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Creamed Peas

Source of Recipe

From "Sweetie Pie's Cookbook" by Robbie Montgomery


Recipe Introduction

"My mom always made creamed peas from canned peas, but I recently tried it with fresh garden peas, and it's even tastier. My mom's method of adding a little flour and water to thicken the milk goes pretty far back. It's like a quick version of what French chefs call a béchamel sauce, which is made from milk and flour, and you can use it to make a cream sauce for just about anything. Creamed peas are great with a Fried Chicken Dinner or with a beef roast or baked chicken."

List of Ingredients

◦  1 cup milk
◦  1 tablespoon sugar
◦  ½ teaspoon salt
◦  ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
◦  4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
◦  2 cups fresh or frozen peas
◦  1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
◦  2 tablespoons water


Recipe

Combine the milk, sugar, salt, and pepper in a large saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat to warm the milk, but watch it so it stays under a simmer. You do not want the milk to boil or it will separate. Whisk to dissolve the sugar, a minute or so.

Add the butter and let it melt, 3 to 4 minutes, then add the peas, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes for fresh peas and 5 to 10 minutes for frozen. Remember: don't let that milk boil!

While the peas are cooking, in a small bowl, whisk the flour into the water to make slurry, making sure there are no lumps.

Test one of the peas — they should be soft but not totally mushy, and the fresh peas should still have a little pop when you bite into them.

Add the flour mixture to the peas and gently stir. Raise the heat just slightly so the milk bubbles around the edges of the pan, and keep on stirring until the mixture thickens to a sauce consistency thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Serve immediately.


Serves 4 to 6