Best Blackeye Pea And Ham Soup 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.

BLACKEYE PEA AND HAM SOUP

Steps:

• 1. Wash blackeye peas and soak overnight or do the quick soak method, as I do. Cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and boil 2 minutes. Turn off heat and let stand for 1 hour. Drain off grey water and set peas aside. While peas are soaking, in a 6 qt stock pot, boil ham shank, hock or bone in water to cover it for 1 1/2 hours or until meat is very tender. Remove to cool so you can cut it up. When cool enough to handle, cut ham meat up and set aside.
• 2. While peas are soaking and ham bone is simmering, prepare the vegetables. I make easy work of this step by cutting in big chunks and chopping all together in the food processor. I do it in 2 batches so they get chopped more evenly, but it's a soup so it doesn't really matter. Add the chopped veggies to the pot of water you boiled the ham bone in. Add beef base, bay leaf and seasionings. Add ham meat and blackeye peas back in. Simmer for 25 minutes. Add spinach and simmer another 15 minutes. Taste for flavor and add salt if needed. Enjoy with Dee's Corny Cornbread and butter. Yummmm!!

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 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.

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.