black-eyed peas

Trying to experiment with (and use up) leftover black-eyed peas, I put three chopped rashers of bacon, one small chopped onion, one cup of dried black-eyed peas into the pressure cooker. I put in 3.5 cups of water, 2 tsp salt, and 0.5 tsp of ground cayenne pepper. I took it to high heat for 24 min and then let it come down in pressure naturally.

They came out delicious, but next time I would (a) reduce water to 2.5 cups, and salt and cayenne proportionally, and (b) reduce cooking time by a few minutes.

pressure-cooker hoppin' john

For New Year's, I fried up a quarter pound of chopped bacon, one chopped carrot, one chopped onion, and some chopped celery in the pressure cooker and then added 1.5 cups of rice and 1.5 cups of black-eyed peas, 3 cups of leftover turkey broth, 4 cups of water, less than a tsp of harissa, lots of pepper, and 1 tbsp of salt. I cooked it at pressure for 24 min and then let it come down in pressure naturally. We ate it with spinach sautéed with onions, garlic, vinegar, and olive oil, and some bacon bits.

We ate it with hot sauce and celebratory champagne. The crowd of four was very happy; it would have served at least six lumberjacks. Next time I would switch to 2:1 ratio of beans to rice, drop the liquid by at least one cup, and reduce cooking time by a couple minutes.