New Year's Day Black-Eyed Peas

"Gave it 5 stars because it's a good traditional recipe. The recipe is silent here, but you must always pick, soak and rinse the dried peas. If you make it more traditional by using smoked hog jowles, ..." See moreham hocks, or smoked pork neck bones, instead of ham, it'll taste even better. We use the water fom cooking the pork for the liquid in this dish. Also, our preference is for a can of Rotel tomatoes, drained, instead of the purred tomatoes. There are several DO NOT's if you want to keep this dish "lucky" 1. Do not add chicken stock, as chickens and other fowl move backward as they eat. 2. Do not use beef, as a cow will move forward, sideward and backwards as it grazes, whereas, a pig always "pushes" forward as it eats. 3. Do not use canned peas as they've already swelled, so your luck will not "swell" as it will with dried peas."

"Excellent! I did make a couple of changes though. I used fresh black eyed peas and cooked them in 1/2 beef broth and 1/2 water (do not use the recipe's water measurements--way to much water!). I on..." See morely used 1 onion (b/c that's all I had) and 1 tsp onion powder. I substituted 2 cloves of fresh minced garlic for the powder. My can of tomatoes were petite diced w/ bell pepper, celery, & onion. I like my beans with a bit of a kick so I also added cajun seasoning. I only used about 1.5 cups of ham because that's all I had on hand. Everyone loved it...even the kids! De-lish!"

"These came out very good. My husband went back for 2nds and 3rds and doesn't normally like black-eyed peas. I omitted the tomatoes and used fresh garlic which I crushed in a press. I also reduced the..." See more cooking time to 1 1/2 hours by soaking them over night. If you choose to soak them over night make sure to drain the water and rinse the peas. Then return to the pot with 4 cups water and remaining ingredients."