple of minutes longer. Serve with a dish of red onion and vinegar or pepper sauce alongside.

Note: You can quickly soak your beans by pouring boiling water over them. Then they’re ready in an hour or two.

 
 
_______________________________________

Three Many Cooks is the always-entertaining food blog of Pam Anderson and her two daughters, Maggy and Sharon. Pam is a well-known and much-respected food writer and author, Maggy is a “hippy adventurer meets 1950s housewife,” and Sharon refers to herself as a recovering food snob learning to survive on a graduate student’s budget. Theirs is a strong relationship both inside and outside the kitchen, and it shows in the food they create and the stories they tell.

 

64 Comments

Comments are closed for this recipe.

Brenda on 12.30.2010

@Jane B. You an add liquid smoke to it for a bacon-y smoky flavor. Just don’t add too much!

Profile photo of ThreeManyCooks

ThreeManyCooks on 12.30.2010

Michelle W if you click on the “printable recipe”, the full recipe is there as well as a cook time – they cook for about an hour.

Kelly Lilley – Yes, the dime – or quarter ;) – is just for fun and for luck! Nothing added to the flavor.

Jane B. – I think the beans would still taste great without the salt pork and chicken broth – there’s still a lot of flavor in there with the onion, pepper, fresh thyme, red onion and even vinegar. My friend here suggests vegetable lard if you want a bit of fat – it’s kind of like shortening, but it has more flavor.

Americangirlinquebec – If you have young children, you can simply omit the coin! But generally as soon as portions are spooned onto a plate, you can see who got the dime :)

Karen on 12.30.2010

Hello Rea, black eyed peas and collards are a family tradition on New Years eve, It’s one of my fav. meals.I recently lost my best friend to breast cancer,she loved to cook and eat when she was well. After being on chemo for months she lost her sense of taste.That didn’t diminish her love of good food,so we used to pour over your recipes together.She loved your blog it was one of the things that gave her pleasure in the last days of her life.Thank you so much for bringing my friend joy when she needed it and for providing me with a cherished memory. You hold a special place in my heart.

Heather (Heather's Dish) on 12.30.2010

black eyed peas epitomize new year’s for me…we always had it with bacon and kale!

Jane B. on 12.30.2010

Any ideas for how to adjust this for a vegetarian? Obviously leave out the salt pork and probably use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth…but will it really taste the same? What else could I use (non-meat) that would give it that same flavor? My son is the vegetarian and I’m still fairly new to vegetarian cooking, so any help I can get is great!

Profile photo of americangirlinquebec

americangirlinquebec on 12.30.2010

This dish looks yummy (and filling!), but I’d be nervous to put a coin in it. I’d be so nervous the entire time that someone was going to choke on it, especially if children were having some.

Michelle W on 12.30.2010

Did I miss a time for how long to cook the peas? Even an estimate would be helpful.

I’m a Northern girl, but these do look yummy!

Tina Biffle on 12.30.2010

The Dime is like just there for luck type of thing. You know, to bring good wealth for the new year. It’s kind of like trying to find the plastic baby in a Kings Cake during Mardi Gras. And, personally, i think it might be a little gross, I would seriously wash the tar out of that coin before you put it into a pot of beans….

Jessica @ How Sweet It Is on 12.30.2010

I’ve never had black eyed peas. Would love to give them a try.

Profile photo of sallyk

sallyk on 12.30.2010

This looks very good. Unfortunately, black-eyed peas are probably the only legume I don’t like. I don’t know what it is about them, but they’re way at the bottom of the list. I might try this with another legume.

Kelly Lilley on 12.30.2010

Does the coin change the flavor or is it just for luck?

KarenJ on 12.30.2010

Looks delicious. I think I may introduce it to my combined Portuguese-Bulgarian family (I’m the only American in the family and one of the few I know here in the Algarve.)) for New Year’s Day this Saturday.

Two more things about your red pepppers. Slicing down the sides to get flat pieces means you have nice flat pieces to lay out under the broiler for quick roasted peppers. Second, slicing dicing and just generally cutting the peppers is faster if you do it with the interior (softer) side up. Less force is needed to break the skin that direction than when you start with the skin side. Especially if you start with the top first inch or so of the knife and draw it towards you rather than using a full flat blade.

Profile photo of jodiemo

jodiemo on 12.30.2010

When I was a kid I would eat bowls and bowls of black-eye peas, trying desperately to find the dime. I never did get the dime, but I sure do love some black eye peas. Happy New Year!

Kristen on 12.30.2010

wait, why the dime?