Black Eyed Pea Dip

I saw this recipe in the comment section of a post on a favorite blog, Rural Revolution.  It sounds good but I haven't yet tried it. Thanks, PollyS! 

Black Eyed Pea Dip
From Neiman Marcus’ Pure and Simple

About ½ pound dried black eyed peas (frozen are good too, canned tastes very flat)
8 slices bacon*
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
¼ cup green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ t black pepper
2 T Tabasco sauce, or to taste
½ C Ketchup
3 cubes chicken bouillon, crushed
¼ t nutmeg
¼ t cinnamon
1 can (14.5 oz) Rotel tomatoes with green chilies, chopped – if not available, add 1 small canned chopped chilies to can of tomatoes
2 T oil
3 T flour

Soak peas overnight or 4 hours. Put soaked peas in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook or 30 minutes, or until just tender.
To avoid having lots of dirty pots, I do this step in a pot rather than a skillet -- Cook bacon until crisp. Set bacon aside, drain 1-2 teaspoons of the grease and reserve. Add celery, bell pepper, onion, and garlic to bacon drippings and sauté until soft. 
Make a paste of ketchup, bouillon, black pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, and Tabasco. Add to sautéed vegetables. Add cooked peas and tomatoes with chilies. Cook 30 minutes on very low heat. It is ok if some of the beans break up, you want this to happen. Just don’t let it cook too high or you’ll end up with a “mush”, it tastes the same, just doesn’t look as nice! 
Mix reserved bacon grease and flour together. Cook on stove or microwave until it starts to bubble, this is your roux. Add roux to pea mixture and cook an additional 10 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and transfer to serving dish. 
Crumble bacon over top and serve with tortilla chips.
Can be served cold or reheats well. Freezes well too. Serves 2-16, depending on how hungry you are.

*Omit bacon for vegetarians, add bacos or liquid smoke if you wish. Sauté vegetables in olive oil.