Pea Soup, A Primer
Pea soup comes in thee main forms, Split Pea Soup, Pea Soup, and Yellow Pea Soup.
Split pea soup is a rich, and savory soup made from split peas, onion, salt and water. Other flavors that make it better include smoky pork, as in ham, ham bone, and ham hocks or shanks. onion, and grated carrot. The following is just one example of split pea soup. It's the way we like it in our house.
Ingredients:
2 cups cubed, smoky ham
1 ham bone
1 lb. split peas
1 large, sweet onion, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
water
2 tbs. butter
In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and carrot and saute until soft. Add 2 cups of water and the split peas. Stir to keep the peas from clumping and bring to a light boil. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the carrot, ham, and ham bone, and enough water to cover everything by 2 inches. Cover and simmer over a medium flame for 30 minutes more. Remove the lid and taste the broth. If required, correct the seasoning to taste with salt and garlic powder. Remove the bone and stir. The peas should start to disintegrate now. Stir every 10 minutes or so until the peas are completely incorporatged into the soup.Turn off the heat and let sit for 5 minutes. If the solids sing to the bottom, you will need to bind the soup.
Binding the soup: Melt three tbs. butter or cooking oil in a clean frying pan. Add three heaping tbs. of flour to the oil and heat until bubbling. Stir to make sue all of the flour is coated with the cooking oil. This is called a roux. When the roux is bubbling, ladle a half cup of soup broth into the roux, while stirring. When the two are blended, a thick paste will have formed. Stir in more broth to thin it out. Add the binding liquid back into the soup and bring to a rolling boil, stirring to avoid scorching the soup. Remove from heat and serve with pepper and good bread.
Yellow split pea soup
Similar to the green split pea soup, but generally isn't as thick, and has pepper added to the soup.
Ingredients:
Ingredients:
2 cups diced, smoky ham
1 lb. split peas
1 large, sweet onion, chopped
2 cups water
2 tbs. butter
Again, sweat teh onions in butter, then add the yellow split peas and ham. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. Stir gently as you don't want to create the same thick soup as above. This soup has more broth. Add the ham and an extra 2 tbs. butter to enhance the soup flavor.
Pea soup:
Follow ingredients and directions as for green split pea soup, except use whole dried peas in place of the split peas.
Various herbs such as curry, nutmeg, and coriander can be successfully added to the soup. Enjoy.
Seeeeya; Goodweed of the North
I think they were old.
