We've usually been able to buy freshly shucked black-eyed peas at the farmer's market before new year's. I prefer the fresh ones in my Hoppin' John if I can find them. Well, as luck would have it, only half the vendors showed up at the farmer's market last Saturday, and none of them had fresh black-eyed peas. Some of the local supermarkets will carry the fresh peas in bags in the cooler. We picked up two bags. Normally I read the ingredient label on all packaged food items. Didn't have my glasses with me and thought these were just peas since they were packaged like regular produce. Well let me tell ya, when I opened them up on New Year's Day, I was fuming. Something just didnt' look, smell or feel right. I finally put my glasses on and read the fine print on the label (very fine print). FRESH MY FINS!!!! The ingredients on the bag labeled "Fresh Black Eyed Peas" contained "field ripened dried black-eyed peas, water, salt" and a host of chemical preservatives! Arggghhhh! These were nothing but pre-soakded dried peas. Dag burnit! I can soak my own dried peas!!! These folks don't know who they are messing with.......oceans will roil, rivers will swell, water pipes will burst over the marketing department! "Fresh" does not mean dried & reconstituted! Mess with my Hoppin' John at your peril!
I have gotten together with some of the area groups that support Local Harvest and sustainable farming programs. We are launching a local campaign against fake food and creating a "Victory Kitchen" to teach folks how to cook from scratch with locally grown, in-season foods. Should be a good year for gardeners and growers.
Fresh Pea travesty launches 2007 campaign!
I have run into those pre-soaked black-eyed peas my self. I was disgusted to realize that all they had done was pour water on them and soak them, then package them. My local grocery has frozen fresh black-eyed peas that are tastier than the dried ones, if you get them before Christmas. They never order enough to last through New Years, however. This year I learned to buy early. They never, I mean, never have a fresh black-eyed pea in any store in our area. I miss going to the farmer and buying a bushel or a hamper of field peas and shucking some for eating and some for freezing in the summer. Consider yourself lucky if you ever see fresh ones in your farmers' market.
Your new project sounds like a great idea, but do black-eyed peas grow in your area in the winter? I know a lot of things do, but black-eyed peas are a hot weather crop, in my memory.
This message was edited Jan 2, 2007 2:25 PM
Most of the folks I deal with are too lazy to shell them, when I give then away. The only markets that sell fresh peas or butterbeans around here are the ones that have commercial bean/pea shellers. On the other side, they are one of the easiest things to grow.
The fresh ones usually come in from the Central Valley in the early part of winter. I think there are some strains of black-eyed peas that are do well in the climate out here and don't need so much heat and humidity as in the south. This year's very low freezing temps have been unusual. Probably knocked out the crop. I looked for frozen fresh black eyed peas but couldn't find any. I don't see any labels to indicate that shelf space was ever provided for them.
FarmerD, there are several vendors who pile up the pods of fresh black eyed peas on their farmers' market tables and you have to fight the crowds to get at them. Black eyed peas are a staple in many Asian cuisines, which has become the majority of the demographics in this area over the past ten years, so I usually see them. Fava beans are a lot more work to shell and I see many other people buying them as well.
Maybe we're more willing to sit and shell peas because we need the respite from the excessive office multi-tasking & technology? Hmmmmm, now that I think about it, this could be the next big anti-stress product: "the Zen of Pea Shelling".
Garden_Maid:
You didn't do harm to any poor produce clerks did you?
There have been quite a few evenings this summer when I came home stressed out from working with computers all day, fixed myself a drink and commenced to shelling Crowder peas. The ding as the fell into the metal bowl was very relaxing.
Farmerdill:
Both my butter beans and shelling beans had real problems with arathntancose (I'm pretty sure I just butchered the spelling) Do you have any suggestions?
BB
Never had a problem with anthracnose on peas and butterbeans. Have had it tomatoes, peppers and watermelons, but not here. I will lose a few to Southern Blight. But usually because I plant peas and butterbeans on the poorest soil that I have, it is not a major problem. Nematodes also get some in bad years, I use a rye cover crop to hold them down. Worse problem I have and it with the peas is weevils (curculio). Anthracnose is is a fungal beastie, but it is not usually mentioned in connection with peas and butterbeans.
