Black-Eyed Peas with Bacon and Sausage

December 16, 2010 by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~ 1 Comment

I didn’t set out to blog this recipe, but it is yummy, made the house smell wonderful, and a New Year is just around the corner, right? And then someone on Twitter asked me for it, so I figure, why the heck not?

What you’ll need:

2 cups uncooked black-eyed peas (soaked overnight, or flash soaked- follow the instructions on the bag)
1/2 lb bacon (diced)
1 lb eckrich smoked pork, turkey and beef sausage (or equivalent)
1 medium onion (diced)
1 TBS minced onion
Salt and pepper to taste

Time needed- 3-8 hours depending upon the method used to soak the black eyed peas.

In a medium to large, deep skillet, partially brown the diced bacon and onion. Remove from pan saving the fat that cooked off. You’ll want that yumminess. Add your soaked black eyed peas to the same pan as well as 5 1/2 cups of water. You could use six cups of water (as per the instructions on the bag of black-eyed peas) if you prefer more soup, but you’ll get a bit of water cooked off the sausage, so I think you’re safe with 5 1/2.

You’ll want to cover (but tilt the lid so it can steam) and simmer this for an hour to an hour and half- or until your peas are soft. About 20 minutes into your cooking time put your diced sausage on top, as well as the minced onion and a teaspoon of salt. Cover with a tilted lid. You may want to add more salt later, but wait until it’s done. Let that cook for about 15 minutes- just long enough to get the fat off of the sausage. Remove the sausage. Let it cook (again- covered) for another 30 minutes and then add your onion, bacon and sausage back to the pan with the peas and cook until the peas are done and the liquid thickens up to a stew-like consistency.

It should start to look something like this:

I served mine with mini- homemade loaves of cornbread.

If you were really ambitious, and had fresh green onions, they’d make an excellent garnish on top of the dish. But i didn’t have any.

Hope you enjoy this! Let me know if you make it! Do you have a favorite way to cook Black-eye peas? I’d love to know!

[ad#Kindle Banner]

About ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

Jenn Zeller is the creative mind and boss lady behind The South Dakota Cowgirl. She is an aspiring horsewoman, photographer, brilliant social media strategist and lover of all things western.

After a brief career in the investment world to support her horse habit (and satisfy her mother, who told her she had to have a “real” job after graduating college), she finally took the leap and stepped away from a regular income; trading the business suit once and for all for cowgirl boots, a hat, and jeans. She has not looked back.

When Jenn first moved to The DX Ranch on the South Dakota plains, she never imagined she’d find herself behind a camera lens capturing an authentic perspective of ranching, and sharing it with others. Jenn has always been called to artistry, and uses music, writing, images, home improvement, and her first true love of horses to express her ranching passion.

Horses are the constant thread and much of her work centers around using her unique style of writing to share her horsemanship journey with others in publications such as CavvySavvy, the AQHA Ranching Blog, the West River Eagle, the family ranch website, and her own website.

Using photography to illustrate her stories has created other opportunities -- Jenn’s brand “The South Dakota Cowgirl” has grown to the level of social media “Influencer”. This notoriety has led to work with Duluth Trading Company, Budweiser, Wyoming Tourism, Vice, Circle Z Ranch and Art of the Cowgirl, to name a few. She also serves as a brand ambassador for Woodchuck USA, Arenus Equine Health, Triple Crown Feed and Just Strong fitness apparel. Her photography has been featured by Instagram, Apple, TIME Magazine, The Huffington Post, and Oprah Magazine. Jenn’s work has been published internationally, has been seen in several books and has graced the covers of several magazines.

Jenn became a social media influencer by accident when she started to explore Instagram as a way to share her life on the ranch with folks that don’t get to experience it. It’s grown into an incredible platform that she uses to empower women, create an environment for self improvement and share life on the ranch.

When she’s not working, she loves to drink coffee, play with her naughty border collie named Copper, start ranch colts, and run about the country chasing cans. Her mother still thinks she doesn’t have a “real” job.