This was fresh black-eyed peas with apple smoked bacon, celery and green bell pepper.
We tried our first fresh black-eyed peas from our local farm stand. When I saw purple-ish things that looked like beans, I had no idea what they were. Even after the lady at the stand told us they were black-eyed peas, I was not sure if I fully recognized them. I know black-eyed peas but they are not my usual ingredients. I might have made a soup with dried black-eyed peas long time ago.
The lady at the stand mentioned it would take time to remove peas from the pods. She was right. It took two hours for me to complete the task. It wasn't difficult to do so; it simply required time. I was glad I did it in the morning; otherwise, the dinner would have not been ready when J came back home. The fresh peas were so cute and pretty! They made me smile despite of the time-consuming process.
The lady at the stand said the peas were usually cooked with pork. I wanted to avoid heavy meat and looked for a vegetarian recipe with black-eyed peas. I found a
recipe of Creole Black-eyed Peas online, which looked tasty. I adopted the recipe and made some changes here and there. Of course, I used fresh peas instead of dried. The recipe called for liquid smoke flavoring, but I used two sliced apple-smoked bacons. So, my dish wasn't vegetarian. I skipped canned tomato but used about a tablespoon of tomato paste. I also skipped salt, hot sauce and cayenne. I used low-sodium chicken broth instead of water. The result was great! The peas were wonderfully silky and smooth, very tasty with all veggies and a rich smoke flavor from bacons. Served with Japanese-style short grain rice, the dish was more than satisfying.
