Monday, November 22, 2010

Fog As Thick As Pea Soup

It's a dreary, rainy, foggy day outside here today. There's nothing like a warm bowl of home made soup to warm you up.
Feeling slightly inspired by the weather, I decided to make some good old pea soup - thick pea soup. The kind that you can practically stand your spoon in, sticks-to-your-ribs goodness.
Here is my super simple recipe that's quite cost efficient too!
Thick As Pea Soup
Soak one package of green split peas in a large pot of water over night (wash thoroughly first).
In the morning, bring the peas which have now re-hydrated, to a rolling boil. Add three chopped small white onions, 4 medium chopped carrots and 2 cups of chopped ham (left over roasted ham is the best but a black forest ham works just fine). Add about 2 teaspoons of salt and lots of fresh ground pepper. Continue to boil all morning with lid on, occasionally stirring. About half an hour before you're ready to eat (usually lunch time), remove the lid and reduce heat to low. Shake in some Magi (or soya sauce). For a little bit of extra flavour I have a quick trick that may seem a bit gross but is actually quite delicious.
My Opa used to tell us that his mother would throw a strip of bacon into the pea soup to enrich it with the flavours from the bacon. They would then fight over who got the strip of cooked bacon when soup was served. Apparently, it makes all the difference. I found however, that the bacon did add lots of flavour but I hated the piece of fatty meat ruining my soup. I make bacon quite often for breakfast and freeze the drippings until they solidify before throwing them out. I always keep a little tiny bit in a small container for my pea soup. I chop it up into a little cube (less than 1") and drop one cube in a pot of pea soup. It adds just the right amount of flavour!
It may not be the most appetizing soup but it sure is yummy!

A good addition to any bowl of hot soup is a sandwich. Today's was an assortment of meats with dijon mustard on a lightly toasted croissant.

2 comments:

  1. Pea soup is one of my favourites, thanks for the homemade recipe! Heather

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  2. Love the recipe heather. I love to make beef broth with soap bones then add that to the soup. It just makes it taste so much better. I love broth and it's really good for you.

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