A Split Decision

My daughter laughed yesterday when I told her I was making soup for the winter storm.  She said she was afraid I might be disappointed in the discrepancy between the forecast and the actual weather.  I was not deterred and plunged headlong into a crock pot full of split pea soup.  

When I looked out my front window yesterday morning there were heavy gray clouds, no sun to be seen.  The weather man was still calling for lots of rain and issued a severe weather alert for a "cold storm system." While no longer officially a "winter storm," things still looked promising.   Temperatures in the 60s and rain felt like a cozy southern California day to me.  In fact, a perfect split pea day.  

I have a couple of slightly different recipes I like to use.  This is one I make in the crock pot and the seasonings are a little different.  It freezes well so I made a double batch.

Split Pea Soup

Here's What You Need:

1 pound dried green split peas, rinsed
2 large organic parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 medium organic carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 medium organic celery stalks, 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 medium organic red onion, 1/2 inch pieces
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
1 meaty smoked ham bone or 2 ham hocks (I used 2 ham shanks, no preservatives/nitrates, etc)
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano 
3 cups home made bone broth
3 cups water
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
A  bouquet garni of fresh rosemary and thyme 

Here's What You Do:Place all ingredients, except the bouquet garni,  in the slow cooker in the order listed above.  

Pour the broth and water into the slow cooker and season with salt and pepper.

Cover and cook until the peas are very soft and the meat is falling off the bone, on high for 4 to 5 hours or low for 8 to 10 hours.About an hour before the soup is done, add the bouquet garni and remove the meat from the soup to a cutting board.   Let it cool then remove meat from bones and add it to the soup. Discard fat and bones. 

Adjust seasonings if needed.  I added more pepper.  If you want a smoother soup, mash it or run it through a blender or food processor before you return the meat to the soup.

Before serving, remove the bouquet garni.  

It actually was a cold and dreary southern California day - a perfect soup day!

Enjoy!

Comments

[Mom]

You amaze me. Your so creative with your cooking! I am impressed.