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.
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.
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.
Once soaked, drain the beans.
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.
First, lop off the ends of the pepper.
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.
See? Easy peasy.
Next, cut up your salt pork.
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.
Add your chopped onions and peppers to the pot.
Cook until peppers are tender and onions are translucent.
Add the soaked beans to the pot, followed by the chicken broth.
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).
When the beans are cooked and soft and the broth becomes opaque, add the thyme.
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.
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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.
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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
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Terri on 1.11.2011
Finally made this recipe for the New Year! YUMMY!!!!!
Dana Prince on 1.9.2011
I made this for New Years Day and it was absolutely delicious!! I think we have started a new tradition too now. I could not however bring myself to place a dime into the pot. I am a serious germ-a-phobe and could not imagine the dreadful things I would be adding to that pot of soup if I had put the dime in there!!
Thank you for the wonderful meal
Charlene Lucas on 1.8.2011
We have B-E Peas every year for New Year’s. But, I love them any time of year and make them when I think about it. What I’m getting at is, that I have eaten a LOT of B-E Peas in my life! My mom made the best. But, these are, by far, the very best B-E Peas that I have ever had! I made them for New Years this year for a group of friends. Everyone loved them and couldn’t say enough good things about them. I loved the red onions on top! Anyway, I don’t normally post, but I just had to let you know just how good I think these peas are.
Happy New Year!
Susie L. on 1.7.2011
It’s just not right that it should be 38 degrees in California.
Susie Bee on Maui (Eat Little, Eat Big) on 1.7.2011
Good thing you brought your peas to HI! I had trouble finding any this year. Did finally find a bag and tried something new-hummus made with black eyed peas. Delicious!
http://eatlittleeatbig.blogspot.com/2011/01/recipe-for-black-eyed-pea-hummus.html
Don’t wait for NY’s to try it.
Tawnya H on 1.6.2011
I think the dime was there to make the kids eat all the peas. What incentive! They would eat and eat, and hope they found it in the last bite…
Julie Seamons on 1.3.2011
My Dad was from North Carolina and ham hock and beans were traditional in our family every New Years Day. I never liked Black eyed peas until I was older but they are the beans of choice with my ham hock. I always fix a ham either sometime around Christmas or New Years Eve and then use the remaining ham and ham hock for the soup. This year I added a few extras and my son told me it was the best ever. Serve with hot cornbread and honey and we were in heaven!
Angela on 1.3.2011
These look truly amazing. What a great Southern tradition!
Marilyn on 1.3.2011
Made these for New Years. Didn’t use the coin and did not need to season. Just used salt pork, onion, red bell pepper, peas, chicken broth, and water. Perfect!
Kathy L. on 1.3.2011
These were the very best black-eyed peas I’ve ever eaten!!! Of course I had to “fry up” a few slices of the “streak of lean” I bought for these. Oh my I had forgotten how good this stuff is!
mellystx on 1.3.2011
AWESOME! I have never been a fan of black eyed peas but these were “da bomb!” After years and years of pulling new recipes out of my hat this one is the keeper. Thank you so much. Loved the dime, although my daughter spooned and spooned until she found it. She called it, “Making her own luck.” Hmmmmm, not sure it works that way?!
Margaret on 1.2.2011
I made these for New Year’s Day and they were the best black eyed peas I have ever eaten. I served them with Ree’s cornbread and collards. Yum!!!
The Healthy Apple on 1.2.2011
Such a perfect recipe for these chilly winter nights; thank you for sharing! I’m going to make this tomorrow.
Happy New Year and thank you again!
Ginny on 1.2.2011
I made this for New Years following the recipe (minus the dime) and it was so good!
Wenche Sterling on 1.2.2011
Interesting! I have never heard of this tradition before, probably because I am not American. We have a ‘similar’ tradition in Norway, where on Christmas Eve for lunch we make rice porridge, and hide a blanched almond in the pot. Whoever gets it, hides it until the end of the meal, and gets a little prize – such as a chocolate covered marzipan piece. Ah, the memories!
ClaireS on 1.2.2011
I’m not fond of thyme, and think I’ll omit it next time. But other than that, this dish was DIVINE! I especially like the idea of using roasted green chilis, too!
Glad I cut it in half for our family of four (two adults, two children) …. I have just enough leftovers to take to work for lunch this week!
