Recipe: Texas Caviar with Black-Eyed Peas for Molly/FL

Hi Molly:-) According to Mark Bittman, author of How to Cook Everything, Pigeon Peas are the same thing as Black-eyed Peas. He, however does not say how to cook fresh black-eyed peas. From what I can gather from the recipe below and some that Gladys/PR has posted, the frozen variety would take about 20 minutes, as opposed to the dried ones that take anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours so I think that I would start checking fresh ones at 20 minutes and then check every five minutes or so until they are tender. The following recipe is from Texas Home Cooking by Cheryl and Bill Jamison.

Texas Caviar

1 lb. dried or frozen black-eyed peas
6 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup corn oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped sweet onion (such as Tezas 1015, Vidalia, or Walla Walla), or 1/4 c. regular onion
2 roasted garlic cloves
1 tsp. coarse-ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt, or ,ore to taste

Serves 4 to 6

In a large saucepan, cover the peas by at least 1 inch with stock. Bring the liquid to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook peas until they are tender, anywhere from 45 min. to 1 1/2 hours depending on your peas. (Frozen peas generally cook faster). Stur occasionally, and add more stock or water if peas begin to seem dry before they are done.

Drain the peas. In a large bowl, toss them together with the remaining ingredients. Refrigerate the peas, covered, at least 2 hours, preferably overnight. The peas get tastier over several days. Serve the peas chilled.