So, you need to try this. Don't soak the beans overnight. Black eyed peas don't need to soak. I used pork blade steaks (2) and one piece of bacon. I browned the pork with salt and pepper. I added the meat to my six cups of chicken stock/water mix. I sauteed the onion (2 small ones), 2 carrots, tons of garlic, the red pepper, and jalapeño, cumin and cayenne in the oil from the pork. I added that to the broth. Then, I put in a tablespoon or so of honey! I put in the black eyed peas and cooked on high for one hour and then turned it down to low and cooked another 5 1/2 or so. The last hour, I added an entire bunch of coarsely chopped kale. Served it with cornbread and honey to top the cornbread. Normally, I like cornbread crumbled in my beans; however, this was such a good soup, I didn't want to change the flavor with the sweetness of the bread. So, I ate it on the side. Oh, this dish was heaven! I froze the leftovers for when our baby arrives in about 4 weeks.......but I really struggled with that! I wanted to eat it for lunch and dinner tomorrow!
There's a thin line between watery & brothy. I like my black-eyes brothy (thick). I soaked mine for 6 hrs. Cooked them on high 6 1/2 hours in the crock-pot. Used 1 can of chicken broth in place of the cube (don't like cubes). Walked out to my garden for 3 different kinds of hot peppers. Left out the salt, I don't believe you need it with both ham & bacon. Hubbie said "Best beans ever".
I absolutely loved this meal. At the start of the year I found out I have extremely high cholesterol and came seeking healthy foods. I switched out the four strips of bacon for a couple of extra slices of lean ham (same weight but with the big clobs of fat) otherwise I left the recipe alone. It deserves to be cooked slowly over 6-8 hours rather than being cooked on high. Comments on the quantity of fluid seem overblown, probably because soaking the quantity of beans required for this recipe actually takes more than the a cup of water ... if you do pre-soak the beans you'll need to remove quite a bit more, however over 6-8 hours this isn't an issue. I'm not sure why anybody would pre-soak these beans in water, when you can have them soften up nicely in the flavorful slow cooker. I divide this into about six meals and throw it over fresh greens. Awesome.
Good recipe but needs some fixing: use chicken broth (low sodium) instead of bouillon which is salty. Don't add more salt because the ham and bacon is already salty enough. Six cups water (broth) is too much for my slow cooker but might be enough for others. I have found not all slow cookers are created equal so know your slow cooker before adding the liquid. Personally I think the oval shaped slow cookers can take a bit more water than those that are crock pot shaped. The crock pot shaped ones stand taller. The oval ones tend to absorb liquid more than the tall ones. All of that said it is a delicious recipe. Great for the traditional dish of black eyed peas served on New Years Day.
Great recipe for black eyed peas and one of the main reasons I love them is there is NO need to soak them. Gathering the ingredients I realized I didn't have everything on hand and as I couldn't face going to the grocery store on New Years Eve (what a madhouse) I improvised..... I subbed low sodium chicken broth for the water and bouillon; no jalapeno so I increased the cayenne to 1 tsp; no onion so I subbed one packet of Lipton onion soup mixture; and no ham so I subbed two country pork ribs along with the bacon. Added an extra clove of garlic 1 tsp of liquid smoke and increased the cumin to 2 tsps. Shredded the pork into the peas when finished.... Delicious!!! Husband who dislikes black eyed peas had two bowls! I realize I changed the recipe to fit what I had on hand but I can only imagine the original was excellent as well. Definitely 5 stars!
Since our 7&9-yr olds won't eat spicy foods, I onitted the cayenne and jalapenos (and the bell peppers 'cause we're not fond of them). I slow-cooked the peas the first 3 hours on High and the next 2 hours on Low, with a hambone from a honeybaked ham from Christmas. Due to other reviews I only added 5 cups water and the mixture was still soupy. However, the results are WONDERFUL and the honebaked hambone added a slightly sweet flavor, but not too sweet, just enough to make you come back for more. Thanks for the post!
I followed the recipe to the tee. It cooked all day and turned out great. He said it got better and better as it sat. WILL be making this one again I'm sure!
This will be the 2nd New Years Day I have made this recipe and have also prepared it many times for our backyard BBQ's. I also use chicken broth and not so much liquid. Black eyes don't absorb that much. Really tasty recipe. Going to go great with my grilled chickens and cornbread.
This was great! I used turkey bacon and a can of Rotel Extra Hot! Threw in a sprinkling of Tony Chachere's More Spice and let it go!! Amazing!
These were really good but waaaaaaaaaaay too spicy (and I like spicy). I would cut the spicy spices in half or just serve cayenne or tabasco on the side. I had to add apple juice and brown sugar to cut down on the spicy. And don't worry if you think it's too watery--if you're adding greens in the last hr (like me & another reviewer) you'll need that extra broth.
