Black-eyed peas and plantains

This recipe is really two dishes in one. Fried plantains on one hand and a flavorful shrimp and black-eyed peas stew on the other hand. As typically goes when I go on the hunt for new recipes, I wanted to use some of the ingredients I had at home, in this case: black-eyed peas, shrimps, tomato paste and plantains. And yes, I did find the one recipe that makes excellent use of all those ingredients. Imagine my joy at being so lucky! Unfortunately, I had mixed feelings about the results, fried plantains are fried plantains, I have made them more times than I care to remember (when I come to think of it, I probably passed the 10,000 hours mark, which qualifies me as an expert!), so they did not disappoint. The stew though, took some adjusting. I thought the black-eyed peas’ taste blended too much with the tomato and shrimp, giving the dish a starchy note I did not care for. Overall, it was a new experience and I enjoyed it, but I am not sure I would make this recipe again.  What do you think? Do you have any suggestions of changes I could make to reduce the starchy taste of the stew?

Recipe adapted from: www.tropicalchefs.com

Plantains with black-eyed peas Recipe

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Serves	4
Prep time	20 minutes
Cook time	2 hours, 40 minutes
Total time	3 hours

Ingredients

• 300g black-eyed peas
• 100g onion (chopped)
• 1 Large tomato
• 2 tablespoons tomato puree
• 2 hot chilies (pounded to a paste)
• 1l boilling water
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 300g cooked prawns
• 3 Large ripe plantains (cut in slices)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• oil for frying

Directions

1.	If you are using fresh black-eyed peas, wash and pick over the black-eyed peas, then place in a pot, cover with plenty of water and boil for 2 minutes
2.	Remove from the heat and set aside for 90 minutes to soak then return to heat (use the same water), bring to a boil , reduce to a simmer and cook, covered for about 2 hours. If using frozen beans (like I did), follow the instructions on the package to thaw and cook them.
3.	Add the onion, tomato, chilies to the beans and cook uncovered for 15 minutes.
4.	Add the tomato puree, oil and the prawns. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
5.	Remove the cover and continue cooking for 5 minutes or until the mixture is quite dry
6.	Sprinkle the plantains with sea salt then deep fry in the oil until golden brown
7.	Drain on absorbent paper. Serve the black-eyed pea stew with the fried plantains.