Heirloom Sea Island Red Peas
Heirloom Sea Island Red Peas are from the Carolinas and are an heirloom variety of simple cowpeas or black-eyed peas, a Low Country and Southern staple. I chose to feature the heirloom to call attention to the fantastic assortment of vegetables and fruits that may otherwise go extinct due to corporate farming. Increasingly, family farms growing these kinds of fruits and vegetables for their rich flavors are displaced by giant conglomerate corporations that choose only one or two varieties to support their bottom line. The emphasis is on profit, not taste or nutrition, which could mean losing an incredible diversity of flavors.
Keeping alive heirloom varieties of fruits, vegetables, and even sustainable meat production, has gained tremendous resurgence in the last two decades, and I hope it is a trend that will continue. By purchasing and cooking these superior tasting and nutritional heirloom varieties, we help keep this industry alive.
As with all dried beans and peas, they need to soak overnight to be re-hydrated before cooking. Therefore, cover the peas with twice as much water as required since they will absorb most of the water overnight in the fridge.
These are the red peas after a night of soaking. Notice they have almost doubled in size and soaked up much of the water.
In a heavy pot over medium heat, render several slices of bacon to get enough drippings to use when preparing the peas. On medium heat, this can take 10-15 minutes.
From three slices of bacon, you should be able to get about 1/8 of a cup of bacon drippings. The drippings will flavor the peas during cooking. If you prefer to keep the peas vegetarian, simply omit this step.
Peel and halve an onion through the root end. Since you will remove the onion after preparing the peas, leave the root core intact to easily remove the onion.
Gather all of the ingredients. Be sure to mince the garlic.
Add the peas and the rest of the aromatics, along with the curry powder, to the pot with bacon drippings.
Add the chicken or vegetable stock to the pot and bring to a rolling boil on high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low until the peas are just bubbling. Cover and let cook for 75 to 90 minutes. Since stoves and altitudes vary, check for the peas’ doneness. They have completed cooking when they are soft and melt away in your mouth. They shouldn’t be tough. Keep cooking until they taste right; smooth and delicious.
Remove the aromatics since they will have done their job. Now, I admit these vegetables do taste great, and I have pureed and added them back to the pot for a richer taste. You can decide if you want to take this approach.
After removing the aromatics, take about 1/3 cup of the peas and puree them in a food processor or blender. This mash of peas will help thicken and give the dish more body.
Add the peas to a food processor.
This puree of peas will release all of the starch and help thicken and enrich the sauce.
Chop the bacon that you rendered earlier. Add this back into the peas in the final stages.
Add the pureed peas and the bacon back into the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil briefly and stir in the puree.
At this point, the peas are ready to serve. You can make this a day or two ahead of time if you wish. Resting the peas overnight will intensify and blend the flavors.
Sea Island Red Peas in Yellow Curry Sauce. I’ve also served these with Roasted Garlic Jack Cheese Polenta, a delicious combo.
Wine pairings: D’Autrefois Rose de Pinot Nior, Chateau Fabregues Cosieres de Nimes, Laurent Pierrier Brut
Heirloom Sea Island Red Peas
Equipment
- cutting board
- chef knife
- Medium mixing bowl
- medium pot with lid
- measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
- 1 cup Sea Island Red Peas
- 1 quart chicken stock or ham stock (use vegetable stock for a vegetarian option)
- 3 slices of bacon
- ½ whole onion, skinned and cut through the root to leave intact
- ½ whole carrot, peeled
- 1 or 2 stalk celery
- 2 clove garlic
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp curry powder
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Soak the red peas in twice as much water as needed to cover them since they absorb the most water. Place uncovered in a refrigerator overnight.
- In a heavy bottom pot, render the bacon over medium heat. Cook the bacon until it is crispy. Remove the bacon from the pot, chop, and reserve.
- While the bacon is cooking, take an onion and half it through the root end, leaving it intact. Next, peel half of a large carrot and gather the celery and the rest of the ingredients together.
- Add the peas, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and seasonings to the pot with the bacon drippings. Next, add the 1 quart of chicken or ham stock.* Bring to a boil on high heat. Cover with a lid and reduce the heat to simmer.*For a vegetarian option, omit the bacon drippings and add vegetable stock.
- Cook the peas for 75 to 90 minutes or until the peas are soft and cooked. Remove the onion, celery, carrot, and bay leaf.****You can puree the cooked vegetables along with the ⅓ cup of peas (in the next step) if desired.
- Measure out ⅓ cup of the peas and add to a food processor. Puree to make a paste. The idea here is to use the starch from the peas to help thicken the dish slightly.
- Add the puree back into the pot with the peas along with the bacon. -Taste for final seasoning.