Black-Eyed Peas

http://countrytart.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-way-with-black-eyed-peas-for-2011.html

Everybody ready?  Today I'm testing the first of hopefully many recipes from the Country Tart. 

The first thing I did was print out the recipe.  I went through the list of ingredients, pulling from my pantry whatever was on the list that I already had.  Then it was off to the grocery store to pick up the rest.  I wanted to go to the Indian store for the spices, but they aren't open when I am ready to shop today.  If I waited around for the rest of the world to get rolling, I'd never accomplish anything, so I went to the regular old grocery store.  I thought this would be a good way to see if the ingredients for this recipe could be purchased at my regular store, and it turns out they could.  Altogether I spent $19.98.  I could have kept it lower than that by buying smaller jars of spices, but I have  a feeling I'll be using a lot of these ingredients in recipes to come so I didn't scrimp.  Besides, I bought a lottery scratch ticket and won $20, so technically it was all free anyway.  Plus, they paid me $0.02.  So not only is this recipe filled with foods that love me back (TM COUNTRY TART), it is paying me to cook it. 

The link to Lynn's blog posting of this recipe is given above, but to keep everything in one place, here is the recipe:
********************************************************************
A New Way with Black-eyed Peas for 2011

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb bag dried Black-eyed peas
1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo, internal seeds removed, (to taste) plus
1-2 tablespoons of adobo sauce from peppers
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1 teaspoon cumin
6 cloves garlic, skins still intact
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped


EQUIPMENT:

Shallow pan
Crock Pot


1 - Place beans in slow cooker and cover in 2 quarts of water.

2- Add the adobo, sauce, paprika, cocoa, salt, turmeric, coriander and cumin to the slow cooker. 

3 - Meantime, on stovetop, heat pan on high heat until it is very hot and throw unpealed garlic into pan.  Turn garlic several times over the next 3-5 minutes until all sides are bubbled and black. Set aside to cool. This method adds great smoky and warm flavor to garlic without scorching or burning the actual flesh.

4 - Reduce heat in pan to medium-low and add olive oil and chopped onions.  Cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes more or until onion pieces are soft and brown. 

5 - Add caramelized onions to slow cooker. 

6 - When garlic has cooled so that you can it up in your bare hand, squeeze garlic clove out of bubbly and brown skins and directly into slow cooker.

7 - Cook for approximately 6 hours on high or 8-10 on low or until beans are tender.  You may need to adjust cooking time per your individual cooker's specifications.

8 - Just before serving, add 1/2 cup of chopped fresh parsley and stir throughout so that it cooks into the recipe but stays bright and vibrant. 

Look at these nutritional stats!!!



Note that this label is based upon generic recommendations for a typical person consuming a 2,000 calorie diet. Your personal numbers for this recipe will vary according to your own unique individual needs.
**********************************************************************

Let's take this step by step.  Here are the ingredients all gathered together.



So THAT's what chipotle peppers in adobo sauce look like.  Smells awesome!

1 - Place beans in slow cooker and cover in 2 quarts of water.

Done.  However, should I rinse and pick through the beans first?  I compromised by picking out the nasty-looking beans.

2- Add the adobo, sauce, paprika, cocoa, salt, turmeric, coriander and cumin to the slow cooker. 

Hm.  No mention of the chipotle peppers.  I know I said I wasn't going to do anything that wasn't in the recipe, but seriously, I'm sure Lynn means "Add the chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, paprika, cocoa, salt, turmeric, coriander  and cumin" so that's what I'm going to do.   They are not mentioned in any of the other steps, and this seems like a good time to add them.  Also, after I remove the seeds, should I chop the peppers or throw them in whole?  I compromised by slicing them.

3 - Meantime, on stovetop, heat pan on high heat until it is very hot and throw unpealed garlic into pan.  Turn garlic several times over the next 3-5 minutes until all sides are bubbled and black. Set aside to cool. This method adds great smoky and warm flavor to garlic without scorching or burning the actual flesh.

TYPO ALERT!!  "Unpealed" should be "unpeeled," technically.  But I know what she means.  Also, I love this method, which I've never heard of before.  What a great shortcut for roasted garlic.

I hope these are cooked enough. 

4 - Reduce heat in pan to medium-low and add olive oil and chopped onions.  Cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes more or until onion pieces are soft and brown. 
Drat.  No typos, no confusing directions, no questions, nothing to criticize.  I was on a roll, too.

5 - Add caramelized onions to slow cooker. 
OK, I did.  While the onions were cooking, I thought about how we added all the spices directly into the crockpot with the beans and water.  I think if I were doing this recipe out of a random cookbook, no matter what the directions said I would have added the spices into the carmelized onions and cooked them all together for a minute and then put them in with the beans and water.  Mainly because I love the way that makes my kitchen smell!  Maybe next time.

6 - When garlic has cooled so that you can it up in your bare hand, squeeze garlic clove out of bubbly and brown skins and directly into slow cooker.
NOTE: I'm pretty sure she means "so that you can PICK it up in your bare hand" and that's what I did.

This is my new favorite cooking technique!  They squeezed out of the skins very easily.  As a side note, I've never cooked beans in the crockpot before.  I always use my dutch oven on top of the stove.  I tend to stir a lot, which might not work as well with a crockpot.  However, I can see how using a crockpot really makes life easy and will probably use this method from here on out.  This recipe has already given me two new skills (roasting garlic in a pan, cooking beans in a crockpot) and a slight profit margin, and I haven't even eaten it yet!

7 - Cook for approximately 6 hours on high or 8-10 on low or until beans are tender.  You may need to adjust cooking time per your individual cooker's specifications.
When I started using a crockpot back in the 70's the instructions always said to cook on high for an hour, then turn down to low for the rest of the cooking time.  This is what I'm doing, even though it is in direct defiance of the instructions.  I need to change the thing at the top of this blog that says if it doesn't say to put the lid on, I'm not doing it.  I should revise that to "I will use whatever technique I feel like using, based on past experience."  I can't help it.  It's just the way I cook.

8 - Just before serving, add 1/2 cup of chopped fresh parsley and stir throughout so that it cooks into the recipe but stays bright and vibrant.
Alright.

THE FINAL RESULT

This recipe is going into my permanent file.  DELICIOUS - the beans are smoky, with a deep flavor that tastes so good you want to drink a cup of the juice.   My sister, who agreed to try black-eyed peas fixed this way in spite of the fact that she has never liked them, ate a whole serving and said they were delicious!  We had them for dinner, with beef brisket and cornbread.  Here's a picture of my finished product.