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Smoky Spiced Black-Eyed Peas with Bacon Recipe

January 1, 2011 by Nicole 39 Comments

Smoky Spiced Black-Eyed Peas and Skillet Corn Bread

While it’s hard to believe that another year has flown by, I have to say that I’m more than ready to move on.  Goodbye, 2010, I’ve learned a lot from you, but you won’t be missed.  I’m heading into this new year arms outstretched, with open heart and mind, ready to learn, experience, and share.

Welcome, 2011, I think we’re going to be friends.

I plan on working hard to make this year great, but a little luck never hurts.  I could think of no better way to welcome the new year than with a traditional southern dish thought to bring prosperity and luck if eaten on New Year’s Day – black-eyed peas.

I grew up eating black-eyed peas only occasionally.  My mom would simmer them with ham hocks and we’d eat buttered corn bread on the side.  It was always a hearty and delicious meal, but never something I associated with New Year’s Day.  It wasn’t until we were living overseas and spending holidays with other military families from around the country that I first learned about the southern tradition of eating black-eyed peas for luck in the new year.

The first time I tasted my friend Melinda’s delicious Texas Caviar one New Year’s Eve in Sicily, I decided to adopt the tradition of eating black-eyed peas to usher in a prosperous new year.  Texas Caviar, a zesty cold salad of pickled black-eyed peas, seems to be a traditional New Year’s Eve appetizer or side dish, but a New Year’s Day meal calls for a big pot of simmered black-eyed peas, seasoned with smoked pork.  That’s what I decided to do today.

But my black-eyed peas have a spicy twist.

I am thrilled to announce that I have struck up a partnership with The McCormick Gourmet Collection as one of their “Real Gourmets.”  A handful of my favorite bloggers are also participating – Jaden from Steamy Kitchen, Jenny from Picky Palate, and Shauna and Danny from Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef are the other Real Gourmets and we will all be exploring the world of spices and sharing recipes and tips on our blogs. As you already know, I love to experiment with spices, so I am very excited about the Real Gourmets program!

Back to the black-eyed peas.  As I mentioned, they have a twist.  As I was exploring the 2010 Holiday Edition McCormick Flavor Forecast, I was struck by the suggestion of pairing roasted cinnamon and bacon.  It sounded amazing and I knew I’d have to incorporate those flavors into my New Year’s Day black-eyed peas.  Of course I couldn’t just stop there.  Thanks to a shipment from McCormick, my spice cabinet is bursting at the seams and I love to open the jars, inhale, taste, and explore flavor combinations.

I decided to use smoked paprika and roasted cumin to enhance and compliment the smokiness of the bacon, and ground chipotle chili pepper to add a smoky heat.  To balance the smoke and heat and complement the cinnamon, I added some sweetness with onion, carrot, and tomato paste.  All of the flavors meld beautifully into a complex pot of beans that is different enough to take notice, but familiar enough to satisfy a craving for traditional comfort food.

Picking Through Beans

Although you could start with canned beans, I prefer to start with dried.  They are much cheaper, you’ll end up with better texture, and you’ll have more control over the sodium content of the finished dish.  When using dried beans, you need to sort through them to search for any foreign objects like small pebbles.  Most of the time, I don’t find much, but it’s better to take a few minutes to make sure.  When I pick over beans, I just look through them a handful at a time, removing anything that looks strange, and dumping the good ones right into the pot.  After picking over the beans, cover them with lots of cold water and let them soak overnight, if possible.  If you don’t have time for that, use a quick soak method.

Soaked Black-Eyed Peas

These are the beans after soaking – they will have plumped and the skins will be smooth.  While soaking beans isn’t always necessary, I decided to do it for this recipe.  If you want to skip that step, plan on adding a bit of extra water and an extra hour or so to the cooking time.  I haven’t tested this particular recipe without soaking the beans, and cooking times vary according to how old the beans are, so I can’t give you exact amounts of time or water.

McCormick Gourmet Spices

I was very happy with the spice amounts I chose for this recipe, but if you’re cooking for children or someone who is sensitive to heat, you may reduce the amount of chipotle chili.  As always, I encourage you to play around with the spices a bit to make this dish your own!

