soup | Jenna's Everything Blog

I think this split pea soup is the very soup about which was written:

Pea porridge hot, pea porridge cold, pea porridge in the pot nine days old.

After an hour on the stove, it gains a thick consistency, like a porridge. And the quantity of soup produced is so large that I definitely understand how it could sit around for 9 days. Ours sat around for at least 6–though in the fridge, mind you. And in a nice airtight container, for those concerned.

In her original recipe, Tracy says you can use bacon or ham, but I’m completely advocating the use of ham. Because the bacon, after simmering for an hour, is bound to get floppy–and who likes floppy bacon? The chunks of ham are totally satisfying and delicious. Troist me. This is a great comforting soup with awesome flavor, and very little prep work.

The ultimate test: the man of the house. He said (and I quote):

“Why don’t we eat things like this all the time?”

Bless his ever-loving soul. I love it when he says that.

And it’s a good thing he loved it, since we ate this soup all week long and it yielded no less than 4 meals for the two of us–plus a little extra for some hungry members of our Bible study.

Ingredients

( Serves 8 )

2 sweet potatoes or yams, or 1/2 butternut squash
1 large onion
2 carrots
2 stalks celery
2-3 cups ham cut into 1″ pieces
8 cups water
2 vegetable bouillon cubes
16 oz dried split peas
1/2 tsp ground thyme
1 TBS dried sage
1 TBS fresh basil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Before we jump in, I must explain that my flash temporarily decided to be broken. I switched out batteries a few times, prodded it, swiveled it around–but it would not work. The lighting in my kitchen is very bad, but I was also very hungry and not willing to waste any more time messing with the flash, so I gritted my teeth and took some very bad pictures. Bad light . . . bad focus . . . bad color balance. Man, I’d really grown dependent on that flash unit for my food photography.

Anyway–less about Mr. Speedlight SB-600 and more about the veggies at hand!

Peel the sweet potatoes or yams, and chop ’em up (along with the carrots for OrangeFest 2011) into smallish cubes.

Dice the onion and celery . . .

. . . and cut the ham into 1” cubes.

Dice the basil and pretend I took a picture.

Thoroughly rinse and clean the split peas.

Combine all the ingredients in a very large pot.

Oooh, a shred of light is coming through the window!

It’s the first decent picture of the lot.

Don’t forget the herbs and spices, along with a generous amount of salt and pepper!

Bring to a boil over medium high heat . . .

. . . and rejoice that your flash suddenly decided to work again!

Once the soup boils, turn the heat down to low, cover the pot, and simmer it for about an hour, stirring a couple times to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom and creating a layer of burnination. Remove the cover of the pot during the final 10-15 minutes of cooking. Taste, and add salt and pepper as needed.

Serve hot!

You can also freeze it within 5 days. Or hope for the best and polish it off on day 6.

A note: the soup looks a little watery here, but after a night in the fridge it was so thick it definitely qualified as ‘porridge.’

It was so good that after eating it all week long, by the time I scooped up the very last spoonfuls from the very last bowl, I was actually disappointed.

I actually started plotting when I could make it again.

True story.

I think you guys will love this one!

Click here for printer-friendly version: Split Pea Soup

In my recent enthusiasm with America’s Test Kitchen, it’s been a while since I shared a good Tasty Kitchen find. That ends today with this recipe from this blogger.

I love heavy cream, but a small voice in my head occasionally reminds me that it’s not the healthiest choice. Of course, most of the time I suppress that voice, but I was still very excited to find that this soup is a healthy alternative. Just like the Cilantro Lime White Bean Soup I shared with y’all, the cannellini beans achieve a creaminess that totally tricks the palate. You’re eating heavy cream, say my taste buds, immersed in gustatory pleasures untold. But they don’t realize . . . that I’m not.

Hah!

I love pulling the wool over the eyes of my tongue.

Anyway, this healthy, creamy, easy-t0-make soup is fabulous. And it’s topped with bacon, so the men in our lives will accept it more readily.

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

2 TBS butter
1 medium onion
2 lb asparagus
1 14 oz can white beans (cannellini)
6 cups chicken stock
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1/3 cup Greek yoghurt
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 lemon
1/2 lb bacon

Chop up the onion. Since everything will be pureed, don’t worry about making the dice pretty–rough is fine.

In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and add the chopped onion.

Cook 4-5 minutes until softened.

While the onion cooks, chop up the asparagus, discarding the tough ends . . .

. . . and reserving the tips.

Grab the chopped stalks:

and dump them in the pot with the onion.

I always cringe a little when I use the word ‘dump’ in my cooking instructions. But ‘put’ is too bland, and ‘deposit’ or ‘plunk’ make me think of certain ‘deposits’ left by certain furry creatures in certain litter boxes. There must be another word. Throw? Fling? Hurl? Oooh, how about ‘lob’? Lob the minced garlic into the pot. Or is it ‘lob the minced garlic at the pot’? Either way, I like it. I could really get into lobbing things at other things. Thank you, virtual Thesaurus.

Back to the instructions: saute the asparagus for about 5 minutes until bright green and tender.

Add the drained can of white beans . . .