Cooking for a Community Fridge

[MaryIsobel]

4 hours ago, patti said:

🎵 Let’s start at the very beginning. A very good place to start. 🎵

 

As previously posted, a generous eGullet member donated a variety box of Rancho Gordo beans to be used in community fridge meals. That box included two packages of black eyed peas, which southerners believe symbolize coins and abundance. Usually served with some type of greens (money) and cornbread (gold). Prosperity and good fortune for the coming year!

 

Because my goal is to make 24 meals of generous portion sizes (and my neurotic desire to make sure there is “enough”), I decided to also cook 2 more pounds of peas, using the local favorite brand, Camellia. Also, my husband wanted to be sure there was enough for his own New Year’s Day meal!

 

 

 

I found out just last week that you can buy ham bones from the Honey Baked Ham store when they are available. They were available, and I bought two, at $5.99 each. I consider it a bargain because there really was a good amount of ham attached. A ham for each pot of beans.

 

 

 

 

First things first. Rinsing and sorting.

 

 

 

 

 

There is often debate about whether or not to soak the beans, and if you do, for how long? I decided against soaking for two reasons. First, I wanted the longer cooking time to make sure the ham bone had time to do its job. B, Rancho Gordo black eyed pea package instructions did not include soaking! Who am I to argue (this time)? It’s probably because they are thin skinned, comme moi.

 

So. After the rinsing and sorting, aromatics were sautéed in bacon grease from my bacon grease crock.

 

 

The RG peas were cooked in an 8 quart stock pot, while the Camellias were cooked in a larger roaster. Instead of choosing pots for their usual function, I have to choose by size. My largest Dutch oven is 7 1/4 quarts, but I have larger roasters and stock pots. Two pounds of beans or peas needs at least an 8 quart pot.

 

After the veg was sautéed, the ham bone, rinsed and sorted black eyes, and a few bay leaves were added to the pot, along with enough water to cover the beans by an inch or so.

 

Pot 1

 

 

 

 

Pot 2 

 

 

And eventually:

 

Pot 1

 

 

 

Pot 2

 

 

At some point between those pics, smoked sausage, seasoning, and a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste were added. I didn’t add salt early in the cooking, according to package directions. But the ham added salt, so I don’t know if that is theoretically a bad thing or not. Taste wise, it was a good thing!

 

The pot of Rancho Gordo beans had more liquid and it was brothier. I didn’t want to cook the liquid down at the risk of over cooking the peas, and they were done, and tasted delicious!  I was very pleased with the result.

The Camellias took a little longer to cook, and in the end, were thicker. There were a number of variables at play, but both pots of beans tasted good. 

 

While the original plan for the cabbage included tasso, getting the ham changed that. I’d already bought smoked sausage, and decided to use that in both the peas and the cabbage. 

 

Here is the beginning of the cabbage prep. I used five heads, and this was one.

 

 

 

Fried cabbage usually starts with bacon. This was two pounds.

 

 

 

 

The onions need to fry in the rendered bacon fat.

 

 

 

And so did the cabbage.

 

 

 

Seasoning included celery seed, salt, black pepper, sugar. A little chicken broth to let it lightly simmer to tenderize some, but I wanted a little bite to it, no mush.

 

 

For the cornbread, I did my usual 6 packs of Jiffy in a sheet pan, adding some grated cheddar and some pickled jalapeño slices into the mix. The last time I made cornbread for a CFM, the cornbread seemed a little dry. This time I took a stick of butter and rubbed it all over the surface of the cornbread while it was still warm and uncut. I used half a stick of butter over the 24 pieces. It looked purty.

 

No pics of the two rice cookers making rice. I really need to learn how to make rice in the oven in a hotel pan.

 

Note: I usually like to mix the food cooked in separate pots, but I didn’t do that with these. I wanted the flavors of each to show. But about midway, I admit I did start mixing a scoop of the brothier peas with a scoop of the thicker peas. Apologies to the purists.

 

The plated meal:

 

 

 

Delivered, about 12:30 pm yesterday. There are only 20 plates in the fridge because a mother and her children took four as we were unloading. 

