Portuguese | Black-Eyed Peas

Posted on January 9, 2012

I've been making black-eyed peas on New Year's Day for the last several years. Usually I use Emeril's recipe but this year I used David Leite's. Having black-eyed peas as your first meal on New Year's Day is an American Southern tradition thought to bring good luck and prosperity throughout the new year. I serve the peas with cornbread, symbolizing gold, and greens, symbolizing paper money. So if this is an American tradition, why am I categorizing this recipe as Iberian? Well, just because this particular recipe comes from a Portuguese cookbook. Either way, I am covering my bases for good-luck! I changed David's recipe slightly by adding bacon. We liked this version better than Emeril's version.

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups dried black-eyed peas, picked over and rinsed

6 fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs

4 cups low-sodium chicken stock, more if needed

5 thick slices of black forest bacon, cut into lardons

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 medium shallot, chopped

1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch dice

kosher sea salt, to taste

freshly ground pepper, to taste

 

Method

Put the beans and 2 of the parsley sprigs in a medium saucepan, add enough chicken stock to cover by 2 inches, and let soak for 2 hours.

Bring the stock to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer, partially covered, until the beans are tender but still hold their shape, 20 to 30 minutes. Add more stock if the pan starts to dry out.

Meanwhile, strip the leaves from the remaining 4 parsley sprigs, and finely chop the leaves.

In a dutch oven, cook bacon over medium-low heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan using a slotted spoon. Remove most of the bacon fat from the pan. Replace fat removed with olive oil.

Add the onion, and cook until translucent. Add the shallots and cook a bit more. Add the bell pepper and cook until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes more.

Drain the beans and stir them into the dutch oven. Add bacon back in and stir again. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

 

(Ref. "Black-Eyed Peas with Onions and Red Pepper" recipe, The New Portuguese Table.)