You know, of course, it being the New Year, we simply have to have a recipe for blackeyed peas. Herein, we provide a lesson for the uninitiated on how to prepare and cook dried blackeyed peas. This method will work for any dried legume: peas, beans, lentils, soybeans, etc. Length of time may vary, but the theory is the same. You soak and cook dried legumes all in the same way. This recipe calls for meat, but for some of us who do not want to include meat, just leave it out.
Additionally, when we are serving blackeyed peas, we MUST have cornbread to sop up the gravy. We happen to have a dandy cornbread recipe for you. It is a Southern style cornbread, which means it is NOT sweet. It does not contain any sugar. It is absolutely delicious. This from one who KNOWS because she has feasted on it! But if your thing is SWEET, whip up some honey butter to slather on your hot cornbread.
Fresh Garden Relish from the Progressive Farmer’s SOUTHERN Cookbook is superb over turnip greens. I can see this addition of fresh chopped vegetables used with many different vegetable dishes, blackeyed peas included.
One of the burning questions this time of year is, “What am I going to do with this left-over turkey?” Tracy Watson of the Apopka Citizen Police Alumni Association has a wonderful suggestion that we found published in Sharing Our Finest Cookbook.
Chuckie’s Chuckwagon Stew sounds interesting and delicious. It sounds like Chuckie (from Punta Gorda) has a lot of fun while he is cooking. Cooking should be an enjoyable adventure!
NANCY THOMAS’
BLACKEYED PEAS
Recipe from Reader of The Apopka Chief and The Planter newspapers
1 pound (about 2 cups) dried blackeyed peas
2 ham hocks … or… 1 ham bone … or … 1/2 pound sliced thin hog jowl … or … 6 slices bacon … or 1 smoked turkey leg
1 large onion
3 stalks celery
1 large carrot
2 cloves garlic chopped small or 1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic
1-1/2 quarts water… or… chicken or vegetable broth
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano (optional)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon Cajun or Creole seasoning to taste … OR… cayenne or chili powder to taste… (Make it YOURS! Taste it as it cooks and add whatever is needed, being careful to not ruin your dish with too much of anything. We’ve all done it.)
Cook a pound (about 2 cups) of dried blackeyed peas. First, rinse the dried peas in a pot of water, making sure there are no pebbles or dirt. Dump the peas in a colander.
Either soak the peas overnight by covering them with about an inch of water or, for a quick presoak, bring the peas to a boil on the stove, turn off the heat, and let them sit for an hour or so. After they soak in the heated water, discard that soak water.
When they are ready to cook, put them in a pot and just cover them with fresh water (about a quart and a half). You can use chicken or vegetable broth mixed in with the water if you like. For a pound of peas, you will need about a quart and a half of liquid. Keep in mind that broth contains salt.
If you have a couple of ham hocks or a ham bone left from Thanksgiving that you stuck in the freezer or maybe had a ham for Christmas, use that for seasoning. The meat will be falling off the bone (with your help). If you don’t have ham, you can use four to six slices of fried bacon broken up or some sliced hog jowl. Nestle the meat or bone down into the bottom of the pot so the meat will season the peas.
AMANDA HENKE’S CORNBREAD, SOUTHERN STYLE
Recipe from Reader of The Apopka Chief and The Planter newspapers
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
Dash* of garlic powder (*a dash is defined as ‘less than 1/8 of a teaspoon’ but I just do a couple of shakes)
Dash of cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon baking powder or… **see below for alternatives to using baking powder
1 cup buttermilk (if you are out of buttermilk, plain milk with a teaspoon of vinegar will curdle the milk in five minutes and you don’t need to run out for buttermilk.)
1/2 cup milk
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup butter or shortening… to be melted and poured into the batter… or, if you want to do it the old-fashioned way, use hot bacon grease instead! Daddy slowly pours while Mama quickly stirs it into the batter.
2 tablespoons butter for greasing the skillet (plus a tablespoon cooking oil to increase the butter’s smoke point)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl: cornmeal, flour, salt, garlic, cayenne, and baking powder. Set aside.
Combine and mix buttermilk and milk with an egg. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. Immediately pour this wet mixture into the dry cornmeal and flour mixture. Stir until well combined.
Melt the 1/4 cup of shortening and add to the batter slowly, mixing together until just combined.
Heat the skillet in hot oven or on top of the stove for a few minutes until hot. Add two tablespoons shortening or butter making sure it covers the surface of the hot pan. Pour the cornbread batter into the heated skillet. It will sizzle and make it a lovely crispy brown on the bottom and sides that smells so good. Carefully place the heavy skillet back into the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until brown. Butter and serve immediately.
**For folks who can detect the bitter taste of baking powder in baked goods (as my family members can), in place of one tablespoon of baking powder, use 3/4 teaspoon baking soda (also called bicarbonate of soda) plus 1 tablespoon vinegar. The baking soda will neutralize the vinegar taste so it is virtually undetectable. Add the dry baking soda with the other dry ingredients in your recipe and add the vinegar with the liquid ingredients.
Alternatively, 3/4 teaspoon baking soda and 1-1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar equals 1 tablespoon baking powder. This is what I use in this cornbread recipe in place of 1 tablespoon of baking powder. You can simply buy baking powder without sodium aluminum sulfate contained in some baking powders.
Actually, plain old buttermilk and baking soda is a wonderful leavening agent for quick breads such as cornbread. The buttermilk itself provides the acid that reacts with the baking soda to make baked goods rise.
FRESH GARDEN RELISH ON
TURNIP GREENS
Recipe from The Progressive Farmer’s SOUTHERN Cookbook
3 tomatoes, diced
1 cup chopped celery
1 medium cucumber, peeled, sliced, and finely chopped
3 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 medium-sized green pepper, chopped
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons French dressing
2 tablespoons vinegar
Mix and chill.
Birmingham serves superb food, many old as well as new recipes. Our favorite there (and we never saw it served elsewhere) is just plain turnip greens topped off by a fresh garden relish. These quantities are for six portions.
TRACEY WATSON’S TURKEY HASH
Recipe from Apopka Citizen Police Alumni Association,
Sharing Our Finest Cookbook
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups cubed, boiled potatoes (new potatoes)
2 or 2-1/2 cups cubed, cooked turkey, white or dark
Broth or leftover gravy from cooked turkey
Salt if desired
Pepper to taste
1-1/2 tablespoon Italian bread crumbs
Stir-fry all in a large frypan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. After done stir-frying, pour into baking dish. Sprinkle in bread crumbs. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown.
CHUCKIE’S CHUCKWAGON STEW
Recipe from First Presbyterian Church, Punta Gorda, Florida
A Taste of Heaven
2-1/2 pounds beef cubes (5 cups)
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons lard (or any shortening)
2 onions, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (28 ounce) can tomatoes
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon dry crushed red pepper
2 cups potatoes, chopped
2 cups carrots, chopped
Coat beef in a mixture of flour, paprika, salt and 1 teaspoon chili powder. Mix well before coating meat. Brown in hot fat in a large Dutch-oven or roasting pan.
Add onions and garlic and cook until onions are soft.
Add tomatoes, chili powder, cinnamon, cloves and red pepper.
Cover and simmer for about two hours.
Add potatoes and carrots and cook until vegetables are done, about 45 minutes. Feeds six cowboys or eight city slickers.
