Black-Eyed Pea Fritters with Hot Pepper Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 
• 1 cup pea-mond dressing dried rinsed drained
• 0.3 teaspoon ground pepper 
• 1 teaspoon sea salt 
• 5 cups coconut oil 
• 1 tablespoon cornmeal 
• 0.5 cup bell pepper green finely chopped
• 0.5 medium onion diced
• 0.5 cup peanuts raw
• 1 teaspoon thyme leaves minced
• 0.3 cup water 

Equipment

• food processor
• bowl
• baking sheet
• paper towels
• sauce pan
• oven
• pot
• sieve
• wooden spoon

Directions

1. Remove the skins from the beans by adding them to a large bowl, filling the bowl with water, agitating the beans, and fishing out the skins that float to the top with a fine mesh strainer. Rinse beans well.
2. • In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine the beans, onion, peanuts, thyme, cayenne, vinegar, water, and salt and pulse until completely smooth.
3. Transfer to a medium bowl, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
4. • Preheat the oven to 200° F.
5. Remove the batter from the refrigerator, add the bell pepper and cornmeal, and beat with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes.
6. • In a medium-size saucepan over high heat, warm the coconut oil until hot but not smoking, about 5 minutes.
7. • Lower the oil to medium high, and in batches of 5, spoon the batter into the oil, 1 tablespoon at a time. Fry, stirring around, until golden brown, about 2 minutes. If necessary, adjust the temperature to ensure that the fritters do not cook too quickly.
8. Transfer the fritters to a paper towel–lined plate and allow them to drain.
9. Transfer the drained fritters to a baking sheet and place in the oven to keep warm.
10. Serve hot with Hot Pepper Sauce.
11. Black-Eyed Peas
12. African in origin, black-eyed peas are one of the most salient staples of African American cooking. They tend to cook quickly, but if they are old, it may take longer to prepare them. While canned black-eyed peas are available, I always make mine from scratch. In Southern lore black-eyed peas are thought to bring good luck when eaten in copious amounts on New Year's Day. So my family slow-cooks them in a Crock-Pot every December 3
13. From Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine by Bryant Terry. Copyright © 2009 by Bryant Terry. Published by Da Capo Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Reprinted by permission.