Split Pea Soup

Split pea soup may not look like anything tasty... in fact it looks a whole lot like something no one would ever want to eat. Something I don't really want to talk about on my blog. Let's just say it comes out of infants... and it's not entirely pleasant.

But what it lacks in appearance, it makes up for in thrifty yummy filling food.

Hearty, healthy, and it uses up ham. In case you are like anyone I know and has pounds of ham lying in the freezer. Not that I would know anyone who has several pounds of ham stockpiled so that it looks like they're preparing for the apocalypse... even though they aren't, they just got a ham for Christmas and they're still trying to use it up... (Ahem, I might be married to this person. Please send your ham recipes... I'm running out of ideas.)

Split Pea Soup
Source: Cooks Illustrated, Feb. 2011

2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 large onion
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
7 cups water
1 lb ham steak, thickly sliced (thawed, if frozen)
4 slices bacon
1 lb split green peas, rinsed and picked through
1 1/2 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 celery stalk, diced

Heat butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, 1/2 tsp salt and cook until onion is translucent, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, just long enough to release the aroma. Add water, ham, bacon, split peas, thyme, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat and simmer for about 45 minutes.

Over the next few minutes, the split peas will start to break down from whole, intact split peas in the beginning, to completely broken down delicious mush in the end. For the first part of this cooking process, you want the peas to be about 2/3 broken down; essentially the cooking liquid should be a little thick but there should still be remnants of whole peas in the soup. We'll cook them a little more to get the completely done.

Remove the ham and add carrots and celery. Set ham aside on a plate and cover with foil for about 20-30 minutes. When the ham is cool enough to handle, shred apart with two forks.

Remove bay leaves and bacon from the soup and return ham to the pot. Simmer for a few minutes to heat thoroughly. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with warm crusty bread.

Enjoy!

Potato Soup

This is by far one of my favorite comfort foods in the entire world. Except for Macaroni and Cheese which can never ever be replaced. Ever. I can't even talk about it... I'm getting all verklempt.

But this ranks in a close second. It's one of those recipes my Mom used to make on cold rainy days for dinner and it always warmed me up.

My Mom grew up in a really (really really really) small town. We're talking small here. Small as in there aren't any stop lights in the entire town. Small as in they recently got a 3 way stop at the busiest intersection and it was kind of a big deal. Small. This is one of the recipes from the local Catholic church's collection of recipes. These small town cookbooks are treasure troves of delicious home-style recipes. You won't find gourmet truffle risotto in there, but you'll find some of the best casserole and soup recipes ever.

Potato Soup

5 large potatoes, diced (peeled or unpeeled, I do it both ways depending on my motivation level)
3 large onions, diced
5 stalks celery, chopped
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp celery seed
freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
2 cups whole milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup sour cream

In a large pot, cook onions, potatoes, celery salt and celery seed in just enough water to cover them. Boil for about 20 minutes, or until fork tender. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and whisk together to make the roux. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly, being careful not to burn. Slowly pour in the milk, stirring constantly. Continue cooking milk mixture over medium heat until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add sour cream and cheese, stir until combined and cheese is melted. Pour the cheese sauce into the pot of boiling vegetables (do not drain the vegetables). Stir until completely combined and cook for a few minutes. If the soup is too thick, add a little water. If the soup is too thin, cook longer until it reaches the desired consistency.

Serve with crusty bread and a small side salad.

Enjoy!

Potato Leek Soup

Fall is confusing me this year. One week it's freezing every day and I'm tempted to pull out my giant puffy winter coat. Then on my drive home from Washington, DC last week it was snowing up in the hills of Pennsylvania. Snowing. And now, this week it's supposed to be in the 60's. I really with it would make up it's mind.

I made this soup a few weeks ago during one of the first fall cold snaps. It's one of the few things that can make the first freezing days of fall better to me. Make it on the next cold days that you have. It will make those cold fall days that much better.