"Several insect pests will feed on Southern peas. One of the worst in some parts of the state is the cowpea curculio. This small, black weevil feeds in the early part of the summer on the developing pods and later lays its eggs in the developing seeds of the Southern pea. Aphids can infest pea plantings causing yield loss as well as transmitting virus diseases. Stink bugs and leaf-footed bugs can become severe pests in the late season. Lesser cornstalk borers can devastate a late planting of peas especially during dry weather. This pest feeds by boring into the stems of young seedlings causing stand loss.
Although many diseases affect peas, few are very severe. Fusarium wilt can damage non-resistant varieties as can root-knot nematodes. Fusarium wilt causes extensive yellowing of the foliage with little pod production and eventually death. Sclerotium rolfsii, the causal agent of Southern stem blight, will affect peas, often causing death of individual plants. It can be recognized by the prominent white mold near the base of the plant."
Thanks Farmerdill:
I plan to be much more attentive to pests and diseases this year. Maybe it wasn't anthracnose. The symptoms of Fusarium sound clost to what happened to my plants except they evetually were skeletonized. Inspected but never saw any pests.
These should be our easiest crop to grow in this region right? All things being equal
BB
Yep and if they were skeletonized, you have an insect problem.
Thanks
Not worry BB, the produce clerks have not been touched. They are as clueless as ever. Once upon a time, the folks who worked the produce department at the market could actually tell you something useful about their products and suggest how to prepare them if that information was needed. Nowadays, there is a large 'encyclopedia' of fruits and vegetables on a book stand in the produce department so customers can look up the information themselves.
At one of our "better" supermarkets, the chunks of plastic wrapped banana squash were growing black mould, the bagged carrots were rotting and the collard bunchs were becoming slime due to the excessive water sprays. I brought this up to the produce manager. His response was "well, I don't eat vegetables and none of the other customers have complained, so I don't see a problem". A similar response was received when I suggested the produce clerks handle the fresh fruit gently. We watched the fellow open a new box of apples that had been carefully packed by the grower, and then toss them one by one into the apple bin from a distance of about three feet. Needless to say, the apples were bruised by the following day.
We buy from the same group of growers at the Farmer's Markets every week. They know their crop and are proud to talk about what they grow, and how they grow. I send a lot of people to their stands.
Ahem....I have never eaten black eyed peas.....must be a southern dish. What do they taste like and are they eaten with something mixed in with them ?
I raised a few once for novelty.
garden_mermaid........true about apple brusing. I am still eating extra delicious Red Delicious apples from the fridge. I save only ones that are picked off the tree. The ones on the ground will go bad fairly soon.
Never eaten black eyed peas?! It is a southern thing to eat on New Years Day for good luck, and with cabbage for financial prosperity. Slow cook with ham hocks(or ham bone), much like navy beans with ham bone,and a few spices. Can find recipes anywhere. Another similar version is known as Hoppin John. Bowl of that with some real corn bread and look out! Not only very tasty, but extremely nutritious(good for ya). GM, did you get any for NYD? I got mine last year, but a fat lot a good it did me. : ( Oh well, at least I got a good meal. A lot of southerners are migrating north and west. Tired of heat, hurricanes, tornadoes and lousy paying jobs.
Yes, vadap, I did make Hoppin John, fresh cornbread and a mess o' collards for New Years Day supper.
I always have dried black-eyed peas in the pantry. I challenge your comment about Hoppin' John not being very tasty thought. You just didn't have the right cook making it. ;-)
Indy, eating black-eyed peas and rice on New Year's Day ensures prosperity for the coming year because it's considered an act of humility......those who are humble enough to eat beans and rice on the first day of the year are rewarded thereafter. Or so I've been told by my grandma.
Black eyed peas will cook quickly, like lentils. Most other dried beans (like cannelini & garbanzos) require a lot of soaking or a long cooking time. In addition to being popular in the southern US, they have been cultivated in India for thousands of years. The whole ones are called 'lobiya' and the husked and split ones are called 'chowla dal'. They are also common in the cuisine of the Middle Eastern countries that border the Mediterranean.
I like to make savoury pancake called Chowla Poora. I soak the black-eyed peas overnight, then grind them up into a paste with lime zest, fresh ginger root, some hot green chiles, fresh mint and coriander, a little flour, numeg, tumeric, hing (asafetida - you could substitute onions & garlic) and some salt. I then add enough water to make a smooth & fluffy batter and then fry them up on a griddle. These are great by themselves as a snack with some chutney, or they can be stuffed with cooked okra.
