We were out of town until NYE, and my Anson Mills order didn't arrive for a few days after, so this is a belated New Years dish. I followed Sean Brock's recipe and the results were amazing. I had a few hangups along the way though. The peas were much smaller than I expected (based on Brock's videos and pictures in the cookbook). I expected them to swell significantly during soaking, but they didn't and they took much longer to cook than the recipe specified. I soaked them for a day and a half, drained and rinsed them, and cooked them in some ChefSteps blonde chicken stock and aromatics as per the recipe. After an hour - the length specified in the recipe - the beans were still crunchy. An hour and half? Crunchy. 2 hours? Hard, dry center. 2.5 hours? Screw this, I'm breaking out the pressure cooker. I cooked them for 15 minutes and let the pressure come down naturally, and they were just right. I have no idea why it took so long for them to fully hydrate and cook, but the results were worth it. It's a bowl of beans and rice... no room to hide there. But my goodness, it was the best damned bowl of beans and rice I've ever had.
I served it with some kale that I pressure cooked with some onions, garlic, and bacon fat (and about 1/8th a cup of water). Solid greens.
Greens, beans, and rice. Very simple, but incredibly delicious.
But next time, the peas are going in the pressure cooker from the get-go.
And I'll make a double batch.
