Pea Soup Is Just Not Pretty

The other day my Uncle Bill and I were talking about how to make a really good pea soup.  He said, "Why not use my recipe for split pea with ham bone soup".  Since I had a bit of leftover ham and a ham bone, I thought that was a good idea.  But the main reason I was making the soup, is because UD lurves it!  I had mentioned that to a friend a while back, and she had the wonderful intention of making some for him and surprising him.  But then she and her husband decided to go on a really fun adventure, so the soup idea came tumbling down.  But the split peas had been purchased, and she passed them on to me.  That solidified it.  I was making UD some split pea soup. 

BTW:  I don't really have an Uncle Bill. I just wanted it to appear as if I had been rubbing shoulders with the big boys. 

I rinsed the peas in cold water.

Then I added them to a pot with 8 cups of water.  When it came to a boil, I took it off the heat and let it sit, covered for an hour.  Then I returned it to the stove, and brought it to a boil again.

 

Then when I was ready to add the ham bone, I discovered there was much more ham than there was bone.  But not to worry.  I can't imagine UD turning up his nose to pea soup with chunks of delicious ham in it.

I got the celery carrots and onion chopped into very small pieces.

I put all the dry ingredients into a small dish.  That included 2 bouillon cubes, a dry bay leaf, salt, pepper and dried thyme.

So now everything was ready to go.  This is also known as mise en place.  Where you have everything measured out and chopped, sliced, diced... you get the picture.  So when you need the ingredients, they are ready and waiting.

I was taking care of all that, while the peas and water came to a second boil.

Once it came to a boil, I added all the dry ingredients, the chopped vegetables and the ham bone.  I also added half of the chopped up ham.  I was saving the rest to add in after it was all done, for that chunky effect.

Then I mixed it all together. 

I turned down the heat and let it simmer, covered, for about an hour and a half.

Once it had finished simmering all those wonderful flavors together, I discarded the ham bone and the bay leaf.

And I added the remaining ham pieces.  I chose not to puree the soup, because as it was cooking, UD was drooling.

While the soup was cooking, I also whipped up some crostini.  Such a hearty soup needed something nice and crunchy to go with it.  But no matter how much I tried to pretty it up, I had to accept the fact that it is just not a photogenic soup.  Oil well...  Soups on!

 

A bientot!  I hope to see you sooner than I saw you between this post and the last!