 

 

 

Happy New Year!

 

 

What a delicious looking meal. I have never had black eyed peas - don't know that I've ever seen them in a grocery store eitiher. While your meals all look amazing, I'm blown away by your stamina!

[patti]

32 minutes ago, MaryIsobel said:

What a delicious looking meal. I have never had black eyed peas - don't know that I've ever seen them in a grocery store eitiher. While your meals all look amazing, I'm blown away by your stamina!

Thank you! If you saw me shuffling around the day after, you would be less impressed. 😳😁

 

Black eyed peas are most commonly eaten in the southern US, the Caribbean, and West Africa. Originally introduced to the Americas by enslaved people. I don’t know how to describe the taste except as earthy and good. Often cooked with smoked pork products. I was naively unaware of their limited use until more recent years!

[MaryIsobel]

2 hours ago, patti said:

Thank you! If you saw me shuffling around the day after, you would be less impressed. 😳😁

 

Black eyed peas are most commonly eaten in the southern US, the Caribbean, and West Africa. Originally introduced to the Americas by enslaved people. I don’t know how to describe the taste except as earthy and good. Often cooked with smoked pork products. I was naively unaware of their limited use until more recent years!

I hear you. I am still shuffling and recovering after our week of hosting, cleaning, cooking, cleaning up from cooking... ad infinitum!

Edited Friday at 09:13 PM by MaryIsobel (log)

[patti]

2 hours ago, MaryIsobel said:

I hear you. I am still shuffling and recovering after our week of hosting, cleaning, cooking, cleaning up from cooking... ad infinitum!

Haha! Then you know exactly how I feel. And yet, we continue! Wait till the grandbaby arrives!! 😍

[patti]

Oddly enough, within a couple of days of delivering the CFM, I’m already anticipating what I will make next. Yesterday, I couldn’t think about it; today, I am considering my options.

 

The weather next week is expected to be mild, so maybe chicken salad on a croissant, paired with some kind of salad that includes apples? Too summery?

 

I’d love to try Lebanese vermicelli rice with baked chicken shawarma, salad, pita. I’ve made baked shawarma numerous times, but never made Lebanese rice. Not sure about doing it in a large batch, though.

 

Baked chicken, cornbread dressing, something green.

 

I have a bunch of broccoli stems in the freezer, leftover from the recent broccoli salad, so some kind of broccoli cheddar soup is in the future, but what would go with it?

 

Gumbo is probably expected at some point, and I’ve made many, many pots of gumbo, but rarely larger than one 8 quart pot. Why does scaling up gumbo worry me, when I’ve made plenty of other CFM going in sort of blindly? I’d need to make potato salad, rice, and include some kind of bread. Figuring out the packaging would be a challenge.

[Darienne]

1 hour ago, patti said:

Oddly enough, within a couple of days of delivering the CFM, I’m already anticipating what I will make next. Yesterday, I couldn’t think about it; today, I am considering my options.

 

The weather next week is expected to be mild, so maybe chicken salad on a croissant, paired with some kind of salad that includes apples? Too summery?

 

Sounds fine to me.

[TdeV]

On 1/2/2026 at 11:02 AM, patti said:

It’s just called fried cabbage, although with the volume I cooked, it pretty much became smothered cabbage.

 

Fried cabbage usually starts with bacon, but with the amount I was doing, I also used sausage since I only had two pounds of bacon. I cooked the sausage in a separate skillet and added in. Cabbage had to be added in batches and after a little chicken stock was added, it needed to be covered, which is more like a smothered dish.

 

Definitely scale downable! 😂 And with a smaller version, less cook time and you can end up with something tender/crisp. I like it with a little heat and a little sweet.

 

Can this tender/crisp dish be frozen?

 

(I'm preparing for some down time, so I want to make a bunch of stuff now and then freeze it.)

[patti]

2 hours ago, TdeV said:

 

Can this tender/crisp dish be frozen?

 

(I'm preparing for some down time, so I want to make a bunch of stuff now and then freeze it.)

I think the texture would change and I don’t think there would be any crisp. But soft cabbage can be good, too.