Purple Hull Pea and Sausage Jambalaya

A family friend had a large yield from their garden and gave us several bags of purple hull peas they had put up. These peas are less earthy than their black eyed pea cousins and, like all southern peas, are super healthy with lots of dietary fiber, iron, protein and folate.

I served this with a pan of my Mama’s Cornbread – recipe here.

Finished dish is hearty and complex and quite delicious. With all the layers of flavor, every bite is a pleasure.

4 rashers of bacon, chopped
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
½ cup rice
1 lb. sausage, sliced
3 cups purple hull peas
1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
1 can Ro-Tel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies
½ teaspoon each Salt and pepper to taste

Brown the bacon in a Dutch oven or other heavy stockpot. Drain on paper towels, leaving as much bacon fat in the pot as possible. Sauté the onion in the bacon grease until golden, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant. Sprinkle over the flour and stir constantly for 5 minutes to cook the flour. Add in the rice and stir until coated in oil and lightly toasted. Toss in the sausage and cooked bacon and purple hull peas and stir until glistening. Pour in chicken stock and the can of Ro-Tel. Add in 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Stir while bringing to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour or until peas are soft, stirring occasionally. Taste for seasoning.

Serve with cornbread.

Microwave Poaching an Egg

As regular readers of this blog know, I’ve been working to make perfect poached and soft boiled eggs (version 1 with steam, version 2 with an inch of water). I had never considered using the microwave until I saw a video of a woman poaching an egg in a ramekin.

I tried it and it works. It did take some experimenting to find the sweet spot between 35-45 seconds but the results are marvelous.

Break an egg in a glass ramekin or other small bowl. I prefer glass because you can watch the egg cook. Fill the ramekin the rest of the way with water, so there is at least 1 1/2 inches of water above the egg. Place in the center of the microwave and set the microwave on high power for 35-45 seconds, depending on the size of your eggs and how runny you want the yellow. The ones pictured above took 43 seconds. Once done, remove from the water with a slotted spoon and serve with toast.

This isn’t really the best process when you’re cooking for a crowd but it is perfect for a quick meal without a lot of fuss or cleanup.

Olive Loaves

As the weather is turning colder, I wanted some crusty bread. Something good for sandwiches and with soup. I added olives as I’ve been on a salt kick lately and thought the briney olives would be a good combination.

I was right. Such good bread. I had some with olive oil and a dukkah seedy nut mix I had picked up at Trader Joe’s.

These batards were chewy and flavorful with a crispy crust and lots of bites of olive. There is a bit of time involved but it is totally worth it.

2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 cup bread flour
1 ½ cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 ½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
½ cup kalamata olives, chopped

Mix all ingredients except the olives in a medium sized bowl until well combined. Cover and let it rest at room temperature for 15 minutes. Stretch and fold the dough into itself by taking a pinch of the outside edge and bringing it to the center. Continue around the entire edge. Then let it rest, covered, for another 15 minutes.

Knead and mix in the olives for about 5 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge. Let the dough proof overnight or as long as 36 hours.

Remove the dough from the fridge about 4 hours ahead of baking. Let come to room temperature for about 90 minutes. Fold the dough onto itself and then let continue to relax for another 90 minutes.

Divide the dough into 3 pieces. Gently shape each piece into an oval. I usually pat it into a rectangle with my hands and then fold it together three times like a business letter. Then, I turn it over on the seam and roll it out to the desired length. Place on a sheet of parchment paper and let them rest for 30 minutes.

Preheat a baking stone or tray in the oven at 450 degrees F.

Carefully transfer the loaves to the preheated baking stone/tray and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Adding steam in the first 8-10 minutes will help to make them more crisp. Finished bread will be 200 degrees F and sound hollow when you thump it.

Let cool at least ten minutes before tearing into them.