Let's get in the way-back machine, shall we?
Back in June, Cath from A Blithe Palate and Sara and Ali from the Weekend Cookbook Challenge asked me to participate in a Cookbook Spotlight. Considering that cookbooks are to Tami what Hustler is to the average American male - I buy them for the photos - I enthusiastically accepted. The cookbook, titled Kitchen Sense by Mitchell Davis, came...
...AND THERE WERE NO PHOTOS IN IT. I was crushed.
Nevertheless, I picked out my recipe and made it: Chickpea and Spinach Salad. I took its photo. It was very tasty. The entire cookbook seems to be well tested, well thought out, and could very possibly achieve what it has set out to do: to provide you with one volume of foolproof, go to recipes.
This is, my friends, where the wheels come off. In the time since I made the recipe, I have celebrated my 30th birthday - for two disgustingly gluttonous weeks. I have worked like a maniac. I have run the Peachtree Road Race. I have traveled. I have, subsequently, had my camera stolen - with said photo of one Chickpea and Spinach Salad still on the memory card.
So this weekend, as my new camera arrived and I was deciding which recipe to try out for my replacement post from Kitchen Sense...I managed to give myself a black eye. No. Really. I am going to spare you the ridiculous story...but it has to do with being in close proximity to a car phone charger with a springy cord. I wish I was kidding.
The force did provide me with a moment of clarity: I would make Black Eyed Pea Fritters with Country Ham. My Black Eyed Pea Hummus was a rousing success...so why should these be any different?
People. These things are divine, although *not* the most photogenic food I've ever prepared. These things are also totally addictive. While I can't provide the recipe on my blog (its located on page 196 of Kitchen Sense), take my word for this one. Its a delicious mixture of black eyed peas, cayenne pepper, onion, parsley and some other stuff to hold it all together. Form into whatever shape you'd like - as big or as small as desired - and fry until brown. This is like a fluffier, more flavorful hush puppy. Plus, it has a pig product in it, which automatically makes it good. I ate mine with my favorite salsa...but they would be excellent on their own as an hors d'oeurve with a creamy & spicy dip or as a side for a pork entree.
Black Eyed Pea Fritters with Country Ham is located on page 196 in the new cookbook Kitchen Sense by Mitchell Davis and published by Clarkson Potter Publishers.