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Thursday, April 19, 2012

Split Pea Soup


http://eatsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/02/are-you-bunkering-down-whatcha.html
I couldn't bring myself to start this post with a picture of the Split Pea Soup.  As delicious as it is, it's just not very photogenic...or even a little, and we all know that we eat with our eyes first.  So I'm hoping this picture of dried split peas will be enough to convince you to make this soup, because it really is delicious!

In college, every time I would come home for a weekend or holiday I would always go visit my grandparents.  It would never fail that my grandma would run to the freezer and get me out some pear cake and pea soup.  She new that pea soup was my absolute favorite so she would always freeze several containers of it for me whenever she would make it and write my name on it so my grandpa wouldn't heat it up for himself.  The pear cake...well my grandmother made it once and loved it so she made probably 10 cakes and cut them up and put them in her deep freezer so she would always have something sweet to give her grand kids.  She definitely does her best to spoil us.  I have been begging my grandma for her recipe for years but she always said she didn't use one, she just did it from memory.  I'm not going to claim that this recipe is as good as hers, but then again, is anything ever as good as it is when your grandma makes it? 

The past week and a half I think my husband and I have been passing something back and forth.  As soon as one of us gets to feeling better, the other starts feeling bad.  When I don't feel good I always crave soup.  On one of those days I felt bad and my husband asked me what I would like for dinner.  At my request, he then offered to make this soup for me if I left him the instructions.  The sweet thing about it is that every time I have made pea soup since we've been married he would casually grab something else out of the fridge for dinner and just say that he wasn't in the mood for pea soup.  I just suspected that he didn't like pea soup and didn't want to tell me...even though I was slightly bummed that he wouldn't even TRY it.  This week he actually ate it, and let me in on his little secret.  "The reason I'm never in the mood for pea soup is because it reminds me of a movie I saw once.  I'm pretty sure you've never seen it, but just in case you have, I'm not going to tell you." 

Hmm, I wonder what movie that is that had such a dramatic effect on him to not ever want pea soup...oh well, more for me!  :-D

Ingredients:

16oz package of dried split peas
2 cups ham
2 tsp liquid smoke
2 large carrots, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large potato or 2 small, diced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp dried parsley flakes
1 bay leaf
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water

Crock Pot Directions:

Layer the ingredients in order into the crock pot, no need to stir. 

Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. 

Remove the bay leave and use an immersion blender or a potato masher to thicken soup to desired consistency.

Enjoy!

Stove Top Directions:

Combine all ingredients plus 1 additional cup of water in a large pot. 

Bring the contents to a boil and then cover and reduce heat to simmer for 1.5-2 hours. 

Remove bay leaf, and bring soup back to a boil. 

Cook, uncovered, reducing heat to medium/high for another 30-45 minutes until desired thickness.

Enjoy!


Okay, here is a picture, I told you it's not very pretty...but regardless it is delightful and you should try it!!


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