Chicken and Black-eyed Peas

I ventured out last night and decided to make a country dinner with fried chicken, black-eyed peas, and salad. Yum! Well, as yummy as you can expect from someone who just can't grasp the art of frying chicken. I had given up trying to fry chicken years ago but after SC mentioned something about me making some fried chicken I decided to try again. While visiting Hickery Hollow Farm blog I ran across her recipe for fried chicken and decided to put it on my menu.

As I found out I still haven't mastered the art of frying chicken. The 'breading' just doesn't ever want to stay on for me while it's frying. Maybe I'm just missing something. But I'm not going to give up trying. The chicken was fairly good and some of the pieces came out looking like real fried chicken! Now, to me the best part of the meal was the black-eye peas.

These dried black-eyed peas were from my own garden last year and I've been itching to cook them. So glad I finally tried it! I will definately be growing more this year. Never knew I even liked them!

Island Black-eyed Peas

Dried black-eyed peas
2-3 slices bacon chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 tsp bacon drippings
few rings of pickled jalapeno peppers, chopped, optional
pepper and salt to taste

The amount of beans to use depends on how many you want. I think I used close to a 16oz pkg amount which was really more than I needed.

Soak the beans overnight in plenty of water. Drain and rinse the beans. Place beans in a bean pot or slow cooker. Cover with water 1-2 inches above beans. Add bacon, onion, bacon drippings, jalapeno peppers, salt and pepper and stir. Cook on high all day in the bean pot or 8 hours in the slow cooker. Once done you may want to drain off some of the water before serving. Serve with a slotted spoon and enjoy!