Spicy Black Eyed Peas

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!  I hope exciting things for this year and I know it will be great with the addition of our newest little one.  I hope you ate your black eyed peas today for good luck.  I don't care for greens, but The Dish Washer at those for our 2012 wealth.  :)  I served those things with Brown Sugar and Balsamic Slow Cooked Pork. For a great little history lesson on why southerners eat these foods, check it out at Southern Plate.  I love history behind certain foods/recipes.  While her recipe is certainly the classic, I opted to make a spicy version that I thought The Dish Washer would enjoy.  I was correct.  They aren't "mouth on fire" spicy, but they definitely have a kick.

Spicy Black Eyed Peas

16 oz. frozen black eyed peas
4 slices of bacon
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can Rotel tomatoes, undrained
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. pepper
water

In a large saucepan, cook bacon until crispy.  Remove bacon and crumble.  Set aside.  Stir chopped onion into bacon grease and cook until tender.  Add can of tomatoes, black eyed peas, salt, chili powder and pepper.  Stir to combine.  Pour in enough water to cover peas.  Cook, covered, on medium heat for 1 hour, checking water level to make sure peas don't scorch.  (They will absorb more water than you expect.)  Check your peas to see how tender they are.  We prefer our peas extremely tender, so I probably boiled mine for a total of 3-4 hours, adding water as needed along the way.