Split-Pea Soup

Winter is a lovely time to brew green soup.  My last Split-Pea Soup, which turned out Marhvelous!, started before Christmas when the price of ham was at its lowest.

THE HAM BONE: 
   Starting with a 10-12 pound Shank Ham*  I began to practice Zen Carving to get at the bone.

*(A cut taken from the bottom half of the pig's leg. Contains less fat than butt ham, but is not as meaty and is harder to carve. )

Here's a step-by-step of what this neophytic Zen ham-deboner did:

1. Placed the shank ham broad base down on the carving board.
2. Cut a vertical line from the narrow top of the ham, through the meat to the broad base. Using a sharp blade, it was easy to cut right to the bone.
3. Peeled, with fingers and Zen knife, the fat from between the layers of meat and set them aside for later packing and freezer storage. This fat was easy to separate from the meat.
4. Trimmed the meat along the bone with downward blade strokes, until there was approximately one-half inch or more of meat left on the bone.
5. Separated one-half a cup of meat trimmings for immediate immersion into the stock pot.
6. Held the remainder of the trimmings for later immersion into the simmered soup stock.
 7. Placed the Shank Ham Bone into a two-gallon, stainless-steel copper-bottomed stock pot. Added the half-cup of trimmings (5, above).

THE SPLIT-PEAS: The package Recipe vs the Easy Eats method.
1. two, one-pound packages of green split peas; the package claimed there was NO Pre-Soaking time required. I believed them. Also, I'm lazy.
2. The package called for 6 to 8 cups of hot water for each pound of green split peas; I used 10 CUPS of Water PER POUND of green Split Peas.
3. The package suggested simmering with lid tilted back a bit for 20 - 30 minutes;
I brought the water to a boil, then covered the pot and simmered for two hours. This lengthy simmering made a great condensed soup base that safely stuck to all soup spoons.

Next ...
MORE INGREDIENTS: Wouldn't you know!
While the ham bone was simmering in the stock pot, I prepared these additional ingredients:
1. Sauted about 4 oz of chopped Portabello mushrooms in butter, salting lightly.
2. Chopped two onions; one large white onion and one large yellow onion.
3. Sauted one whole chopped white onion and one-half yellow onion along with
three diced cloves of garlic, and one large shallot, diced.
4. Salted and peppered onions and garlic lightly in the pan.
5. Held the one-half cup of raw onion, more if desired, for later immersion in the pot.
6. Brown sugar, about two tablespoons
7. Maple Syrup, about three tablespoons
8. The Coup de gras: Roasted Red Peppers, Onions, Garlic, Salt, Pepper, Shallot; about one-half to a full cup. (These ingredients formulate a basic food sweetener in my formulary; they are normally roasted bi-weekly and held for use in egg dishes, pasta and tomato dishes, fish tacos, home-made pizza, almost anything with red sauces.

Next ...
THE SIMMERING:
After the ham bone had simmered on LOW for at least three quarters of an hour, I removed the bone and loose chunks of meat and fat by repeated scooping with a slotted straining spoon.

At this point the form of the peas were still recognizable as tiny green lumps. Many recipes call to chill the soup and remove the fat that rises to the top on chilling. I was lazy: I allowed the soup to cool, then laid a paper towel on top of the soup to absorb any fats. It seemed to work.

An hour into the simmering, the sauted mushrooms and onions were stirred into the stock pot. Brown sugar and maple syrup were added at this point, followed by salt and pepper to taste.

Approximately an hour and a half into the simmering, the held-over raw onion and roasted red peppers were added to the pot. Held-over ham trimmings, plus some more for the glutton in me, were added also.

The soup should be stirred periodically throughout the soup making. This is a great time to taste. Care should be taken with the heat; make sure it does not burn peas, etc, on the bottom of the pot. The LOW setting on my old electric stove is a bit hot so I dial a bit under the LOW mark.

The soup was presented for dinner along with buttered, boiled potatoes and ham with jezabel sauce (keep tuned to this blog for the old family Jezabel Recipe).

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Split-Pea Leftovers Melange

 I am the manager of the refrigerator at my house. I also tend to cook more than can be eaten at one sitting. That's why the refrigerator smells of leftovers. And that's why most of our meals lately have been continuations, or extensions, of earlier meals.

Here is a surprisingly ugly, surprisingly tasty meal extension we ate at my house recently. It started out as Split-Pea Soup. And it became ... well, read on.

Split-Pea Leftover Melange

Exiting the refrigerator, entering the frying pan: Leftover split-pea soup, leftover chicken breast and Polish sausage (from another damn container whose disparate lids keep me hunting far too long for a usable device) and leftover red potatoes. :^)

My taste buds had been thinking of making Yellow Rice for days and days, but the volume of leftovers seemed to deny me the pleasure. HA! I grabbed a substitute: a small package of Red Beans and Rice (New Orleans style), nicely seasoned. Twenty minutes, or so, later I had the glue factor that would unite the flavors of the leftovers. Lucky Ger!

 

Split-Pea, Sausage and Chicken Leftover Melange

Naturally, I had to carve a few extra slices of Polish sausage to bulk up the dish. Some sea salt, pepper, and a low heat under a covered pan was all we needed. A side vegetable proved to be ... you guessed it ... leftover steamed broccoli. Try this combination with a loaf of baker Nik's rosemary bread.

OK, wise reader, you guessed the truth: Pam and I had enough of this melange for three more, slightly altered, meals. 

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Gracie Allen Roast Beef

Here is a foolproof recipe for roast beef from old radio star Gracie Allen.

