*low-altitude recipe*
- 1 lb. dried black-eyed peas
- Salt pork (1- or 2-inch piece)
- 1 med. diced onion
- 2 cloves fresh garlic pulp (don’t slice)
- 1 stalk celery, sliced
- ¼ to ½ cup carrots cut into small chunks (optional)
- 1 can Rotel diced tomatoes and green chilies. For slightly spicy, use ORIGINAL. Use HOT for more kick.
- 4 cans chicken broth and/or water to make 2-4 inches of liquid above peas (Note: broth makes them tastier)
- 2 Tbls. chili powder
- Black pepper and salt to taste
- 2 cups cubed, cooked ham (optional)
Prepare black-eyed peas by picking out any rocks or discolored peas. My method: Pour dried peas onto a flat surface. I use the kitchen table, using my hand to scrape the cleaned peas into a colander in my lap. Rinse under running water. Put into a heavy 6 qt. pot.
Add salt pork, onion, garlic, celery, carrots, jalapeno pepper, can of Rotel, and the broth and/or water. Add enough liquid to cover peas plus 2-4
inches of liquid above the peas, depending on how “soupy” you want it to be. They will swell somewhat as they cook, but not as much as pinto beans. Stir. Add chili powder, lots of black pepper, and start with 2 or 3 tsp. of salt. As the peas soften, taste and add salt as needed. Use less salt if using a salted chicken-broth base.
Bring to a boil, uncovered. Reduce heat. Cover partially and simmer about 25 to 30 minutes. Stir and check often for desired softness. Don’t overcook. Add ham, heat through, and serve. Delicious with cornbread.
Black-Eyed Peas and Cornbread
Like to cook? Check out Jodi Lea Stewart’s Recipes RIGHT HERE.
Just for fun . . .
“Hey, Marilyn, did you read Jodi Lea Stewart’s novel, The Accidental Road?”
“Read it? Honey . . . I was her main consultant.”
Author Jodi Lea Stewart ~ Laughing Makes it All Worthwhile! ~
Jodi Lea Stewart is a fiction author who believes in and writes about the triumph of the human spirit through overcoming adversity. Her writing reflects her life beginning in Texas and Oklahoma, later moving as a youngster to an Arizona cattle ranch next door to the Navajo Nation, and, as a young adult, resuming in her native Texas. Growing up, she climbed petroglyph-etched boulders, bounced two feet in the air in the backend of pickups wrestling through washed-out terracotta roads, and rode horseback on the winds of her imagination through the arroyos and mountains of the Arizona high country. Her lifetime friendship with all nationalities, cowpunchers, and the southern gentry allows Jodi to write comfortably about anything in the Southwest, the South, and BEYOND.
What‘s next from Jodi to you?
Another epic historical fiction novel that catapults the reader from Texas into Mexico, Argentina, China, Hong Kong, and Italy and into the epicenter of another action human drama Look for it in early 2023.
Click: Do you love stories set in Exotic Locations?
Silki, the Girl of Many Scarves trilogy will satisfy all your exotic-location cravings!
Author Note: Many folks, including some librarians, think this series is for kids only. Don’t believe it! Our feedback has proven over and over that most of the “Silki fans” are full-fledged adults . . . like you! There is an earlier version of these novels that leans a bit more toward younger audiences, but they, also, were not merely kid lit. The new, enriched series is for every age on the planet. Test me! ~ Jodi
Jodi Lea Stewart’s award-winning adventure-mystery trilogy, Silki, the Girl of Many Scarves, is set smack dab in the middle of the Navajo Nation, USA! Her stories feature unforgettable characters, mysteries at every turn, plot twists, humor, plenty of Native American lore & legends, a glossary of Native words, and surprise endings!
Other Recent AWARD-WINNING Publications by Jodi Lea Stewart
~ The Accidental Road ~
First-place Historical Fiction, Adventure-Drama, winner in the New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards ~
Kat’s almost-full-time job has become dodging the embarrassing tsunami of male attention aimed at her mother Ellie, a social butterfly who bears an uncanny resemblance to film star Marilyn Monroe. To add to Kat’s woes, her stepfather, Roy, has lately grown irrationally jealous of his beautiful wife. Kat buries her worries in movies and classical novels, but when Roy’s rants turn violent, she and Ellie plan an escape via Route 66 to the freedom of a new life in Las Vegas. Car trouble strands them in a dusty little town in Arizona where they encounter tales, treachery, and a slew of characters such as they have never met before, including mobsters infiltrating Arizona and Nevada in the 1950s. Can the road they chose bring them the life they’ve both longed for or was it THE ACCIDENTAL ROAD bringing them to a disaster they can’t escape from? Trouble escalates when Ellie attracts the eye of a mafia Caporegime who, along with Roy, is determined to have her at any cost.
Just Released on Amazon, Barnes & Nobel and anywhere novels are sold.
TRIUMPH, A NOVEL OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT is a 2021 International FIREBIRD First Place Multicultural Fiction Award Winner
If you loved To Kill a Mockingbird, and want a dramatic, different, and sometimes humorous version of New Orleans life, St. Louis, and Texas in the early to mid-century 1900s, wrapped up in plot twists and unforgettable characters, read TRIUMPH, a Novel of the Human Spirit by Jodi Lea Stewart.
TRIUMPH was a finalist in three categories in the 2021 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards contest, won a Readers’ Favorite with Reviewers, and is also a 2021 Firebird First Place Award Winner in Multicultural Fiction.
BLACKBERRY ROAD is an International CHANTICLEER First Place Multicultural Award Winner
Trouble sneaks in one Oklahoma afternoon in 1934 like an oily twister. A beloved neighbor is murdered, and a single piece of evidence sends the sheriff to arrest a black man who Biddy, a sharecropper’s daughter, knows is innocent. Hauntingly terrifying sounds seeping from the woods lead Biddy into even deeper mysteries and despair and finally into the shocking truths of that fateful summer.
“Beyond the humor and entertaining antics of the main character, Biddy Woodson, BLACKBERRY ROAD has depth and meaning as it explores stirring universal themes that we expect in great literature” ~ D.B. Jackson, acclaimed Historical and Western author
BLACKBERRY ROAD is engaging, entertaining, and a book that is sure to linger with you . . . the trip is well worth the time ~ Cyrus Webb, Host of ConversationsLIVE, president of Conversations Radio Network, tv show host, author, and Amazon top reviewer
