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A Good Dish

making food simpler

Baked Beans Made With Black Eyed Peas – Because We Need All The Luck We Can Get In The New Year!

December 30, 2020

Baked Beans Made With Black Eyed Peas
Handled Red Stoneware Soup Bowls by Eshelman Pottery

Hoppin’ John, a bean dish made with black eyed peas, is traditionally eaten in the Southern United States on New Year’s Day to bring good luck and prosperity for the coming year. My husband and I have never been big fans of black eyed peas but we eat them happily when offered on a New Year’s buffet because who doesn’t need a little prosperity. Given that we need all the luck we can get this year, I was determined to find a way to cook them that we would enjoy. 

Cooked black eyed peas ready to sauce

Both of us love baked beans so I prepared them my favorite way but substituted black eyed peas. I am not talking about the anemic Heinz version of tomato-y tinned beans that both our fathers loved. Homemade baked beans can be savory and sweet and really delicious. I spiced up my recipe with ginger and cayenne so it is not only tasty but also warming on these cold days. Lots of substitutions are possible. Prepared yellow mustard can stand in for dry (2 TBs instead of 2 tsps), brown sugar or maple syrup can replace the molasses and ketchup or tomato sauce can be used instead of tomato paste. If you don’t like thyme or don’t want to use Worcestershire sauce, just leave them out. And if you don’t want to soak and cook dried peas, just use canned. In fact, if you don’t have or really don’t want to use black eyed peas, just use navy peas, Alubia Bianca or any small white beans.

A different sofrito with onion, garlic, ginger and jalapeño
Ready to bake

Black eyed peas (also known as cowpeas) are quite nutritious with good amounts of minerals, fiber and folate. When baked as in this recipe, they can last in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or be frozen and reheated weeks later. Cook once and eat several times! Providing warmth, multiple meals and nutrition alongside the hope for prosperity, baked black eyed peas are a pretty great start to the year.

Wishing you all a happier New Year in which, hopefully, we’ll be able to gather and be together again!

Baked Black Eyed Peas
Red Stoneware Bowls by Eshelman Pottery

BAKED BLACK EYED PEAS 

  • 1 lb. dry black eyed peas, soaked, cooked and drained (reserve cooking liquid)
  • 2 TBs olive, avocado or grape seed oil
  • 1 onion, diced (1 heaping cup)
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, minced (1 TBs)
  • 1 small knob of fresh ginger, minced (1 tsp-1 TBs as you prefer)
  • 1 fresh poblano or jalapeño pepper, diced (or just a green pepper will do) – optional
  • 2 tsp dry mustard powder or 2 TBs prepared yellow mustard
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne
  • 3 TBs tomato paste or 1/4 cup ketchup
  • 3 TBs apple cider vinegar
  • 2 TBs soy sauce or tamari
  • 3/4 – 1 cup molasses (depending on how sweet you like it. Start with less and add more at the end if you need it)
  • 1 1/2 cup bean cooking liquid (or stock)
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (optional)
  • 1 cinnamon stick, broken in half (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Heat oil in a medium-large Dutch oven or bean pot  over medium heat.

Add onion and sauté a few minutes until it starts to wilt.

Add garlic, ginger and pepper, if using, and sauté another 1-2 minutes.

Add mustard powder, paprika, thyme and cayenne and sauté briefly to toast.

Add tomato paste, vinegar, soy sauce, molasses, bean liquid, cinnamon stick and Worcestershire. Stir and bring to a simmer. Turn off heat and add cooked beans. Stir well, cover and bake for 1 hour, removing the lid for the last 10 minutes if still very liquid.

Serve warm. Great with cornbread, polenta or grits, black bread, baked potatoes or toast and greens for a complete meal or serve with sausages for an rib-sticking entree. 

Keep leftovers in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Freezes well. Serves 6-8 for a main course.

