This is the first version of the Southern New Year’s day dish I cooked, just the rice and black-eyed peas, without the greens found in another recipe on this blog.
1 pound black-eyed peas
8 slices bacon, or ½ pound Italian sausage, chopped
2 small onions, chopped
1 cup chopped green pepper
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
pinch of oregano
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon hot pepper sauce
water as needed
2 cups long grain rice
- Sort and rinse beans. In a 6 – 8 quart pot, soak beans overnight in 8 cups water. Do not drain.
- In skillet, cook bacon until crisp (or Italian sausage until fully cooked). Drain, leaving 2 tablespoons drippings.
- In the skillet, cook onions, garlic, peppers, and celery until tender. Add mixture to beans in the pot. Except for the rice, stir the rest of the ingredients into the bean pot.
- Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until beans are tender. Add more water if necessary. (Beans should have about 4 cups liquid when they are tender.)
- Stir in rice and simmer, covered, 20 – 25 minutes or until rice is tender.
Recipes out of the Blond Box 