Before Christmas, I asked my FNPP friends for some of their favorite holiday dishes. My friend Ken told me about his favorite of his Mom’s. I met Ken back in 2012 when he moved to Madison to be the campus pastor of our church. I’m pretty sure we were the first family they had dinner with after arriving. He and his family have since moved to Texas, but with social media, it’s easy to still keep in touch. After Ken shared this recipe with me, I made them for Sunday lunch. They were a hit with everyone! I love English peas anyway, but especially jazzed up like these. They will make a perfect side dish to most anything, especially Mama Nell’s Pot Roast.
Ken Murphy's Iced English Peas
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
4 slices of bacon
1/2 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup half and half
2 15-ounce cans of English peas, drained
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add the butter to a skillet and cook the mushrooms until done. Drain and set aside. Fry your bacon in a skillet until crispy. Drain, crumble and set aside. Remove the bacon fat from the skillet except for about 2 tablespoons. Add the onion and cook until tender. Stir in the flour and cook with the onions for a couple of minutes. Whisk in the half and half and simmer until thickened. Fold in the peas and the mushrooms. Taste for salt and pepper. Transfer to a small baking dish and top with the reserved bacon crumbles. Bake about 20 minutes until thoroughly warmed.