Mandivilla on 1.2.2011
I loved the thyme in here! I could not find any salt pork, so I just used ham, but I loved this recipe. The best part though, was the tip about chopping the pepper. I feel like a nerd for not figuring it out before, but I had so much more fun chopping and it was so much prettier! Thanks for that one, mama.
ggintexas on 1.2.2011
Love it as well! Cooked it for my daughter and her family and they all (even the two gran girls 3 & 18 months) loved the Black-eyed Peas. I believe this is a staple for me as those were the best I have ever eaten. The Red Wine Vinegar does make a difference.
Christine W. on 1.2.2011
Loved it!! I’m a Southern gal transplanted to the NE and black-eyed peas are a have-to for New Year’s. So I’m always looking for a new recipe. I didn’t have regular chicken stock and used the culinary stock with white wine, rosemary and thyme. It was a bit too salty with the salt pork. So next time I’ll use reduced salt stock and add my own white wine and spices. But, definitely a repeat!!
tommye on 1.2.2011
I made these yesterday and entered them in our annual “black-eyed pea-off” (a takeoff on the chili cook-off’s our area is famous for). I forgot the dime, and didn’t win! But, I sure did get lots of compliments on them! They were great.
MOV on 1.2.2011
I love how your family took the beans to Hawaii to maintain the tradition! (I think I would like *Hawaii* to be our tradition– ah, some day).
Always an inspiration!
*
http://mothersofbrothersblog.blogspot.com
*
MOV
eatdessertfirst on 1.1.2011
Made these this afternoon….although I changed it just a dab..used red peppers and roasted green chiles…omitted the herbs at the end…it was very good…thanks T-Dub
Leanne Pham on 1.1.2011
I made these today and they were a hit. There was enough left over to freeze for later use. Thanks for the new staple to my recipe box.
Heather Williams on 1.1.2011
I made this dish today for New Year’s and it was absolutely wonderful. My entire family raved on the dish. Thank you for sharing.
sherry on 1.1.2011
This looks really delicious! Happy New Year!
Sherry
Robin on 1.1.2011
We always have blackeyed peas and cornbread for New Years Day. I’ve never seasoned them this way. I made these today and the family RAVED! I think it was the chicken broth and thyme, delicious!
Holly on 1.1.2011
My family and I have black-eyed peas for New Year’s day every year for as long as I can remember, and after I met my husband we added his family tradition of cabbage and cornbread. This makes for a wonderful soul pleasing dinner. I’ve never heard of the coin before now, but growing up I was told you should eat a pea for every day of good luck you wanted, the cabbage I was told is for good health and wealth – I always ate up my share and have had pretty good luck
Brook – here’s a link for the cold black-eyed pea salad that is wonderful! http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Black-Eyed-Pea-Salad/Detail.aspx
Happy New Year everyone!
Sue Jack on 1.1.2011
Hello, Ree…..
I’ve been following you for several years now (actually learned about you through my mom who lives near you!)….what a fun and exciting life you lead! I know it must be somewhat challenging to maintain your normal country life while merging it with fame, but you seem to be handling and managing it well!
I grew up in Drumright, Oklahoma, and live in Denver now. Even though I get back often, I so miss the country life and simpler, more natural way of living. My daughters, 10 and 13, would kill to live in the country and have a farm… The oil & gas industry brought me to Denver, and even though I took a 13-year sabbatical to raise my sweet daughters, I have just returned to work.
I would love to attend one of your seminars next time you are in Denver, Cheyenne or anywhere nearby…..I seem to keep missing the ones in Oklahoma when I am there.
Just wanted to let you know that you have yet another kindred admirer…Happy, Happy New Year to you and your family!
Sue
cindi on 12.31.2010
One of my moms coworkers makes collard greens with canola oil instead of fatback. We tried it and it did taste like it had the fat back in it. That would probably work just as well for this recipe also. I use it when I dont have fat back or bacon available( which is rare being a true sweet tea drinking, collard and grit eating southern girl). I am going to try this recipe sounds very good. Almost a cross between the classic black eyed peas I grew up on and hoppin jack which we made last year and was pretty good.
eatdessertfirst on 12.31.2010
Got mine soakin’ right now…..we always had black-eyed peas and cornbread…when my Grandma was alive we had wilted spinach, also. This year I’m gonna have creamed spinach…ummmmm. Happ
y New Year ya’ll…T-Dub
Momcat on 12.31.2010
Lifelong Texan here (62 years) and I have eaten black eyed peas every New Year’s Day that I can remember. My husband doesn’t much care for them, but he eats them on New Year’s Day too, and I fix his family tradition of red cabbage! I never heard of putting a dime or other coin in it, though. I was always taught that the peas represented humility and that you would have one day of good luck in the coming year for every pea you ate. I guess I ate a lot, because I always have been pretty lucky and happy.
