Collard & Black Eye Pea Soup

While not a traditional southern dish, this wonderful soup makes use of a number of iconic southern ingredients, including not only collards but also black eyed peas.  While the original recipe by Sarah Belk (presented in the 1990 Best of Food & Wine recipe compendium; ISBN 978-0916103118) uses smoked ham hocks, we have made our version vegan by swapping out the pork for mushrooms and a dash of liquid smoke.  We also found that the best accompaniment were small hushpuppies, which we adapted from Bill Neal’s classic 1985 Southern Cooking (ISBN 978-0807842553).  As you’ll see, the huspuppies are vegan as they include eggs and buttermilk.  If you want to keep the meal vegan, simply substitute toasted French bread.  Lastly, we very much like garnishing the soup at the table with a little Eastern North Carolina-style spicy vinegar barbeque sauce.   While you should feel free to use any vinegar-based hot sauce, we’ve also included a typical recipe in case you’d like to try the real thing.

1 gallon water
4 carrots, peeled and cut lengthwise into halves
4 celery ribs, cut lengthwise into halves
4 medium onions, each studded with 3 whole cloves
12 oz whole Crimini mushrooms
1 small bunch of Italian parsley, tied together at the stem end
12 whole peppercorns
1 tablespoon dried hot red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon dry thyme
4 bay leaves
½ scant teaspoon liquid smoke
2 cups dry white wine
½ pound black eye peas, cooked until just tender
1½ pounds collards, stemmed and cut into 1” dice
¼ cup cider vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place water, carrots, celery, mushrooms, parsley, peppercorns, red pepper flakes, thyme, bay, liquid smoke, and white wine into a large soup pot.  Bring to a boil and simmer until the vegetables are tender, at least 2 hours. 

Drain stock through a colander, and return stock to the pot.  Place the carrot, celery, and onions (with cloves removed) in a deep bowl with 1 cup of the stock.  Puree smooth and return to the stock.  Cut mushrooms into ¼ inch slices and return to the stock. 

Bring stock back to a simmer.  Add in cooked black eyed peas and prepared collards.  Simmer for 30 additional minutes.  Add in cider vinegar and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

Serve with hushpuppies (see below recipe).  Feel free to garnish with a vinegar-based hot pepper sauce, preferably some type of North Carolina barbecue-style vinegar sauce (also see below).   

Hushpuppies

1½ cups corn meal
½ cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
2 eggs, beaten
1¼ cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons corn oil
½ cup green onion, finely chopped
Oil for frying

Heat oil in a deep fryer, or 2” deep oil in a cast iron skillet to 365° F. 

Sift together all dry ingredients.  Mix together all wet ingredients, and then pour into the dry ingredients.  Mix well. 

Drop 1” diameter balls of batter into the oil.  They will initially sink to the bottom, then rise to the top, and then flip over when the bottom side is cooked.  When the inital top side has flipped over and turned a golden brown, remove from oil and drain on paper toweling. 

Eastern North Carolina Barbeque Sauce

2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup cider vinegar

Mix all ingredients together and pour into a clean jar.  Seal and let sit in a cool, dark place for at least 10 days. 

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