The challenge: 1) Finding Crowder Peas 2)The small dice. This is an easy recipe, only if you buy your veggies already chopped and your peas already shelled.
Challenge 1) I spent forever searching out crowder peas in the market(Palace of Hell as its referred to on the Knitting Paradise weekly Knitting Tea Party, I did not find them after all-anywhere, so I gave up and bought the fatter peas in the pod, wondering if most peas aren't crowder peas. Not all the peas were crowded in the pods, but of those that were, they certainly had the squared edges referred to in the note.
I spent an hour shelling peas last night, and called my aunt Maryal to chat and ease the boredom of such a repetitive task. She suggested I was quite ambitious. By the time I was done, I whole-heartedly agreed with her. I'm not sure I got enough peas.
This morning, when I was woken early by James' niece Katie to wish me a Happy Independence Day, I decided I may as well get up and start cooking. I got breakfast first, and did some other online things, then hit the kitchen, jogging.
Challenge 2) I chopped a 1/2 cup each of the vegetables and realized that I could use either pre-diced fresh veggies(which I cannot afford) or a sous-chef, which I also cannot afford. James had already gone to sleep for the day. So, I began dicing carrots, onion, celery, and green bell pepper. Then I proceeded to mince the garlic. The veggies went into the pan with a little olive oil to cook for five minutes, or until tender.
Next I added the garlic and stirred while cooking for a minute. Once the garlic was incorporated, I added the peas and chicken stock(I used broth), thyme sprigs and bay leaves as well as crushed red pepper and brought the mix to a boil. Then I set the burner to simmer and the timer for 25 minutes and chopped a tablespoon of fresh parsley, and took care of some other tasks. I was running water to rinse dishes when the timer went off and I didn't hear it. Fortunately, I was still in the kitchen close to the peas and realized I needed to check time. I only went two minutes over with a five minute window. I was glad I checked.
I removed the thyme and bay leaves and tasted. I could taste the pepper and wasn't sure I liked it at first. Then I served myself a bowl because, like it or not, this is part of my veggies for the week. When I prepped my bowl, I added some of the parsley, some salt and pepper. This dish went from just okay, I'm not sure about it, to pretty darn good. Its amazing what a little fresh parsley added just before serving can do for a dish. Now I need to do something with the rest of the parsley, hmmm....
Alas, I enjoyed this recipe. If I make it again, I just might employ a sous-chef like I was planning. But I will likely make it again, I have peas growing in the garden. Maybe I'll borrow my nephew for this, or have James help after my play is done this year. If you have a mouthy teenager around, I strongly recommend you employ them as a sous-chef on this dish;-), but that's just my take on this. Happy Peas.
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