A book given to me by my sweet friend Heidi years ago when I needed some words of encouragement, still lies on the nightstand beside my bed as a reminder to never lose hope no matter the circumstance. Perhaps that’s why I love peas; they are truly a comfort food to me.

Purple Hull Peas bring back a lot of child hood memories like shelling peas on the front porch. I also remember the time when I got a whooping because my sister talked me into shelling half a bushel and throwing the other half away in the pasture across the street. Her exact words were” we not shelling all these peas and mama won’t know.” My mama was no dummy, she definitely knew how much a bushel of peas would yield and when she came home from work and saw what we had shelled, the look on her face and ours was priceless as the words from her mouth formed the question, “did you shell all the peas in the basket?” The next thing I knew we were out gathering our switches for a tail busting because I couldn’t lie to my mama. Well those days made for great memories and lucky for us, shelled peas are available at the market. Here is my recipe for Purple Hull Peas. Serve up a bowl of comfort for you guest and make sure you have a cornbread muffin to go with them.

Enjoy,
MJ
Ingredients:
2-3 lbs. Purple Hull Peas, frozen
1 large onion diced
1 large smoked turkey leg (I used a turkey wing)
2- 32oz. cartons of chicken stock
Salt and pepper
3 table spoons olive oil
Additional water if needed
Directions:
In a large Dutch oven, heat olive oil. Add onions and sauté’ until translucent. Add turkey leg or wing and heat. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Lower heat and add peas, salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer until peas are tender, meat is falling off the turkey leg and gravy starts to form.