By August 2019. The cold has settled into Memphis the way grief settles into a family — not violently, but persistently, a presence that changes the texture of every day. I am 60 and still walking my mail route through Midtown Memphis, and the week was a winter week, which means the cooking was warmer, the house was smaller, and the people I love were closer.
The week\'s main current was new year's 2020. Walter Jr. came by the house this week, bringing the energy he always brings — steady, organized, the FedEx man\'s approach to family visits: arrive on time, deliver what\'s needed, check that everything\'s in order. Rosetta orchestrated the visit the way she orchestrates everything: with the invisible precision of a woman who has been managing a household, a hospital floor, and a husband for three and a half decades, and who considers all three jobs equally challenging and equally rewarding.
I cooked this week the way I cook every week: with intention, with the ingredients at hand, and with the understanding that food made in a home kitchen for people you love is fundamentally different from food made anywhere else. The recipe doesn\'t matter as much as the hands that make it and the table that receives it. I stood at my stove or sat beside my smoker and I made black-eyed peas New Year tradition, and the making was the medicine, and the eating was the communion, and the cleaning up afterward was the humility that every cook needs — the reminder that the meal is over but the feeding continues, tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.
Rosetta came to the porch as the last light faded and said something simple — \'Good day, Earl\' or \'What a week\' or just my name, the way she says it when she means everything and says nothing. And I said something simple back, or said nothing, and we sat in the amber glow of the porch light and let the week dissolve into the night, and the night was kind, and the morning would come, and there would be coffee and the route and the smoker and the family and the life that is, despite everything, despite the grief and the knee and the changing world, a good life. A full life. A life measured in smoke.
The black-eyed peas are the anchor of it all — the dish that Rosetta and I have come back to every New Year’s since before Walter Jr. was born, the one that says this year we are still here, still fed, still together. When the countdown gets close and the house fills up, I want something on the stove that doesn’t need tending, something that just quietly does its work the way the best people do. Beans and potatoes with bacon is that dish: humble, filling, and truer than any resolution I’ve ever made.
Easy Beans & Potatoes With Bacon
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 6 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
- 2 cans (15 oz each) black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
- Salt to taste
- 2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped (for garnish)
Instructions
- Render the bacon. In a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook the chopped bacon until the fat has rendered and the pieces are just beginning to crisp, about 6–8 minutes. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the drippings in the pot.
- Soften the aromatics. Add the diced onion to the bacon drippings and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
- Add potatoes and season. Add the cubed potatoes to the pot. Sprinkle in the smoked paprika, black pepper, and red pepper flakes if using. Stir to coat the potatoes in the drippings and spices.
- Add beans and broth. Pour in the drained black-eyed peas and the chicken broth. Stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Simmer until tender. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 25–30 minutes, until the potatoes are fork-tender and have absorbed the flavor of the broth. Stir occasionally and add a splash of water or broth if the pot looks too dry.
- Finish and serve. Return the reserved bacon to the pot and stir through. Taste and adjust salt as needed. Ladle into bowls and garnish with fresh parsley. Serve hot.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 310 | Protein: 14g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 38g | Fiber: 7g | Sodium: 540mg