Shhhhhh...It's Robin's Double Secret Black-Eyed Pea Dip Recipe

Just because I love all of you, this year I am going to share my double-secret recipe for delicious (no, really) and easy black-eyed pea dip. As someone who has swallowed many black-eyed peas over the years while holding her nose and chasing it immediately with a glass of water, when I say this is good, I mean it.

• 8 strips of bacon, diced
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 2 tsp. salt + 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tbs. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. coriander
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 14.5 oz. can of original Rotel tomatoes (do not drain)
• Approximately 10 jarred jalepenos, roughly chopped (more or less, depending on your spiciness preferences)
• 1/4 cup of the juice from the jarred jalepenos
• juice of two limes
• 3 tbs. sugar
• 3 cans of plain black-eyed peas (don't get pre-seasoned), rinsed and drained
• 1 bottle of Shiner Bock (plus more for drinking while you cook, as desired)

Heat a stock pot on medium high heat. Add the bacon, and cook off the fat until it just starts to crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add the onions and 2 tsp. salt to the pan with the bacon grease. Turn the heat down to medium and cook the onions until translucent, but not brown (5-10 minutes). Add the cumin, coriander, cinnamon, oregano and garlic to the onions and cook while stirring for two more minutes.

Add the bacon back to the onion mixture along with the Rotel, jalepenos and juice, lime juice and sugar and stir until well combined. Return to the heat to medium high and bring the mixture to a bubble. Add the black-eyed peas, 2 tsp. salt and the bottle of Shiner, and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium low and let simmer for two hours or until the liquid is completely absorbed/reduced. You'll have to watch it fairly closely at the end to make sure it doesn't burn to the bottom of the pot. Trust me on this one :)

Once it has cooled a bit, start smashing the peas with a fork or a potato masher. You want the texture to be chunky (where you can still tell it's black-eyed peas) but creamy, like good bean dip. This is a bit of a personal choice, though, so it's your preference. Serve with tortilla chips.

Eat this after midnight, and you'll guarantee yourself a very happy and prosperous 2009 (and possibly stave off your hangover at least a little). Happy New Year's from DallasEats!