BLACK-EYED PEA CAKES

Not totally a vintage recipe but an old one I wanted to keep so I am posting it here.

For Black-Eyed Pea Cakes:

• 2  15.8 oz. cans of black-eyed peas; drained
• 1 slice of bacon; fried and crumbled
• 4-8 tablespoons olive oil; divided
• ½ cup onion; chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic; minced
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro leaves
• ½ teaspoon dried basil leaves
• ½ teaspoon cayenne
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 egg
• ⅓ cup half and half
• 2 cups panko or fresh bread crumbs

For comeback sauce:

• ½ cup mayonnaise
• ⅛ cup salad oil (I used walnut oil)
• black pepper
• celery salt
• hot sauce
• ketchup
• mustard
• paprika
• Worcestershire sauce

INSTRUCTIONS

For Black-Eyed Pea Cakes:

1. Begin by warming the black-eyed peas, while you prep the other ingredients.
2. Sauté the onion and garlic together in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil until softened.
3. Add half of the black-eyed peas (about 1½ cups), bacon, onion, garlic, cilantro, basil, cumin, cayenne, salt to a food processor and pulse a few times until blended. Not too much. It doesn’t need to be totally smooth.
4. Transfer mixture to a bowl and stir in the remaining black-eyed peas and heavy cream.
5. Chill the mixture until cool – about an hour or so.
6. After the mixture has cooled, gently form the cakes and set aside.
7. Prepare 3 separate bowls for battering. Flour goes in the first one. Then beat an egg and the half and half together in the second one. And the bread crumbs go in the third one.
8. Batter the cakes by coating first with flour, then the egg mixture and finish with the bread crumbs. Set aside after coated.
9. Have a plate or cooling rack lined with paper towels ready for cakes when cooked.
10. Prepare the skillet by heating 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat.
11. Fry cakes in small batches, cooking approximately 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Be sure to watch the oil for overheating, and, if needed, add additional oil or start with new oil if it gets too dark.
12. Remove cakes, let cool on paper towel lined plate.
13. Serve with comeback sauce (basics for recipe below).
14. Comeback Sauce Recipe?(Other than the mayonnaise and the oil, we didn’t measure any of the ingredients, so combine to your taste preference.)

For comeback sauce:

1. Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate until served.
2.