Black Eye Pea Fritters

[rozz01]

I had these amazing fritter last time I visited Bennachin in New Orleans. Does anyone have any ideas how to make these at home? Do you have to individually husk the peas? Any advice or recipes would be appreciated. TIA

[smack0809]

They are called Bollitos ( try the cookbooke 3 guys from Miami cook cuban) it tells you how do make them, They call them Cuban Hush Puppies. ( make the Garlic Sauce that is in the book for dipping.

[Bratdawg]

Don't know about fritters, but I remembered Paula Deen doing a black eyed pea cake with catfish that was kind of like a fritter. Bet it'd be really versatile!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/pa...

[waitress]

You can totally wing this recipe. You can cheat and use jiffy corn mix and add a little onion and black eye peas and spoon in oil and fry and people will think you are amazing!

If you want to make from scratch, you can can use equal parts corm meal and flour add whatever cheese, jalapeno, onion, to get the smoky flavor, you need to add a little bacon, pancetta or smoked cheese.

The best advice is get a fry daddy and fry them outside on the porch, like most good southerns do!! and no you do not have to husk the peas. Happy New Year!!

[Rasam]

Hmmm. Sounds like falafels made with BEP instead of chickpeas.

[waitress]

I could live on falafel!

[LNG212]

I don't think I ever noticed the intro to the recipe. This is what it says ... "This is a Creole recipe that appears in Cuban cooking manuals as far back as the 1850s." So maybe it is related to yours.

**Frituras de Carita** (makes about 20-24)
1/2 lb dried black-eyed peas, rinsed in cold water, picked over and soaked overnight in enough cold water to cover (change water a couple of times)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4-6 TBS water
peanut or vegetable oil for frying
fresh lime juice to taste

--When peas have softened, remove their skins. I just rubbed them in my hands in the water and the skins floated to the top to be skimmed off.
--Soak peas another 30 minutes. Drain and rinse them again.
--In a food processor, process the peas with garlic, salt and pepper. With the motor running, slowly add the water and continue processing until the puree is smooth and thick. I used additional lime juice along with the water at this stage for extra flavor.
--In a large skillet or deep fryer, heat two to three inches of oil over medium-high heat. Fry 1 tablespoon of batter until golden brown. Taste it -- then adjust the seasonings of the batter if necessary.
--Drop mixture by tablespoon-fuls into the hot oil a few at a time. Fry until golden brown on all sides, turning with a slotted spoon. Do not fry too many at once or the oil temp will fall and they will get soggy instead of crispy.
--Place on paper towels once out of oil. Serve hot, sprikled with salt and lime juice.

NB: I actually made these about 1 hour ahead and then reheated in the oven and it still worked great. I served with a lime-yogurt-cilantro dipping sauce.

Good luck finding the exact recipe you want to duplicate.

[rozz01]

That sounds amazing... thank you! I could taste coriander in the ones I had, bet i could toast some and put it in while processing. Fried Food Rules !!

[LNG212]

Glad that helped. The recipe was so simple that I'm sure you could tweak it with whatever spices/flavorings you choose. And serve with differing dipping sauces too. Please report back what you did after you make them.

[LNG212]

I've not been to NO. So can you describe the fritters? I have a recipe for black eyed-pea fritters that is a Cuban recipe.

[rozz01]

They're very light and sorta smokey. Kinda like a really delicate hush-puppy.

[rozz01]

There is a reciipe on Chowhound, but these fritters were vegetarian and the one they have here uses shrimp.

[LNG212]

I'll pull out my cuban recipe in the morning and post it for you. These came out really light and puffy. Perhaps they are similar enough that you can use the recipe and maybe tweak it. And, yes, these are vegetarian.

[BeefeaterRocks]

This recipe uses hush puppy mix, might it be similar to what you had?
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/rec...