Gracie Allen's Classic Recipe for Roast Beef

1 large Roast of beef
1 small Roast of beef

Take the two roasts and put them in the oven.
When the little one burns, the big one is done.

Where is that woman now that we need her humor?

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Corps du Tomate

Ah, the lovely tomato! It has been roasted. It has been used in last night's dinner. But tonight, the Roasted Lovelies got the additional treatment my taste buds yearned for.

Tonight we had another angel hair pasta, ground chuck, and Corps du Tomate! What to do??

Roasted tomatoes and wooden spoon. Cover pot and bring tomatoes to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Check refrigerator for additional vegetables.

Voila! We have another tomato and a section of yellow pepper. Lucky Ger!

And don't they look handsome in the pot? Add a few more cloves of garlic, salt and pepper. Stir. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes minimum. Oh, lordy me!

Next (no photos ~ use imagination) I cooked three quarters of a pound of ground chuck doused lightly with Teriyaki marinade. Spooned out fat, poured half the Corps du Tomate into the pan, stirred contents, then added remainder of last night's angel hair pasta.

I had to lock the front door. There was not enough for the whole neighborhood! Did I say it was delicious? Add a few sauteed mushrooms from the frig to my portion (hehehe - Pam doesn't like to look at them) and I become a very noisy eater!!! Pam was none too quiet eating either; I love to hear her moaning.

I sincerely hope you will try this Corps du Tomate some time. 

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Roasting Tomatoes

So Delicious when done! Here, I start with the same 60 year old cookie pan, douse it liberally with extra virgin olive oil, then salt and pepper the bottom of the pan.

I normally slice the tomatoes into quarters or eighths, place them in the pan and wiggle them around to ensure salt, pepper, and oil coverage.

Fresh garlic: Thank you cousin Linda for teaching me how to deftly smack the garlic out of their skins with a broad bladed knife. Two or three sharp blows make the job of peeling very easy. I add about six cloves of diced garlic which I sprinkle over the filled pan of tomatoes.

Dice up a Vidalia Onion (not shown) and add it to the shallot mix. A good-sized shallot adds a tasty complement to the garlic, salt and pepper.

Almost oven ready. Add another generous spilling of oil over the whole pan of tomatoes, then salt and pepper again to taste. I use sea salt in the hopes it will keep my blood pressure where it should be, but salting is necessary.

You're going to love the smell. Close all doors and windows. ;^ )

Roast tomatoes at 300 degrees for about 45 minutes, then take the pan out and flip all the red nummies over a few times. Reinsert the pan in the oven and set the alarm for another 30 to 45 minutes. Sometimes slightly more time is needed.

When inspecting the pan for the second time, look for onions slightly burned on the edges. Caramelized onions are the clue to stop roasting.

Decision time: Use the roasted tomatoes directly or pour tomatoes and all juices into a pot, add a 1/4 cup of water and simmer on the stove top for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste the tommies and add more garlic, shallot, or whatever needed. Mmmmmm good!

Something for the mulch pit.

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Two Bean Chili and corn

Last night I felt tired and lazy enough to make another easy meal. So I put on a pot of Basmati Rice and browned about 3/4 pound of ground chuck with fresh chopped garlic. When the burger turned half brown, I stirred in a few tablespoons of teriyaki marinade. 

Medium hot chili beans were mixed with the fat-drained hamburger. I use all the juice in the can. Then sprinkle chili powder in the mixture until satisfied with the heat of the taste. 

Ooops! Then I thought how good the chili beans would taste when mixed with black beans. Nummy. So the beans got mixed, the remaining garlic sprinkled, and the tomatoes sliced and spread around.

Double whoops when I recalled the cooked corn waiting in the refrigerator. Now it started to look good - taste good. Covered it and let it simmer for a few minutes until all was ready.

A glass of beer went down very easily. Even if I haven't shown you the shredded chedder cheese shot which comes after this view. A crisp salad provided an excellent accompaniment. Toidy, toidy and Toodle Lou!

Rotini Ground Chuck

I prefer to use ground chuck for my burger dishes because there's less fat for my conscience and more taste for my buds. 

This dinner used only two stovetop pans and a side bowl to rest ingredients in for short periods ... Hurray! speaketh the dishwasher.

Ground chuck patiently awaiting the fire.

   This time (it's always different!) I put the chuck fire on Low and brought a pasta pan to boil while I was chopping the veggies. 

A half box of Rotini tends to give up two meals worth of pasta for us two. 

9 - 11 minutes of boiling time for the Rotini is plenty of time to prep vegetables and brown the ground chuck. 

Multi-tasking is great kitchen fun!!!

The half-browned chuck goes to visit a holding bowl. Thereafter, red peppers and jalapeno dance in butter with half of the aldente pasta. Brown a few rotini on Med-High, then back to Low. After a few minutes of saute, I add chopped fresh spinach to the pan and generously drip extra virgin olive oil over the greens. Salt. Pepper. Stir until spinach turns limp.

Next, I loaded on some tomatoes that I had roasted with onion and garlic and shallot. (Use that store bought stuff if you must. I do when the price of fresh tomatoes is sky high.) 

Piling the spinach and pasta into the center of the pan, the ground chuck made its reentry into pan space, nicely encircling the good stuff.

Of course it's fun mixing the ingredients.

Kinetics and aesthetics offer us cooks too much pleasure!

Not!

You must click on this post-mixing view to appreciate the gorgeous cheese.

Sprinkled with shredded parmesan cheese, this looks good enough to eat!

And it was tasty.

Next time I get the hankering for this dish, I will undoubtedly use slightly different ingredients and processes. But that, for me, is the fun of cooking.

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