12/29/2020 Full Cold Moon

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Filed Under: beans, Recipes

Try Flageolet Beans For A Cold Main Course Salad – Just Right For A Hot Summer Day Meal Plus Leftovers

July 27, 2020

Flageolet bean salad
Hollow rectangular earthenware bowl
by Jerilyn Virden/Borealis Studios

When it is really hot out, as it has been and is likely to be for some weeks, I try to plan ahead and stock my refrigerator with cold bean salads. Why beans? Not only are they nutritious, inexpensive, full of fiber and shelf stable but they take on the flavor of whatever vinaigrette you use on them. My new favorite beans, flageolet, are a beautiful pale green and, although best known as a French side dish to lamb, they make a delicious bean salad. When soaked and simmered, flageolets hold their shape, probably the same reason they work so well in cassoulet-type dishes. I love their nearly celadon color before cooking, the creamy texture of the cooked beans and their ability to take on the flavor of almost any herb. They are sturdy enough to soak in a vinaigrette for a couple of days, after which they are most flavorful. And when you tire of the beans, which I never do, you can simply purée them, with their dressing, to make a dip.

These were delicious but
any white bean could work

To make my first flageolet salad, I followed the recipe from Rancho Gordo (one of the best things about ordering from them, besides how really fresh the beans are, is that they offer recipes for each ingredient they sell)) for a lemon vinaigrette with fresh thyme and garlic and ramped it up, using more garlic and juice plus the zest, adding chopped rosemary and fresh basil. If you are a lover of tarragon, you could use it for the herb, but not me, never. I added green olives for salinity, and to keep to the color scheme, but black olives would work fine.  If you can’t find flageolet beans, any white bean, like navy, great northern or even cannellini, could substitute, even if they won’t be as creamy. When we ate the beans the second day, I tossed in some chopped roasted red pepper to add volume and sweetness. I served it with a grain and balsamic tomatoes and cucumbers but just a green salad would have been sufficient.

Olives add flavor and texture
Olive dish by Jerilyn Virden

Like most bean dishes, this one is adaptable to your preferences and the ingredients you have available. If you see a cooler day in the forecast, soak the beans the night before and cook the beans in the morning, before it gets too hot. Then you can make the rest of the salad the next day to keep in the fridge for a couple of days for when it is too hot to cook. We had this salad on a day in the nineties and it was cool, filling and flavorful, a winning trifecta in my home. If you just can’t bear turning on your stove at all, open a couple of cans of white beans for this recipe and you’ll have a main course to chill in your fridge in no time.

Lemony flageolet bean salad
Earthenware bowl by Jerilyn Virden

FLAGEOLET SALAD

Whisk together:

  • 2 cloves garlic, grated or pressed
  • Zest of one lemon, about 1TBs
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 2-3 TBs bean cooking liquid, optional
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1TBs rice vinegar (ume plum or sherry vinegar would work, too)
  • 1TBs fresh thyme leaves (stripped off stems) or 1 tsp dried
  • 1/2 tsp chopped rosemary leaves
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper

Place in a large bowl:

  • 6 cups cooked flageolet beans (about 1 lb dry)
  • 1/4 cup green olives, chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
  • Handful of fresh basil leaves, torn or cut in ribbons

Pour vinaigrette over bean mixture and gently toss. Serve or refrigerator until ready to use. Serves 6.

Optional add-ins:

  • Roasted red pepper, chopped
  • Fresh bell or Jalapeno pepper, diced
  • Fresh radish, finely diced
  • Cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
  • Grated Parmesan
  • Celery, diced or very thinly sliced
  • Capers
bottom (verso) of olive dish
by Jerilyn Virden
Water lilies

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Filed Under: beans, Recipes, Salads

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West 97th St Farmers' Market

Welcome to A Good Dish

Here you will find recipes and ideas for easy to make and tasty meals, sources for interesting dinnerware on which to serve those meals and resources for ingredients, classes and food related travel. My goal is to make daily cooking simpler and to inspire you to try different recipes beyond the handful you already make repeatedly. I hope that relaying my experiences will enhance yours. Follow along and let me know about your own cooking and food journeys.

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