Black Eyed Pea Soup With Ham Recipes

SLOW-COOKER HAM AND BLACK-EYED PEA SOUP

Steps:

• Spray 5-quart slow cooker with cooking spray.
• In 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, carrots and celery; cook and stir 5 to 6 minutes or until vegetables soften. Add garlic and thyme; cook and stir 1 minute. Transfer to slow cooker.
• Add broth, black-eyed peas and ham hock to slow cooker.
• Cover; cook on Low heat setting 7 to 8 hours or until meat on ham hock is tender and easily separated from bone.
• Remove ham hock. Remove ham from bone; discard bone. Shred ham; return to slow cooker, and stir.
• Skim off any excess fat from top of soup. Add parsley, and serve.

BLACK-EYED PEA SOUP WITH HAM HOCKS AND CREME FRAICHE

Steps:

• Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Once hot, add the onions, bell peppers and celery to the pan and cook until softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic to the pan and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the ham hocks and peas, and saute for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock and bay leaves to the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pot, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the ham hocks and peas are tender, about 3 hours. Remove the ham hocks from the soup and set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove the meat from the skin and bones. Discard skin and bones and return the meat to the pot, along with the Essence, salt, and pepper. Return the soup to a boil, then serve, with each bowl of soup garnished with 1 tablespoon of creme fraiche and chopped chives.
• Combine all ingredients thoroughly.
• Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch, published by William Morrow, 1993.

BLACK-EYED PEA SOUP

Steps:

• Sort through the peas and pick out any pebbles or other debris. Rinse the peas under cold water. Put the peas in a 5-quart Dutch oven and cover with 5 cups cold water. Place over high heat and bring to a boil; boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat, cover and let peas soak for 1 hour.
• Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crispy, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to cool. When cool, crumble the bacon and set aside. Add the oil to the skillet with the bacon fat Add the onions, carrots and celery and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the collard greens and garlic and cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Add the vegetables to the Dutch oven along with the chicken broth, ham hock, crumbled bacon, rice and 4 cups water. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, covered, until the peas and rice are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Remove the ham hock from the Dutch oven. Discard the skin and bone. Chop the meat into small pieces and return it to the Dutch oven. Season the soup with salt and pepper.

BLACK-EYED PEA SOUP WITH HAM AND WATERCRESS

Steps:

• Pour 1 tablespoon of the oil into a deep skillet or casserole and turn the heat to medium-high. Add the meat and cook, stirring, for a minute; then add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it softens and begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the peas and 4 cups water and bring to a boil; turn the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until the peas are completely tender--10 minutes for cooked or canned black-eyed peas, about 30 minutes for frozen.
• Stir in the watercress and cook, stirring occasionally, for just a couple of minutes, or until it wilts. Add more water, if necessary. Taste and adjust the seasoning, stir in the remaining tablespoon oil, and serve.
• With Minimal effort: The meat can be prosciutto or ham; you can use bacon or pancetta instead, but cook them a little longer. Instead of onion, you can use garlic, leek, or shallots. Black-eyed peas are the traditional choice, but any legume will work perfectly well. For the watercress, substitute arugula or spinach, or any winter green, like kale, mustard, collards, and turnips, all of which will take a little longer to cook--add them to the soup along with the peas. Liquid condiments, like Tabasco or another hot sauce or vinegar, are good here. Increase the amount of meat to 1/2 pound or so (this is especially good with ham), double the amount of greens, and cook the soup until it's thick; you can call it a stew.

BLACK-EYED PEAS WITH HAM HOCK AND COLLARDS

Steps:

• Drain peas and put them in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed soup pot. Add ham hock or bone (if using slab bacon, cut it into 2-inch chunks), cover with 10 cups water and turn heat to high. Add salt, onion stuck with cloves, bay leaf, black pepper and allspice.
• Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Skim off and discard any foam that rises to the surface. Simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until peas are tender. Throughout cooking, add water as necessary, always keeping liquid level 1 inch above surface, stirring with wooden spoon occasionally. Turn off heat. Check broth for salt and adjust seasoning. Mixture should be fairly brothy. With a pair of tongs, remove ham hock, ham bone or bacon. Chop meat and skin in rough pieces and set aside.
• Put a large wide skillet over medium-high heat. Add vegetable oil and heat until wavy. Add garlic and red pepper and let sizzle without browning. Add collard greens and stir to coat. Season with salt and add 1 cup water, stirring to help wilt greens. Add chopped ham and reduce heat to medium, then cover with lid slightly ajar and cook until greens are soft, about 20 minutes. Check seasoning.
• To serve, put greens and meat in low soup bowls, then ladle over hot black-eyed peas. Sprinkle with scallions.

HAM BONE AND GREEN SPLIT PEA SOUP

Steps:

• Melt butter and oil in a Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add celery, onion, carrot, and salt. Cook and stir until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in peas and garlic. Nestle ham bone into the pot; add stock and diced ham. Fill pot with water to about 1 1/2 inches from the top. Mix and bring soup to a boil.
• Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer, scraping the bottom of the pot and stirring every 30 minutes, until peas are mostly disintegrated, about 2 1/2 hours. Turn ham bone and skim surface for fat once every hour. Take bone out, remove any meat, and return meat to the pot. Season with salt and pepper.

HAM AND BLACK-EYED PEA SOUP WITH COLLARD GREENS

Steps:

• Chop onion and garlic and cut ham into 1/4-inch dice. In a 3-quart saucepan cook onion, garlic, and ham in oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is pale golden.
• While onion mixture is cooking, discard stems and center ribs from collards and finely chop leaves. Add collards, broth, and water to onion mixture and simmer until collards are tender, about 20 minutes.
• Rinse and drain black-eyed peas. In a bowl mash half of peas with a fork. Stir mashed and whole peas into soup and simmer 5 minutes. Season soup with salt and pepper and stir in vinegar.

HOME-STYLE BLACK-EYED PEA SOUP

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, saute celery and onion in butter until tender. Add the peas, water and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Stir in the ham, Italian seasoning, pepper and salt. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, until heated through, about 20 minutes.