Peas!

It's a southern tradition to eat Black Eyed Peas on New Years day for good luck in the new year. While I was buying my single can of Black Eyed Peas at the grocery store yesterday, I noticed they also had Crowder Peas, and Field Peas. I asked a friend who was also purchasing Black Eyes for her family what the difference in the three types of peas is. She said she doesn't know the difference so she always makes sure she is picking up the Black Eyed Peas.

Other than the absence of black eyes, what is the difference in the three pea types?

Ted

[Redbaron]

Crowder peas refer to the way they are "packed" in the pod. They are so crowded it changes their shape "boxing" the ends to a slightly squared off shape.

But all three are closely related and are actually a bean, not a pea. Another name sometimes used is "southern peas", "yardlong bean", or for the whole group "Cowpea"

[saltmarsh]

And don't forget pink eye purplehull and the much better tasting purple eye purplehull which is my favorite when cooked with fried hog jowl and topped with fried sweet corn and cornbread. Pass me a slice of that onion, please.

Scott,

I've grown the yardlong bean which is sometimes called the Asparagus Bean and Chinese Long Bean. The pods reach almost a yard in length but must be harvested when about 18" long if you plan on eating them. The beans inside the pod are totally black in color instead of brown. While I am a fan of the beautiful purple blooms on the vines and the growth habit of the plants, I am not a fan of the taste of the beans. They also continue sprouting in the garden from dropped beans for a couple of years after they were last grown. While grasshoppers happily munch on the plants, they seem impervious to other insects.

Saltmarsh,

Yes, all the roadside vegetable stands put up signs advertising the "Purple Hulled Peas" when they are in season. I've never eaten them.

Ted

[Fusion_power]

Now we know that Tedln is a transplanted yankee. If he were a true southerner, he would know the right way to eat cowpeas. You have to fix the snaps with the peas by cooking them together to get the right flavor. Grow some White Whipporwill side by side with some of the asparagus beans. Pick and shell the green mature White whipporwill peas and snap up about half the volume of yardlongs. Cook them together with a large strip of bacon for flavoring.

DarJones

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

Now we know that Tedln is a transplanted yankee. If he were a true southerner, he would know the right way to eat cowpeas. You have to fix the snaps with the peas by cooking them together to get the right flavor. Grow some White Whipporwill side by side with some of the asparagus beans. Pick and shell the green mature White whipporwill peas and snap up about half the volume of yardlongs. Cook them together with a large strip of bacon for flavoring.

DarJones

Okay! I've been exposed as a fraudulent southerner. I will now hide my face in shame. The only thing I can say in my defense is I have never been a pea or bean fan except for red beans and rice in Louisiana and red beans with ham hock in Texas. I drown both dishes with generous applications of Tabasco Sauce.

Ted

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

Now we know that Tedln is a transplanted yankee. If he were a true southerner, he would know the right way to eat cowpeas. You have to fix the snaps with the peas by cooking them together to get the right flavor. Grow some White Whipporwill side by side with some of the asparagus beans. Pick and shell the green mature White whipporwill peas and snap up about half the volume of yardlongs. Cook them together with a large strip of bacon for flavoring.

DarJones

Yep! I was just about to post the very same thing! You beat me to it. Anyone claiming to be a southerner must know how to cook biscuits, cornbread, grits, collards, and shelly's.

Now different regions may have different recipes we fight about. We may even use different regional terminology. "My" Grandma's way of doing it may not be the same as "your" Grandma's way of doing it. But we all grew up on those staples. There are probably some others like lima beans (Butter beans)

BTW My favorite way of eating "shelly's" is sautéed with bacon and fresh mushrooms.

Pick your snaps and shell the ones too big, string the ones still tender. Meanwhile fry up some fatty bacon and crumble it into bits. Without removing the bacon grease, add fresh sliced mushrooms (wild is best) and the beans both green and shelled. Sauté on low "a long time" adding water as needed. Once the snaps are wrinkled and the shelled are creating a brown natural "Rue" (Roux), let the excess water boil off, careful not to let it burn. YUMMY!


PS Dar,
I know it is not a true rue like they make in Cajun land, but the starchiness of the shelled beans (cowpeas) once they start breaking down, combined with the bacon grease does make something very similar and VERY tasty. I am hungry just thinking about it.

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by saltmarsh

And don't forget pink eye purplehull and the much better tasting purple eye purplehull which is my favorite when cooked with fried hog jowl and topped with fried sweet corn and cornbread. Pass me a slice of that onion, please.

How do you make fried sweet corn? Never heard of that.

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by Tracydr

How do you make fried sweet corn? Never heard of that.

