Sun
Dec 20 2009
02:20 pm
Really Really Fresh Black-eyed Peas
By: onetahiti

My family, like so many others in the South, has a tradition of eating black-eyed peas--in actuality a type of bean--on New Year's Day. We didn't eat them the rest of the year because, well, if truth be told, none of us liked them.

Years later I found one method of cooking the dried beans that involved removing the strongly flavored skins, but while delicious it was far too labor-intensive for frequent use.

Finally today I discovered an easier, delicious way of eating them without the strong flavor. They still have that characteristic strong smell while cooking, but none of that strong taste.

The recipe is easy: rinse very fresh black-eyed peas, then put in plain unsalted water, bring to a boil, then simmer in a covered pan until soft (15 to 20 minutes). Drain and roughly mash with a fork if desired. At this point you can add flavorings--I added a bit of reduced chicken broth and some Tabasco sauce.

The result: surprisingly wonderful! The cooked peas tasted nothing like the cooking smell but were instead savory and mild.

From now on, I'm always using local, fresh black-eyed peas. These were purchased just down the road at Broadened Horizons Organic Farm. Thank you, Farmer Leaf! :)

-- OneTahiti, finally a fan of black-eyed peas

Disclaimer for the FCC: This blogger receives no compensation for recommendations in this post.

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If you're not eating locally grown

Submitted by farmer leaf on December 21, 2009 - 8:47am.

food, then you are not eating fresh food.
Sure, we all get the junk mail fliers from grocery outlets claiming fresh produce for sale at bargain prices, but that is as credible as a TVA promise to be a good neighbor.
Grocery store produce, especially in Wintertime, comes from hundreds, if not thousands of miles away. It is picked "green" by grossly exploited people who are pushed to the limits of physical endurance and paid pitiful wages in exchange.
During its growing cycle, it has been drenched in toxic pesticides, grown in chemically poisoned soil, and may also be genetically engineered to more resemble synthetic "fake food" (think commercial greenhouse tomato) than something actually grown in good earth and real sunshine.

Hippocrates is credited with saying, "Let thy food be thy medicine." For us it truly works that way, as we take no prescription drugs and we are both in our mid-sixties. However, we do eat the freshest, purest, and most nutritional food possible, grown lovingly and consciously here on our farm.
If you can't afford to eat well because your meds cost too much, then it might be time to rethink the food you're putting into your body, and the harm it may be doing to your health.

Living and teaching Earth friendly sustainable agricultural practices.

Farmer Leaf

Submitted by onetahiti on December 22, 2009 - 2:22pm.

We would eat more local organic food if we knew where to get it. I wish there were a central repository, such as a web site, listing foods currently available locally together with their sources.

I can tell what your farm has from your web site. But what else is out there?

-- OneTahiti

Try Local Harvest.org

Submitted by farmer leaf on December 22, 2009 - 6:27pm.

Then follow instructions, i.e. enter zip code, and any local farms within the specified radius will show up.

Living and teaching Earth friendly sustainable agricultural practices.

Farmer Leaf

Submitted by onetahiti on December 22, 2009 - 7:53pm.

Thanks! LocalHarvest.org is useful. :) Too bad there aren't more listings in Roane County. But one can dream... :)

-- OneTahiti

Indeed, one can dream,

Submitted by farmer leaf on December 23, 2009 - 8:31am.

and that is what we are doing by operating an organic farm in a county that seems rather oblivious to the benefits of good nutrition. There are a few who do realize the importance of fueling the body with the true bounty of nature, but many more of our fellow citizens seem addicted to processed food and the ubiquitous "diabetes in a can" soda phenomena.

In spite of all the scientific and medical evidence that refined sugar, bleached flour, fried food, and a diet poor in fresh fruit and vegetables creates significant risk of unnecessary illness, we see little willingness to wean oneself of the so-called southern "comfort food" diet.

We would recommend two videos to those skeptics out there who don't believe that there is a connection between nutrition and health. They are King Corn and Food, Inc.

Living and teaching Earth friendly sustainable agricultural practices.

Link...

Submitted by R. Neal on December 22, 2009 - 2:47pm.

Info on local produce, etc.

(link...)

Also:

(link...)

R. Neal

Submitted by onetahiti on December 22, 2009 - 11:00pm.

Thanks for the links! :) However, none of those had the info I wanted. :(

TNFarmFresh.com had no farms listed in Roane or even in Rhea counties at all.

The Pick TN Products site listed the Riverside Farmer's Market in Harriman but not what was currently for sale there. Harriman is way too far to drive on spec. :(

I'll keep looking for the perfect synthesis site. :)

Thanks again though! I always enjoy your posts.

-- OneTahiti

I like them:

Submitted by macmurchadh on December 22, 2009 - 8:08pm.

black-eyed peas and BlackEyedPeas. :-)

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