Saturday, January 2, 2010

Black Eyed Pea Soup

Russ claims to not like black-eyed peas and I try to make them in some form or fashion on New Years Day. This year, I hit the jackpot!! Maybe it was the lead in to this recipe from the Austin American Statesman that did it...?

"There are some among you who think that Mack Brown, Vince Young, and some other Longhorns are the reason Texas won the 2005 National Championship. I can tell you that the real reason is this lucky black-eyed pea soup."

It has an orange glow because of the chili powder too!

Following in his father's footsteps, Riley woke from his nap (while soup was simmering) and said, "WHAT is that smell?" and not in a good way...GREAT.

Black Eyed Pea Soup

3 rounded cups dried black-eyed peas
1 ham bone with some meat or ham hocks (I used leftover Christmas ham, no hocks involved)
3 cups minced celery
NOT 3 cups minced onion
3 cups minced carrots
2 lb. smoked sausage, sliced or diced (I used a little over a pound of sausage and the rest ham)
2 T chili powder
salt to taste
pepper to taste
*I added some garlic since I left the onion out*

Place peas in 3 quarts water with ham bone (preferably honey ham bone) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook until peas are soft, about 2 hours. (No need to soak peas.) Discard bone, leaving bits of ham in soup. Add celery, NOT onion, and carrots and cook another hour. Add diced smoked sausage and simmer 30 minutes. Add chili powder. If needd, add more water, salt, or pepper. Serve with cornbread. Makes about a gallon. Freezes well.

(From Austin American Statesman, Dottie and Joe Wilkinson)

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