Ingredients for Black-Eyed Peas

I like to dice the bacon, onion, and carrots into small pieces so that they can spread all throughout the pot of beans and each bite will be filled with a bit of everything.  As a general rule, you should chop and measure out your ingredients before you begin cooking and keep everything nearby – it will make life in the kitchen much easier!

Bacon in Pot

You will want to start with a large pot – at least 4 quarts.  This time I used a 5-quart enameled cast iron dutch oven, but I sometimes use a big stainless steel pot.  It just depends on my mood and what happens to be clean!

Crisped Bacon

The first thing you’ll do is cook the bacon over medium heat until it’s starting to crisp and the fat is rendered.  Depending on how fatty your bacon is, you may want to pour off some of the grease – just make sure to keep at least a few tablespoons of bacon fat in the pan because you’ll need it for cooking the onions and carrots.  I usually don’t bother pouring any of it off.

Bacon, Onions, and Carrots

Add the onions and carrots to the bacon and reduce the heat slightly to medium-low.  Cook the vegetables, stirring occasionally until very soft and just starting to brown, about 15-20 minutes.

Browned Bacon, Onions, and Carrots

You’ll notice the stuff stuck to the bottom of the pot will turn brown and darken – this is good, but don’t let it burn.

Adding the Spices

Next you’ll add the dry spices.  Stir in the spices and cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds.

Cooking the Spices

As you stir, scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan as much as possible – the rest will come up when you add the liquid.

Adding the Tomato Paste

Next, add the tomato paste.  Stir it in and continue cooking and stirring for another 30 seconds.

Adding the Beans and Liquid

Finally, add the soaked black-eyed peas and about 6 cups of water.  Turn the heat up to high, bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the temperature low enough to just maintain a gentle simmer.  Cover the pot, but leave the lid cracked a bit.  Let the beans simmer, stirring occasionally, until tender, about an hour or so.

Season to Taste

When the beans are cooked, season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.  I used about 2 teaspoons of McCormick® Gourmet Collection Sicilian Sea Salt.

Smoky Spiced Black-Eyed Peas with Corn Bread

Don’t forget the corn bread!

Smoky Spiced Black-Eyed Peas with Bacon

1 pound black-eyed peas, picked over
1/2 pound thick-cut bacon, chopped into small pieces
2 medium sweet red or yellow onions, peeled and diced
3 large carrots, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon McCormick® Gourmet Collection Roasted Ground Cumin
2 teaspoon McCormick® Gourmet Collection Smoked Paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground McCormick® Gourmet Collection Chipotle Chile Pepper
1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Gourmet Collection Roasted Saigon Cinnamon
1/4 cup tomato paste
6 cups water
1 1/2 – 2 teaspoons McCormick® Gourmet Collection Sicilian Sea Salt, or to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Soak black-eyed peas in enough cold water to cover by a few inches for 8 hours (or overnight) or use the quick soak method*.

In a large, heavy saucepan or dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat until fat has rendered and bacon is just starting to crisp.  Add onions and carrots and cook, stirring, over medium-low heat until vegetables are softened and beginning to brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.  Stir in spices and cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds.  Stir in tomato paste and cook for another 30 seconds.  Add the soaked black-eyed peas and 6 cups of water.  Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat low enough to just maintain a gentle simmer.  Cover, but leave the lid cracked.  Simmer, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender, about one hour.

Serves 8.

*To quick-soak beans: In a large saucepan, cover beans with 2 quarts of cold water.  Bring to a boil and let cook for 2 minutes.  Remove pan from heat, cover, and let beans soak for one hour.  Drain and rinse beans, then continue with recipe.

