Southern Black-Eyed Peas

About the Recipe

Blackeyed Peas are a Southern staple dish like Pinto Beans and Cornbread. A tradition among many Southerners on New Year's Day or after midnight on New Year's Eve.

My mother really liked black-eyed peas and the smokey flavor that a ham hock added to the pot. I remember her always making cornbread and beans or peas.

I'll never forget when she made cornbread in the cast iron pan I still use today. It was crispy at the edges and salty. It was so delicious. If we had butter, all the better.

The day after a meal of cornbread and peas or beans, we would break day-old cornbread up into pieces, put them in a glass, fill the glass with buttermilk, and eat it with a spoon. I used to love it like that, though I haven't eaten that in decades.

Variations

If you don't have a ham hock, you could use salt pork, bacon or ham. The key is to get something smokey in the dish, even though salt pork is smokey it will help flavor the dish.

If you don't eat pork, you could use a smoked turkey neck or leg to get that smokey flavor into the pot. Flavor is the goal.

Equipment Needed

You will need a pressure cooker to cook the peas well,a stainless steel pot, or a slow cooker. I personally cook all my beans and peas with a pressure cooker.