Black-eyed Peas and Ham Hocks

Needs more water and I cover my pot. I also added chopped onion, a little garlic and creole seasoning. I'm from Louisiana, so the proper way to finish this is by mashing some in the pot and serve it on rice!

This need WAY more than 3 cups of water!! Try starting with 6 cups.

I have searched for the Perfect Black Eyed Pea recipe each year for New Year's Day. I am not a black eyed pea eater, but my husband is and, being Southern, we have to have this every New Year's Day. I read the other reviews and adjusted the water level- I think this is a common sense issue. Just eyeball the water. When you cook beans that have been soaked, you generally boil them in fresh water that just covers the beans. Same here. Add more water as needed while they boil. I did not use as much ham, but cut it into bite size pieces before serving. I added another bay leaf and kicked up the fresh ground pepper. This dish thickens as it cools, so do not worry about it being too soupy. I did not serve it over rice, but as side dish to oven baked ribs (find the recipe on this site). Of course, there was plenty of sweet cornbread. My husband said this was my best batch of black eyed peas yet (that's 15 attempts- one for every New Year's Day we have been together). Not quite as good as his momma's, but pretty good for a Yankee born wife who doesn't eat black eyed peas.