You will probably like black-eyed peas if you eat fresh ones or the fresh-frozen ones available in some grocery stores. Actually, in the south people call them different things than black eyed peas and they may actually be slightly different than black-eyed peas. Try field peas or field peas and snaps or black-eyed peas or crowder peas in the grocery stores in the frozen section of the grocery store. I boil mine with a little jalapeno pepper and/or bell pepper. Chopped onion and garlic work nicely, too. Don't salt until they are tender. And a little tabasco or Louisiana hot sauce at the table. Fresh ones, if you can get them are absolutely wonderful. We don't see those in New Mexico, but there are many kinds in the South. I remember Lady Cream peas which are tiny little black-eyed type peas. If you are willing to shell these tiny things you will have a memorable dish. I think even those come frozen in the South.
The dried or canned peas can taste good as well, but they do have more of a pasty taste than the fresh ones. But with some seasoning -- as recommended by GM or more Southern US, onions, garlic, bell pepper, hot pepper they are still good. Also some ham or bacon really help flavor them as well and they go great with greens and cornbread.
I never had hopping john in Louisiana and Mississippi. The dish seems to be a more northern Southern dish, if that makes any sense, and a dish near the Atlantic seacoast. Also, they eat a lot of peas and rice in the Carri bean, especially for breakfast with a lot of hot sauce. That is a great way to start the day.
So, my husband an I had black-eyed peas and cabbage on New Year's Eve and New Years day. I always look forward to them and try to cook some every now and then during the year.
I hope to try some of the Indian ways of cooking them as well. Indian food is so interestingly spiced. They could make shoe leather taste good. I am just learning to cook it, lately.
I just checked the origins of the Hoppin John recipe we have. It's in a 1950 edition of a cookbook put out by the Junior League of Charleston, South Carolina. The recipe has been edited over the years by various family members. One of my recent seed catalogues has a new offering for a black-eyed pea type of bean that is bright yellow with a maroon "eye". Quite striking in the photo. Not sure we have any more room to plant this spring, but I might need to get a packet "just in case".
My favorite are the conk peas....called white acre everywhere except where i grew up I think. Simply yummy, altho I never met a pea I didnt like. I feel bad that people get those peas in the bags and think that is what a black eye taste like. Its like taking a raw peanut and cooking it till mush and calling it a boiled peanut. I remeber moving to a different state...one that prides itself on peanuts ;-o, they looked at me like i was nuts when i was on a neverending search for green peanuts.
We have plenty of green peanuts available here at our Farmer's Market. Green peanuts are used in many Cambodian and Vietnamese dishes. We have a couple of Hmong farmers that come in from the Central Valley. I always see green peanuts at their stalls when they are in season. Are you able to get them in Gainesville or do you grow your own?
I have seen boiled peanuts and roasted peanuts but never green peanuts. I am sure they have them in New Mexico because one are of the state is a big peanut growing area, but I never see them for sale, even in the Asian groceries in Albuquerque.
How do they cook them?
Blackeye peas are good fresh or dried altho I prefer fresh. Just boiled and seasoned ( salt, pepper and butter). The dried ones we season with salt pork. There are many kinds of southern pea, each type with its own unique flavor. In the deep south blackeyes with collards are the traditional new years dish. Cabbage is used in the border states. The little white peas are delicious (Lady, White Acre) but with a different flavor and texture than Blackeyes. The cream peas ( Zipper. Texas Cream 40 et al) are some what in between and the Black Crowders literally make their own gravy, even the fresh ones. Field peas are little brown peas with their own appeal. Only southern pea I don't like is the Grey Crowder/ Blue Goose. Flavor is a bit too strong for me.
Mermaid, most of the cultivars of blackeye pea originated in California, so I would expect bumper crops out there. Texas is known for cream peas but there are some great cultivars from the gulf states..
Here it is difficult to go any distance without encountering a boiled peanut vendor. They are an acquired taste, it has taken me 10 years to learn to like them and I am still picky. some vendors have a better product than others. I like less salt than is normally used and a good amount of cayenne or tobasco pepper added.
Sorry to hear about you bad black eyed pea exerience Mermaid. Had I known, I would have sent you the 3lbs I have in the freezer from this summers harvest. I have never eaten black eyed peas either, so I never cooked them. They were just so pretty to grow.
kanita
Appreciate the offer kanita. If you have a freezer of fresh black eyed peas, this thread should have given you some ideas of how to cook them. Please do try them and let us know how you liked them.
