You’re going to find out real quick that I like to cook to taste. There is usually not any measuring in this kitchen. I use “recipe” loosely – I consider every dish a kitchen experiment.
I ran across this recipe online from Foodocracy for Traditional Southern Conch Peas, which inspired this concoction. I made so many adjustments for what I had on hand, it kind of turned into my own thing. This batch made about 8 servings.
Conch peas are the teeniest, tiniest, cutest little black-eyed peas that you’ll ever see! They’re delicious and are perfect in soups and prepared marinated, cold.
CCP Smoky Soup Ingredients:
Diced yellow onions
Thinly sliced celery
Thinly sliced baby carrots
2 fire-roasted poblano peppers, skinned, seeded, and diced
*2 – 3 smoked dark chicken quarters, deboned, and shredded
1/2 a bag of presoaked, drained, & rinsed Carolina Conch Peas
Some reserved bean cooking liquid (optional)
1 lime, halved, seeds removed
Cilantro diced
Lee Kum Kee Chicken Bouillon Powder
Granulated garlic
Kosher flake salt
Coarse ground black pepper
Dried thyme
*A Note on Smoked Chicken
My husband LOVES smoking meats, and the meat most often in our rotation is a big bag of smoked chicken quarters. I usually have them in my fridge twice a month.
You can sub in any smoked meat – leftover brisket, sausage, ham, etc.
Heck, roast some eggplant or zucchini – your choice! This dish really benefits from a deep smoky flavor.
If all that sounds terrible, add some liquid smoke & get over it.
The Closest to Instructions that You’re Going to Get:
Before you start cooking! Wash, dry, then roast two poblano peppers over an open flame (I just do them on our gas stove). Let them blacken, then pick them up with tongs, immediately seal them in a plastic bag, and set them aside.
Chop onions, celery, & carrots.
Debone and shred smoked chicken.
Return to the poblanos and rub them around inside the plastic bag. This will remove about 90% of the charred skin. Run them under water to remove the remaining & remove the seeds under water as well to make it easier to prep them. Pat them dry, then chop them up.
Let’s get started! In a large pot, I sautéed the onion, carrots, and celery until softened – on medium heat – in a touch of garlic oil.
Then I added the peppers and smoked chicken and a generous pour of the bean liquid (which I reserved after I cooked the other half bag the day before – you can use water throughout if you don’t have any).
To that, I started spicing to taste – adding a generous helping of chicken bouillon and Spanish pimentón to start my base. Always start with bouillon, if you’re using it; otherwise, it is easy to oversalt.
I stirred in the presoaked beans (optional, but my preference) and dropped in one lime, cut in half. I added more water, until the height was about 3 inches over the beans.
I tasted the broth (cold-ish) at this point and made more adjustments to the spices. If it tastes flat, add salt. If you oversalt, add acid (another lime) – or throw in a potato (to discard later) to absorb extra salt.
Bring it up to a hard boil for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, turn it almost as low as it can go for a soft simmer.
Since Conch Peas are so small, and I presoaked them, the soup was ready after a 45-minute simmer.
Served with:
I ordered a bag of Cheesecake Factory Brown Rolls from Kroger. They were a perfect match.
I meant to add a salad.
Thinking of an after-dinner pairing of a piece of cake…
