Sunday, January 2, 2011

TOURING The Food Blogs: Black Eyed Peas



Many thanks to The Family Kitchen for that natural photo of the celebrated pea! Everyone knows that many culinarians, foodies, cooks, and folks who just love to eat relish a bowl of black eyed peas in the New Year for good luck. Good luck or not, black eyed peas are a love it or hate it dish. These peas have a very very distinctive taste, marked with an earthiness that marries well with aggressive seasonings, other vegetables, smoked meats and the ubiquitous slice of southern corn bread. Everyone has their favorite recipe for black eyed peas, but this is a versatile and often overlooked bean that can be delicious in a variety of preparations. For your viewing pleasure, let me take you on a tour of the blogs and how a variety of experienced cooks treat the noble black eyed pea! And if you are wondering what the mystique is about Hoppin' John, simply cook up a batch of rice and place the black eyed peas of your choice over the steaming rice, and voila...you've got Hoppin' John!
Hoppin' John

This picture and a link to the origins of Hoppin' John comes from Hungry Memphis: A Very Tasteful Food Blog

Vegetarian

Our vegetarian and healthy version comes from The Country Tart Right on time for all of you who need a flavorful dish to help you stay on your New Years Resolutions and still pack a bunch of flavor! The Country Tart is a wellness and nutrition coach who can keep you on a resolution for 2011 to eat better. What better way than with a low fat, high fiber dish like black eyed peas. Packed with tons of flavor to compensate for omitting those fatty meats, she's seasoned them with chipotle, adobo, paprika, cocoa, turmeric, coriander, cumin and added extra virgin olive oil to help them slide down!

Truly Southern

The quintessential southern version of black eyed peas comes with a 3 punch: Black eyed peas, collard greens and pork, brought to us by Project Foodie Here is the ham hock in all its glory, paired with the sturdy collard green to round out this New Year's dish. The bonus with this version is that there are great instructions for cleaning and trimming collard green, taking out the spine and rolling the leaves to be cut chiffonade style...exactly the way I do it. Collards need slicing and chopping before cooking, it promotes tenderness.
...and more Southern

Even though the recipe for the black eyed peas is stunning, well seasoned and meticulous in detail, the photography is absolutely "must see!" Anyone who can make a ham hock look picturesque is worthy of a nod, and this nod goes to Pollywig.com This is another version of the three punch...black eyed peas, collard greens and ham hock. Another version with slightly different approach and seasoning. Check it out you will be stunned!

Black Eyes & Corn Bread


The perfect accompaniment to black eyes is some corn bread. This version by The Hungry Texan seasons the black eyed pea with salt pork and jalapeno pepper, and freely admits that even if you don't do scratch cornbread (recipe included) Jiffy works just as well for some. But just to cover all the bases a really good recipe for cornbread accompanies the recipe for some down home black eyed peas!

Budget Black Eyes

If your New Year's resolution was to trim the budget, here's a convincing story that the black eyed pea could keep you on track, and still give you a well seasoned dish. Thanks to Budget Bytes here's a tasty recipe with the costs included, so you can't argue with that logic!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! AND MAY LUCK FOLLOW YOU ALL THROUGH 2011