Terri on 12.31.2010
My husband is making this tomorrow! Can’t wait. We may skip the dime, though.
Cathy P. on 12.31.2010
My grandmother was raised in Louisiana and she always cooked black- eyed peas on New Years”s for good luck. But I’ve never heard of the dime importance. I’ll stick with a silver dollar and know that no one will accidentally choke.
Darla on 12.31.2010
I make black eyed pea’s rice and cornbread every yr.
never done the dime before.
Jane B on 12.31.2010
Thanks for the vegetarian suggestions everyone! I appreciate it! I am heading out to pick up some liquid smoke and also some vegetable lard to have both on hand. There are often recipes that call for bacon or salt pork and now I will have substitutes ready! Thanks again!
Mindy Ussery on 12.31.2010
Looks great! My recipe is similar. We just add some cajun type spices and sausage to ours( along with the saltpork). YUMM. My favorite tradition. I too , have toted blacke eyed peas on New Years vacations. You just cant have a New Year without them.
We are Texans and I have never heard of the dime tradition.
stools on 12.31.2010
That’s it! My family do not really like black-eyed peas but they cannot resist this fantastic version! Thanks a bunch!
Athena on 12.31.2010
Well, the copper and nickel of the coin would probably be fine, we need copper and nickel in tiny amounts. But still, gah, but a mineral complex instead ;).
Athena on 12.31.2010
Adding the money is just gross. Sorry, but that totally killed it for me. I don’t care how sterilized it has been, I’ve seen too many gross things done to money to ever put it in my food.
It’s way easier to slice the peppers in half, then just pull the insides of the tops right off, comes out effortlessly.
Other than that, looks pretty tasty. I’ve had numerous unusual things but never tasted black eyed peas yet.
Brook on 12.31.2010
I heard about a black-eyed pea dish that is made with a vinaigrette and served cold. Has anybody heard of this and know of a recipe?
amanda on 12.31.2010
I love black eyed peas, and cook them thru out the year. They are delicious in so many ways…
Adding a dime or quarter seems NASTY to me though. I imagine it’s adding metals to the food… that surely can’t be healthy. However, this is coming from a girl who doesn’t use aluminum foil… that stuff leaches into the food.
Happy NEW YEAR!
cagey (carroll jean) on 12.30.2010
This looks soooooo good. It’s a recipe that I will be making for the New Year. It may sound weird, but have you even seen a picture of food and just start salivated at the sight of it? This did it for me!!
Chrystal on 12.30.2010
If you are a veggie and want to have that smoky flavor just add a few drops of liquid smoke to the stock. It will give it that nice smoky flavor. I reccomend the hickory for the flavor closest to bacon or salt pork.
I never put a dime in it, but we also eat rice. That was the way my Granny did it and my mom too, so that’s the way I do it.
Black eyed peas for coins, greens for paper money, rice for luck. That was the way my Granny told it anyway and both sides of my family are from Mississippi.
Catherine on 12.30.2010
It’s on the stove right now – without the dime – I would get it and choke!
Caneel on 12.30.2010
These look amazing! Growing up, we always had a silver dollar in ours. I always wondered how healthy that was to have it while it was cooking. Can’t say it brought us luck, but can’t say it didn’t either!
Grace on 12.30.2010
Mmmm…that looks yummy-licious!
Magsie on 12.30.2010
I’m from Texas, and we have to have black-eyed peas on new year’s day or else.
Thanks for the great recipe!
Decaf Debi on 12.30.2010
Jane B: I’m a Southern girl and became a vegetarian when I was 15. I’ve kept the black-eyed peas tradition by making them with vegetable broth and adding some Cajun seasoning. Plenty of zest in them to not notice the lack of bacon, pork fat, or ham hocks.
Emily on 12.30.2010
I always got the dime! We still do this!
Meghann on 12.30.2010
Looks good, but I would never trade my saurkraut and keilbasa for this! I’ve never had a New Years in my life without saurkraut…mmmm….