I will Mermaid. I was really intrigued by all of the variations listed in this thread. I bought today some smoked turkey legs and ham hocks. I should be able to do something with one of those and the black eyed peas. Although, I would really like to try making the chowla poora. I don't soak them overnight to make the paste if they are fresh frozen do I?
I do not care for the dried peas.My favorite green shell pea is Red Ripper.I have grown at least 20 varieties and Red Ripper leads the pact.
I believe only green peanuts are used for boiling.At least that is what we use here.
Charlie
Been hoppin all over the place and forgot about this thread.
Not only very tasty, but extremely nutritious.
GM, I love hoppin' john, black eyed peas, or whatever. I grew up on beans and rice, having red beans and rice every Monday, and BEP at least once a month. Poor mans healthy diet, exceptin' for the pork fat. LOL Your recipes sound very interesting and will have to give them a try. Thanks for sharing. Love those old Junior League cook books. My mammaw had some, but don't know what happened to them before she passed.
Farmerdill, interesting history on collards vs cabbage. I honestly never had collards until I was in the Navy and stationed in Virginia. Discovered many things in good food that my mom would have otherwise destroyed in the kitchen, including spinach(good thing my dad was a good cook, so I knew food was something that could be enjoyed, rather than just consumed). Am going to try some here in Colorado this summer.
Well I finally found a source for my favorite.Red Ripper and planted them in the spring.
It is the best tasting southern pea I have ever tasted.
I like to cook them with a little okra,tomato,salt pork or bacon and the imature pods as snaps.
It is the largest and easiest to shell of any I have tried.
Here is a pic of a few of them
Charlie
Added: Sometimes baby limas or butter beans are added to the mix when available
This message was edited Sep 22, 2007 11:08 AM
Wow! Those are some good looking, very long pods!
What do the Red Rippers look like shelled?
Where did you get the seed?
Wow:
That is a really nicve pea Hemantal!
Can you post a pick of them after they have been shelled?
BB
Here is a pic of them in relation to the great northern white bean on the left.The red brown ones are when they are dried
There are normally 17 or 18 peas to the pod.
My 2nd planting of black eye peas are ripening now. They better hurry - winter's comin' - hailed for 30 seconds yesterday! Mostly they get eaten raw right off the plant while hanging out in the garden - clean up is easy, that way, too - shells go straight into the compost pile. I think the heat stunts them out here (like most everything else), but they seem to do ok, producing 10 or so peas per pod.
I'm saving seed this time for the first time. Do you know if they will cross with other beans, such as pole beans?
BTW, you can eat them young like a string bean before the peas start to bulge. To me they have a "nuttier" taste than beans when done that way, and are excellent in stir fry.
Nope southern peas readily cross with each other but never with true beans (P.vulgaris or P. lunatus) If you like the pods, Asparagus/Yardlong are the edible podded members of this family primarily grown for pods.
Those look yummy Hemental. How does the flavour compare to great northerns or black eyed peas?
The pod you are showing is green. When I googled "Red Ripper Peas", the pictures all had red pods. Where did you get your seeds? Do you pick them when the pods are green?
kmom, I think it's the altitude of Silver Springs, rather than the heat, that is stunting your plants. You are in high desert at 4,500 feet. Black eyed peas tolerate heat well. The good news is that plants in the the higher elevations become more concentrated, even if smaller, so you will probably get more flavour (as long as they get the needed nutrients). We had midget plants at 6,500 ft, but they were tasty.
I do not care for the taste and no longer grow any of the black eye strains.
With the strain of Red Ripper I have now,the pod does not turn red-purple until it is almost dry
The strain I had lost had 20 peas to a 12" pod and seemed to turn colors a lot sooner
I got the seeds from my brother who grows quite a few different cultivars and most likely it has crossed up.
I understand there is a pea named Georgia Long that has pods 25" long and has 25 or more peas to the pod.
Corrected to state that Cardinal is the strain of Red Ripper I was thinking.
It makes a shorter vine,about 4' and has larger peas and reder pods
This message was edited Sep 24, 2007 6:56 AM
Where do you gt your RR seeds. I never thought about drying, going to grow some extra to try that. Dont have that much space and I eat every fresh pea I can find.
Midget plants - that would be my blackeye peas alright! - but prolific and tastey. This year was my "see what survives" year - they definitely "made the cut". Going to tripple the planting next year :-)