Related Recipes:

  • Texas Caviar at Macheesmo
  • New Year’s Day Black-Eyed Peas at Homesick Texan
  • Southern Collard Greens with Ham Hocks and Hoecakes at Deep South Dish
  • Mustard Greens at Simply Recipes
  • Hoppin’ John with Stewed Tomatoes at What We’re Eating
  • Skillet Cornbread at Homesick Texan

Filed Under: Bacon, Herbs and Spices, Holiday, Main Courses, McCormick Real Gourmets

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Amber says

    January 1, 2011 at 3:30 am

    Wow! Simple and perfectly festive. Happy 2011!
    Reply
  2. Jessica @ How Sweet says

    January 1, 2011 at 6:59 am

    You had me at bacon. Happy new year!
    Reply
  3. Marilyn@ButteryBooks says

    January 1, 2011 at 7:48 am

    Just ran down to make sure I had all ingredients - Yes!! This recipe looks delicious...going down to start my Smoky Spiced Black Eyed Peas. Thanks for the recipe.
    Reply
  4. Emily says

    January 1, 2011 at 10:19 am

    Do you think that using "roasted" cumin and cinnamon makes a difference? I have normal cumin and cinnamon - how do you think that would change the recipe?
    Reply
  5. Nicole says

    January 1, 2011 at 11:28 am

    Amber - Happy New Year! Jessica - Happy New Year! Marilyn - Enjoy the black-eyed peas and happy new year! Emily - McCormick's new roasted spices are really great, but the cumin and cinnamon you have at home will work fine for this recipe.
    Reply
  6. littleclove says

    January 1, 2011 at 12:58 pm

    This looks AMAZING! WOW, I can't wait to make this. It's about 20 degrees in Chicago and I really need a bowl of this right now. Thank you!
    Reply
  7. kickpleat says

    January 1, 2011 at 2:34 pm

    Bring in the luck, 2011! Let's hope that it's a good one (it just has to be). Happy 2011! And this dish looks amazing - I'm going to run out and get some black eyed peas next week. Bring it on!
    Reply
  8. Steve @ HPD says

    January 1, 2011 at 5:25 pm

    Did anyone wake up to find shortbread on your door step? Sign o' good luck if you did. Cheers!
    Reply
  9. Emily says

    January 1, 2011 at 10:22 pm

    Made this tonight and everyone liked it! Thank you!
    Reply
  10. Stefania says

    January 2, 2011 at 2:59 am

    Happy New Year ? Moltissimi Auguri per uno splendido 2011
    Reply
  11. mally @ total noms says

    January 2, 2011 at 2:46 pm

    This looks awesome. I love black-eyed peas and the addition of bacon looks awesome- this is going in my "gotta make soon" file!
    Reply
  12. Rachel says

    January 2, 2011 at 7:40 pm

    What a great blend of spices for black-eyed peas! Now what you need to go with those is some slang jang. My grandmother was from Texas and she made black-eyed peas and slang jang for every new year. I decided to take up the tradition again a couple years ago, googled the dish, and came up with a newspaper article on my grandmother's recipe! Now I make my peas and slang jang every year just like she did.
    Reply
  13. France says

    January 2, 2011 at 9:11 pm

    I don't have a ton of experience with black eyed peas, but you had me at cinnamon and bacon. Fabulous!
    Reply
  14. Nick (Macheesmo) says

    January 3, 2011 at 7:52 am

    Great photo walkthrough Nicole. Love the step by step! Happy 2011!
    Reply
  15. Paula - bell'alimento says

    January 3, 2011 at 9:39 am

    You can't forget the cornbread ; ) Love black eyed peas and spicy black eyed peas {even better}! Happy New Year Nicole xoxo
    Reply
  16. Jessica says

    January 3, 2011 at 1:23 pm

    These sound so good! I just got some Himalayan pink salt, HimalaSalt, and a variety or organic peppercorns from Sustainable Sourcing https://secure.sustainablesourcing.com and I think I'll try them out in this recipe. Thanks for sharing!
    Reply
  17. Tracy says

    January 3, 2011 at 2:44 pm

    I love the composition and color of the first photo...Everything looks delicious. I don't think I've ever eaten black-eyed peas.
    Reply
  18. Mark says

    January 4, 2011 at 4:56 pm

    Great work. I love the recipe. The photos are great too. Thanks.
    Reply
  19. marla says

    January 4, 2011 at 6:36 pm

    These black eyed peas sound smoky & fabulous! Awesome that you are part of the Real Gourmets program. A wonderful group of bloggers & I cannot wait to see what you all cook up! See you tomorrow in Mexico :) xo
    Reply
  20. Maggie @ Crumb bum says

    January 8, 2011 at 9:23 pm

    This looks amazing. I can't wait to make it and cuddle up with my sweetie and watch the snow fall.
    Reply
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