My boyfriend and I come up with some crazy ideas when we’re together. One of them is to start a cookbook. I am probably one of the worst cooks out there, but we figured that my graphic design background and his talent for cultivating creative culinary dishes would make a cool project.
Thus we’ve been spending most of our weekends in our kitchens flipping through recipes, talking to chefs, and wandering the farmer’s markets in search of the perfect ingredient that would serve as the center start of our book.
…and miraculously we found it.
Beans. We both grew up visiting the Caribbean where beans and rice served with conch have us longing to return again. However considering our current monetary situations, we decided to bring the Caribbean, or in this case Jamaica, to us.
Last weekend we figured that a black-eyed pea dish with sangria was just what our sunny Saturday needed. This recipe is hearty and makes a perfect dish for a cool Spring day as well. Enjoy!
Jerk Black-Eyed Pea Stew:
1/2 lb soaked black-eyed peas
1 chopped red onion
2 quartered heirloom tomatoes
1/3 cup jerk sauce
5 tbsp molasses
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp dried thyme
Bay leaf
Blackened prawns
Method
1 Heat the oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and sauté for 4-5 minutes, until they begin to brown on the edges.
2 Add the tomatoes, jerk sauce, molasses, and vinegar. Stir in the beans and bay leaf and sprinkle the thyme over everything. Bring to a simmer, then turn the heat to low and cover.
3 Allow for everything to cook for at least 30 minutes to bring out the flavor.
4 Heat oil in a skillet. Add shrimp and cook for about 7 minutes. Once shrimp start to curl, remove and add to bean soup.
5 Serve with warm bread or over rice.
Blood Orange Sangria
1 bottle of white wine (we used Edition Maximilian Riesling)
2 tbs of fresh lemon juice
4 blood oranges
1 Muddle lemon juice in a pitcher. Stir in Riesling and sliced blood oranges. Chill at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours;
2 Pour into glasses; Garnish with blood orange wheels.
Cheers!
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