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Food & Wine Recipe

Smoky Black-Eyed Peas

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  • ACTIVE: 1 HR
  • TOTAL TIME: 3 HRS
  • SERVINGS: 8
  • •HEALTHY
  • •MAKE-AHEAD

Although black-eyed peas are the quintessential Southern bean, any fresh shell bean, such as limas, purple hull peas or pigeon peas, can be substituted in this recipe.

  1. 1 meaty smoked ham hock
  2. 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
  3. 1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
  4. 3 quarts water
  5. 3 pounds fresh black-eyed peas or purple hull peas, shelled (about 6 cups), or three 10-ounce packages frozen shelled black-eyed peas
  6. Salt and freshly ground pepper
  1. Cut some of the meat from the ham hock into large chunks. In a large saucepan, combine the ham hock and meat with the onion, jalapeño and water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to moderately low and simmer until the meat is tender, about 2 hours.
  2. Add the black-eyed peas to the ham broth and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the black-eyed peas are tender, about 45 minutes. Drain the black-eyed peas in a colander. Cut the meat into 1/2-inch pieces; discard the bone. Transfer the meat and black-eyed peas to a bowl, season with salt and pepper and serve.
Make Ahead The black-eyed peas can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Let them return to room temperature and reheat gently before serving. Serve With Green-Tomato Pickle or any pickled relish.