Dad this one is primarily directed at you, but I am always open to everyone else' ideas too.
I'm sure this isn't too hard, but how about that split pea soup recipe that you had leftovers of last time we had lunch together. I saw all the Christmas hams in the store today and thought of how good that soup was and started getting excited.
Thanks
Andy
I don't know if there is actually a recipe for split pea soup; you just kinda make it.
ReplyDeleteTo start, you need ham broth, which you get from boiling up a ham bone, preferably meaty. This could be the leavings from a baked ham dinner. Or, what I usually do, is buy a smoked ham hock and boil it up. After cooking to death, you cool the broth, skim the fat and pick the meat. I like to cut the meat fairly fine and return it to the broth. A good ham broth should gel to consume when cooled to refrigerator temperature.
If the broth actually gels, you will probably want to dilute it with water when you use it, maybe 1:1. The green split pea package says 2 1/2 cups of water (broth) per cup of peas. They can be added cold then brought to a boil. Then just round up the usual suspects: onion, garlic, celery, carrot; all chopped and added to the soup to cook with the peas. Season to taste: salt, pepper; I always add a bay leaf, a little red pepper in one form or another (e.g. a shake of crushed red pepper flakes), some dried mustard, etc. Can't think of any other particular herb for split pea soup. You might google several recipes to see what other people use for seasoning and try it if it sounds good.
Some folks extract half of the soup to puree, then recombine. I just cook mine until the peas fall apart.
Of course with so little guidance, it always comes out a little different each time but it's always good.
Good luck!
Yup. I would say I understand the essence of split-pea and ham soup. Oh man is it good. No seasoned hams with a bone, nor ham hocks to speak of inside the grocery store, but the dumpster did me proud with a couple weird shoulder cuts with bones. Price: A set of numb fingers and toes for a few minutes...not bad. Best part about the potential move to Idaho: living somewhere where beans cook all the way and bread doesn't collapse every time. Cooked the split peas for 3.5 hours and they are still just a touch crunchy. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteAndy
It is gray, gray, gray and dreary in SE Pennsylvania today. Got out on the bike for a primo breakfast this morning but the theory that the fog would burn off by 10 or 11 am was fürshitstig and after 60 miles we gave it up and went home around noon. Perfect day for soup and I had a hankerin' for split pea. This time I paid attention and made notes:
ReplyDeleteSome ham hocks covered with water and boiled to death, then skimmed and picked, made about 6 cups for very strong, very solidly gelled, consumee. The split pea package called for 6 cups of water for a pound of peas (a little over 2 cups per pound, so similar to 2 1/2 c. water per cup of peas). The consumee was so strong I used 1 cup of consumee and 5 cups of water. To this I added 1 pound of green split peas, 1 small onion, 1 carrot, 1 stalk of celery, three small cloves of garlic, a bay leaf, salt and pepper (some), and 1/4 t. annato seed. I just cooked it all afternoon 'til the peas fell apart. Towards the end, at Mom's suggestion, I added two left over baked potatoes, cut into chunks. Oh, man, it tastes good, Can't wait for dinner!