Black eyed pea fritters with ancho chile dipping sauce

By ForkAndTheCork

Ingredients

• recipe Ancho chile Dipping sauce:
• 7 cups cooked black eyed peas
• 1/2 Cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 Cup all purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 4 scallions, cut crosswise into 3/4 inch pieces
• 1 fresh hot chile pepper, diced
• 4 OZ monterey jack cheese, grated
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 3 Cups vegetable shortening for deep frying (I used canola oil)
• Ancho chile dipping sauce:
• 4 dried ancho chile peppers
• 1 yellow onion, very thinly sliced
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 Cup ketchup
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation

Step 1

For fritters:

Place 3 1/2 cups black eyed peas in a med. bowl. Smash them with a fork or potato masher until fairly smooth. Add remaining 3 1/2 cups black eyed peas, the milk, eggs, flour, parsley, scallions, chile, cheese, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine.

Heat the shortening or oil in a deep skillet or enamel covered cast iron pan, until a fry thermometer registers at 360 degrees.

Working in batches, drop tablespoons of mixture into the hot oil. Cook, turning occasionally, until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels, serve with dipping sauce.

For dipping sauce:

Toast chiles in a heavy skillet over medium heat until aromatic, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Cover with boiling water, let sit until soft about 15 minutes. Strain off and reserve the soaking liquid. Split open chiles, remove and discard seeds. Scrape out the pulpy flesh, transfer flesh to a bowl and set aside. Discard skins.

Cook the onions in olive oil over med. heat until starting to carmelize, about 15 to 20 min. Stir in the ketchup, sugar, orange juice, cumin, reserved ancho chile flesh, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer 5 minutes to combine flavors. Add some of the reserved soaking liquid if the sauce gets too thick. Transfer mixture to a food processor and puree until smooth. Cool to room temp and serve with black eyed pea fritters. Store suace in an airtight container, refridgerated, for up to 2 weeks.