I can't speak for saltmarsh, and once again regional recipes vary. But over much of the South you start with Shoepeg corn (off the cob) and diced peppers (hot or mild depending on taste) and just sauté in bacon grease with salt and pepper. Once the sugars start caramelising it is done. Doesn't take long at all.

[saltmarsh]

Redbaron is close.

The way mama made her fried corn used a cast iron skillet. She would shuck and silk about a dozen ears of whatever sweet corn was available, then use a potato peeler to cut the corn off the cob. Next after corn had been removed from the cob, she took the backside of a table knife and scraped the cobs to remove the last of the corn juice.

She would take a heaping tablespoon of bacon grease, put it in the skillet and turn the stove eye on welding heat. When the grease sizzled, she would add the corn to the skillet along with salt and pepper. She let the corn on the bottom caramelize a bit then used a steel spatula to scrape the bottom of the skillet and mixed in with the other corn and let it repeat a couple of times. Finally, when the corn was almost done, she would add two tablespoons of butter and stir it into the cooked corn when she removed it from the heat.

Often she would make 2 batches at the same time, one to eat and one to freeze for the winter. I still use her recipe to this day. Claud

[peppero]

dang claud, that sounds so good. jon

[saltmarsh]

jon, it was and is good, but "Stove's On Fire" was a common phrase when I was growing up.

Saltmarsh,

Did your mama ever make lye soap with that bacon grease like mine did? Some times she wouldn't have enough bacon grease saved up for a batch of soap, so she would buy a large can of lard to add to it. Did she ever add laundry "blueing" to the chickens water dish when they seemed " a little off their feed"? Since Dar outed me as a part time southern boy, I'm looking for someone to out. Kinda like a game of "tag, your it".

Those Blackeyed peas I bought for yesterdays good luck tradition were so good, I dug the can out of the trash to see if the seasonings were included on the label. They were the "Bushes" brand of peas with bacon, It didn't list the spices, but it did have a recipe called "Jumping John" over rice. Anyone ever heard of that? Sounds southern, but I've never heard of it.

Ted

[saltmarsh]

Ted, my mother never made soap or raised chickens, but when I was 10 years old my paternal grandparents went to the trouble of buying a hog and butchering it and rendering it. They considered it a necessary part of my education.

The Bushs are a bunch of yankees. We call it hoppin' John. It's so good it'll make you want to slap your momma.

Hoppin’ John Recipe

1 pound bag of dry black-eyed peas
1 ½ pounds smoked ham (1/4 inch dice)
2 medium onions (sliced into ¼ inch wedges)
2 bell peppers (diced)
3 ribs celery (chopped)
3 large cloves of garlic (minced)
2 bay leaves
1 quart of stewed tomatoes (drained and diced. Reserve the juice to be added later)
3 tablespoons jalapeno pepper slices (minced) or to taste
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt

Preparation:

Sort and rinse peas. Place peas and 8 cups of hot water in a large Dutch oven or large stockpot and bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow peas to sit in pot for 1 hour. Drain peas and add all other ingredients.
Add reserved tomato juice and enough water to cover, approx. 6 cups
Bring to a boil and reduce heat then simmer for 1 ½ hours covered. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking and add water if necessary.

Serve over a bed of white rice and sprinkle with hot sauce or Tabasco to taste. Also fresh cornbread.

This freezes well, just make fresh rice and cornbread when you get the craving.

The heat builds in this dish as you eat it. It should seem to need more pepper when you take the first bite, but by the time you finish, tears should be welling in your eyes, but not running down your cheeks. Claud

Yep, I believe the Bush family facilities are in Maryland. While I have always thought of Maryland as "Yankee" country, it may have been part of the southern confederacy. I don't remember my history that well and I was just a youngster when it happened. The Dallas Morning News had an article this morning stating "the first southern state had it's first legal Gay marriage yesterday in Baltimore". The "southern" part of the article kinda surprised me.

The can may have said "hopping john" instead of "jumping john". I don't guess it matters since the recipe sounds delicious no matter what the name is.

My Chinese neighbors took me with them to a farm as a young child to "purchase a hog". Since they spoke no English and the farmer spoke no Chinese, I was the interpreter or translator. We bought the hog and killed it on the spot with a shot between the eyes. It then was placed in the car trunk and was transported about twenty miles to their back porch for butchering. The only part of the hog that escaped was the squeal. Even the material removed from the intestines was placed in shallow trenches around some Chinese plum trees for fertilizer. Since I probably ate more meals in their home than in my home, I can say we probably ate that hog for three or four months and then made another trip to the farmers place.

Ted