Black Eyed Pea and Chicken Tootin' Soup

Beans are probably the most fantastical food in the universe. Here at the Chicago chapter of TFK, we eat beans nearly daily. Well, at least every other day or a couple times a week. OK, sometimes we don't eat beans at all but that is a mistake. Beans have no fat, are high in protein, taste great and are practically free. While known to many as the musical fruit, they are actually a legume. Black Eyed peas are considered good luck to eat on New Years so I cooked up a special batch over the holiday weekend. This is a thick, fun and hearty soup made based on fresh black eyed peas and chicken. Here's what you need:

2 chicken breasts

2 packages fresh blackeyed peas (or one package dried beans, cooked)

1 large can of whole tomatoes

4 cups stock or something, enough to cover beans

2 bay leafs

1 large onion

salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, vegetable oil

This takes about an hour to prepare and will server six people or so as a main course. 

First thing you do is brown up the chicken breasts. Dark meat will work just as good if you prefer. Do this right in the pot you make the soup in. Cover the bottom w/ a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil, turn the heat on high and have at it. You can use any fat to fry in that you prefer. I don't think the taste ultimately comes through in the end which is why I go w/ a simple vegetable oil. Just get them good and brown, don't worry about cooking through as it will all be recooked a bit later:

If you don't think this step is fun, skip it. It will turn out OK. Browning does really add a lot of flavor though so I recommend it. Either way, cube the chicken and set aside for later. Keep any remain drippings in the pot.

Now for this recipe I used some fresh beans. They come packaged and can normally be found in the produce section of your grocery store:

Two of these guys gives you about as much beans as one package of the dried ones. They cook up really fast compared to dry ones too. Add enough stock to really cover the beans (about four cups):

Your choice of stock here is critical. Homemade stock is so vastly different from packaged broth it is hard to even think of them as the same thing. Using homemade stock gives you a thicker texture and more control over sodium content. It tastes better and is just better in general. Trust me. (I promise to include instruction on making your own stock shortly.) If you have no other option go for vegetable broth from the grocery store, preferably a low sodium one.  The beef and chicken ones just taste like reconstituted ramen noodle packets. Forget that.

From here you wanna bring the mix to a boil over high heat, reduce to a simmer and cook for about ten minutes until maybe just a tiny bit less tender than you like. If you are using dry beans, soak over night before hand drain the liquid, replace w/ stock and you'll have to cook 'em about an hour before they are tender. Cover so the liquid does not evaporate too quickly. If it does, just top off w/ tap water.

Now here is where I break out another special homemade ingredient, a jar of tomatoes hand canned by TFK's Chicago chapter's future mother in law:

This is good stuff but any old canned tomatoes work in a pinch if your future mother in law does not can tomatoes. Open whatever can or jar of tomatoes you have and dump in the soup, along w/ the cubed chicken, a small handful of red pepper flakes, a large chopped onion, a couple bay leaves and a good bit of salt and freshly ground pepper:

Now it's starting to look fine like wine. I should stress that you really don't want to add either salt or tomatoes before the beans are tender as both salt and acidity will prevent your beans from properly absorbing water. I learned this the hard way. The salt and pepper are to taste. Might be a couple teaspoons of each. It is an invaluable tool for fun chefs to learn to salt by taste alone. Try it and if you fail, try again next time. Nobody gets to be a good cook w/o learning to salt food properly and it can't be taught other than by experience.

Let the soup continue simmering until the chicken is cooked through and the onions get tender, maybe ten minutes or so. The final product looks gross when I take a picture of it but is actually delicious:

This is honestly the most compliments I have gotten out a dish in a very long time. It is a perfect warming soup for a cold holiday. Enjoy.

If you have a favorite bean soup recipe or just think this recipe is retarded, let us know about it by commenting.

Potato Funcakes

Potato pancakes are fun to make. You throw a bunch of stuff in a food processor and then fry it. There is nothing not to love. Here is a batch I made up in the Chicago branch of TFK. You will need:

6 potatoes
1 medium onion
salt, pepper
2 eggs
1/4 cup of flour or something  like that

First, you gotta peel the six potatoes:

I used organic ones because apparently regular potatoes are grown in soil that contains chemicals which cause death, asphyxiation and pregnancy.

Once they are peeled, grate 'em on up w/ a food processor. Sometimes you gotta chop 'em into bits to fit them down the shoot. Don't worry about that, they just get all shredded up in there anyway.

You can grate them by hand too but that is no fun so try to make someone else do it if that's your only option. Possibly if you used non-organic potatoes you will have a mutant child around w/ some extra hands to get it done quickly.

Put the shredded potatoes into a bowl or other bowl-shaped container. Shred up and onion and put it in there too along w/ a good sprinkling of pepper and a bunch of salt.

Fun chefs add the salt and pepper to taste and this is the time to taste it before you put in the raw eggs. Raw potato will not hurt you. Raw eggs probably won't either but who wants to eat a raw egg? If I had to guess I use about a teaspoon of pepper and salt both. Once you get it tasting nice and salty peppery, add two raw eggs and a couple tablespoons of flour and mix it on up, pouring off any extra liquid that might have collected first.

It should look about like this:

Use about a quarter cup of flour or a little more or less depending on texture. I guess it would be a little thicker than a standard pancake batter as you have to spoon it into the frying pan. I guess it is about the same as chocolate chip cookie batter. You can put this stuff in the fridge for a bit but it starts to turn gray pretty quickly. If you get a little bit of grayness, just mix it in and nobody will ever know. If a bit of liquid forms around the sides just pour it off.

Now for the fun part. Fry 'em on up! Best to start w/ the pancake mix at room temperature.

You can use any kind of oil or fat really. I am using olive oil in this case because I had a bunch left over that I fried falafel in a while back. It is really easiest if you use a lot of frying oil and then save it for reuse later. If you don't overcook, the water escaping from the cooking pancake prevents the oil from absorbing in too much and they will not make you fat. Make sure to at least get a very good coating over the whole bottom of the pan. On my stove, I turn it up to high for fastest browning but watch the oil doesn't smoke. Burnt oil is gross.

Spoon in a generous spoonful for each pancake. You can break them up easily if they are too big. I press them to a about a little less than I half inch thick w/ a spatula. It takes longer to fry than you'd expect. About five minutes on each side. Again, watch and use your judgment so they don't burn. Stoves are tricky things. Sometimes, they will sneak up on you and burn your potato pancakes.

They turn out nice and golden brown but look yellow because I am no kind of food photographer:

Eat 'em up w/ some apple sauce or sour cream for breakfast or serve them along pork and kraut like I did. That is some fun eatin'.