Potato Leek Soup
Adapted slightly from David Lebovitz

3 tbsp Butter
4 leeks
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp chili powder
6 cups water
1 1/4 pounds potatoes
2 bay leaves
freshly ground pepper

Melt butter in a medium size dutch oven or pot (I used a 5 quart dutch oven) over medium heat.

Add the slides leeks and salt. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes until soft.

Add the thyme and chili powder and cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds.

Add the potatoes, water, and bay leaves. Cover and simmer until the potatoes are fork tender, 15-25 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and turn off the heat. Using a food processor or a blender puree soup in batches or puree right in the pot using an immersion blender. I prefer the immersion blender, but use whatever you have.If the soup is too thick, thin down with water.

Reheat over low heat to warm the soup back up. Serve with a nice salad and a big slice of crusty bread.

Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Soup

Oh boy it's soup season. I love soup season. I love soup.

Who remembers using chat rooms? I feel like in the mid 90's they were awesome. Well, they were awesome if you were a nerdy 10 year old and thought that getting on the internet was awesome. And I might just have been one of those nerdy 10 year olds. My oldest friend, Rachel, and I would log on to chat rooms and say extremely random stuff until people tried to kick us out. One of our favorite annoying phrases was "I love soup". We would then proceed to list all of the soups we liked. When you're a nerdy 10 year old, this is completely hilarious. Not that I was a nerdy 10 year old or anything.

If you were in any of those chat rooms, I'm sorry. Please don't hate me.

And... I love soup.

Butternut Squash Soup
Adapted from Emeril Lagase
This is one of my favorite soup finds. It is so warm and hearty and squashy. It make it feel like fall. And it makes me happy. I hope you like it!


I've tried making this vegetarian, using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth, and while it's good, I really think it's better with chicken broth.

Serve it up with a salad to make it a complete meal.

1 butternut squash
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 small carrots, sliced
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 jalapeno, minced
2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup heavy cream

Peel and chop the butternut squash into 1/2 inch cubes. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large pot. Saute onions until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add carrot, cumin, salt and pepper, and jalapeno and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add stock and butternut squash. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 25 minutes, or until squash is tender. Remove from heat and puree using an immersion blender or in batches in a food processor. Return to heat, add the cream, and salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

Also, I love soup.

Hearty Veggie Chili

Holy allergy season batman. Please raise your hands if you've been suffering the worst allergy symptoms of your entire life. (Raising both hands and waving them spastically in the air.) To say the least, I felt awful on Tuesday. So much that I think I'm actually starting to pray for Winter. Anything to kill off all the pollen producing plants populating my province. (Oh no, I think the pollen just made it's way into my brain!)

When I start thinking of winter, the first thing I think of are soups. Warm, hearty delightful soups. They just scream fuzzy comfort food to me. So, in my allergy induced misery on Tuesday I had to make soup. Anything to make life feel more winter-like. Forgetting, of course, that's it's almost 90 degrees outside.

This is actually the perfect late summer chili. It uses a ton of vegetables that are in season right now. And for an entirely vegan soup, it's really hearty and filling. When we first tried this a few months ago, at the beginning of our semi-vegetarian experiment, John was really skeptical. He didn't think soup, especially chili, could be good without a good amount of fat. But oh is it ever good.

Make this for dinner. It will drive away the allergy blues. Super delicious!

Vegetarian Chili
Adapted From Emeril Lagasse 

2 tbsp olive oil
2 small yellow onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 seranno peppers, chopped and with the seeds and membranes scooped out
1 medium zucchini, chopped
2 cups fresh or frozen corn
1 1/2 lbs baby portobello mushrooms, cubed
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne
4 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped
3 cups cooked black beans or 2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 15oz can tomato sauce
1 cup vegetable stock
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

In a large, heavy pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions, bell peppers, garlic, and serrano peppers, and cook, stirring, until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the zucchini, corn, and mushrooms, and cook, stirring, until soft and the vegetables give off their liquid and start to brown around the edges, about 6 minutes. Add the chili powder, cumin, salt and cayenne, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and stir well. Add the beans, tomato sauce, and vegetable stock, stir well, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and mix in cilantro. Serve with warm cornbread on the side.

Enjoy!