Cooking BLACK-EYED PEAS (from dried peas)

[Napoleon]

I was in Chinatown today because that's where you have to go to find spices in this town. Anyway, while I was in a grocery, I saw some dried black-eyed peas, so I bought some. But I have questions.

1) Do I soak the beans for a while, before cooking them?

2) Do I pour out the water after the soaking? (Then add new water for cooking?)

3) Do I pour out the water after cooking?

I bought a little salami to cut up and put in there for flavor. What else should I add?

I have always bought canned black-eyed peas. But if these are easy, I might cook some more often. Maybe move to lentils and/or split peas.

My roommates might not like the gas, but I'll have an excellent source of cheap and tasty fiber.

Any and all suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[jmrob93]

I've only used a crock pot and seasoned them up with onion, garlic and bacon grease

I would suspect you could do it like dried beans--the fast way
soak in warm water-- until the swell, bring to a boil then simmer

My Dad used to make pea cakes when I was a kid-- black eyed peas, mask them up,add flour and egg --kind of like corn cakes--they were good

 

[El Paso Way]

I make mine the same way I do beans. I never soak beans because it seems I always make them on a whim. Add your peas to water and season with pepper and I use knorr's chicken stock powder instead of salt. Start boiling them and keep an eye on the water level thru out the cooking process. I prefer to season with some type of pork such as sausage, salt pork, or wienies, etc. Add two cloves of garlic at this time aswell. They will be ready in about an hour and a half.

 

[THEU]

Nap,
Let me know how it goes. I have actually only cooked fresh black eyed peas. Interesting to see them have that African food down there.

 

[Napoleon]

Update while they're cookin'

Ingredients:

~1/2 lb of dried black-eyed peas
~1/2 onion (it was leftover in the fridge)
4.5 sections of a garlic clove
~1 oz of salami
salt
water

I put the gas burner on extremely low and dumped the peas in with about a quart of water or more. Then I chopped up the onion and dumped it in. Then I sliced up the garlic, then minced it after that and put it in. Then I took the salami (that was sliced into thin rondels) and sliced it up into tiny strips and then chopped it up some more... and put it in. Then I added salt.

I stirred it a bit, didn't cover it, and then left the kitchen to surf the web for about 1 1/2 hours. I'm in the middle of that time now.

That's where we stand at this juncture.

 

[Napoleon]

After 1 1/2 Hours:The water was still like water. The beans were soft enough to eat, but when I tried them, they tasted too garlic-y/ onion-y.

Question: Is a "garlic clove":
A) One section?
B) One bundle?

I happened to have some Knorr "caldo de gallina". (Chicken stock... bigger and fattier than a bullion cube.) I wasn't planning on using it, but I put one in there.

Add to Ingredients:
1 Knorr caldo de gallina cube
Black Pepper (from a pepper grinder, not powdered)

I noticed that there wasn't any kick at all. I also have Tapatio if I need to use that.

And I don't know if the salami is making its presence known at all. Maybe I need to put in more... maybe this salami is demasiado suave. (Too bland)

I'm cooking it a little higher now. The slightest semblance of a boil. The water is still fairly watery, but much less so than before... I prefer mush (moosh), so I might cook it for a really long time.

I'm at 2 hours 10 minutes (or so) right now.

 

[Napoleon]

After ~3 hours of cooking, they're pretty good. Way too much garlic (and I like garlic). Probably should have been 1 to 2 of those sections instead of 4 1/2.

The beans really expand. They start off really small. I thought that they might be a different variety, but they grow to about 2-3 times their total mass.

I let the bean slow boil until the water had turned to a dark, murky goop. Not mush, but like muddy lake water... or thicker.

The bits & strips of salami doen't taste like salami anymore, but rather give the food texture.

The chicken stock was a good idea I think. Not overpowering by any means, but probably gave it the fat & salt that it needed.

I added black pepper a couple more times, but never touched the Tapatio. (It can't be found down here, so I use it sparingly.)

The weather is cold and rainy today, so they are kind of hitting the spot. My apartment mates will have to deal with the after effects of major fiber intake, but that's not my problem.

That's a wrap.

 

[El Paso Way]

A clove is one part of the head of garlic. Not all heads of garlic are the same. Some are stronger in aroma. I use Knorr's caldo de tomate and caldo de pollo as a base for practically all my stews, chillis, and beans. What part of the country are you in?

 

[Napoleon]

In reply to:

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[YChang]

Napoleon, just out of curiosity how's the Chinese food down there or rather how has it been adapted for the Argentine taste?

 

[Napoleon]

It's fairly Americanized (I guess), but it's not spicy. No Sechwan (sp?) style down here.

The actual "Chinatown" is about 2 blocks by one block, but there are other Chinese restaurants around town. And it seems like ALL of the mini-grocery stores are owned and operated by Chinese guys.

There is also a Koreatown (or at least a sizeable Korean community) in a part of town called "Flores". I haven't checked it out yet, but their food might be spicier.

But most of the Chinese food is similar to what you find in the States in Texas and the like. I don't know if you can find dim sum (sp?) here, but you can definitely buy those layered, latticed round baskets used for steaming tons of different things.