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!

While The Cat's Away - I Cook Pork Chops

UD is still down on the Cape, enjoying this beautiful weather on the golf course.  So I get to choose some of my favorites for dinners this weekend.  We have very similar tastes, but there are a couple of things that I LOVE, and UD just likes.  Like pork chops.  So, guess what's for dinner tonight?

I decided to cook two, so I will have another for tomorrow night.  I am going to sprinkle them with some red chili flakes and smother them in onion.  I will also roast the rest of the pretty rainbow carrots and make a baked potato.

The veggies get the usual treatment, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

I sprinkled the pork chops with salt and a little red pepper flake, just for an extra kick.

I preheated the oven to 450 degrees.  I think baked potato comes out best at a high temperature.  The outside becomes nice and crisp, and the inside is fluffy and delicious.  The potato gets an hour in the oven.  Halfway into that, I put in the carrots only.  Those roasted for 15 minutes and then I pulled them out.  I turned them on the baking sheet and added some leftover onions I had sliced up.  I will use the onion in something else over the weekend.  Now back in the oven for 15 more minutes.

While those were roasting, I put a couple of crushed garlic cloves in a preheated pan with EVOO and butter.

When the garlic was golden brown, I removed it from the pan, as they had fulfilled their garlic destiny.  I added the pork chops, and cooked them over medium high heat for about 4 minutes.

Then I flipped them over...

...and added some thickly sliced onion halves.  After about 2 minutes, I added about 2 tablespoons of chicken stock.  That helps to pull any browned bits up off the bottom of the pan, which adds tons of flavor to the dish.

The carrots and onion were ready to make their appearance.

The pork chops and onions cooked for about 3 or 4 more minutes, and once they were golden brown and delicious looking, it was dinner time!

I am looking forward to UD returning, but in the meantime, I get to eat pork chops to my hearts content.

A bientot!  See you soon.

Simple Can Be Good

Many times I don't blog our dinners, because they are just sort of simple and seemingly boring.  The dinner may include reaching into the freezer and pulling out some frozen vegetables.  And it may include some buttered egg noodles.  And it may just be chicken on the grill.  Okay, so that was dinner last night.

Frozen Green Giant green beans in the steam bag.  I have to say they are delicious and good for you.  And the crunch of the almonds can't be beat.

The egg noodles were boiled per the package directions in very salty water.

I drained them and put the last of the chive and parsley compound butter into the pot, along with another tablespoon of butter and a small handful of freshly chopped parsley.  You are supposed to add just a small amount of sour cream also, but I didn't have any.  So I put a splash of cream instead.

I put the noodles back in the pot and mixed it all up.

The butter and cream added a nice flavor to the noodles, and kept them from sticking.  I think the sour cream will be even better.  I will try that next time.  But this was very good.

UD brought in the chicken.  Perfectly cooked of course.  It had been marinated in a light raspberry dressing, the Newman's Own that I have mentioned before.

We put a couple of TV trays in the living room and put our plates together.  It's our house.  We can do what we want, right?  We watched Dancing with the Stars and enjoyed a nice easy evening.

I may think of simple as being boring, but it can be really good.

A bientot!  See you soon.

More Crumble For The Gs

UD is heading to Old Cape Cod again, for another golf weekend with his cronies.  As he did the last time, he will stay with the Gs the night before they leave for the Cape.  That calls for another crumble.  This time, I am going with the Nectarine, Plum and Blackberry version.  I hope you are not sick of them yet R and D.

The difference between this one, and the previous one I sent down with UD, is the fruit.  In this I am using 4 nectarines, 2 plums and 2 cups of blackberries.  Everything is the same except for the fruit, and the size of the baking dish I used.

I roughly cut the nectarines and plums into 1/2 inch slices of fruit.



I sprinkled a half of a cup of sugar and a tablespoon of flour over the nectarine and plum slices.

Then mixed them all together.

Then I added the blackberries.

And I gently mixed those in.

The recipe calls for and 8 x 8 inch buttered baking dish, but when I saw the amount of fruit, I decided to use a 9 x 9 inch dish.  I am really glad I did.

I dotted the fruit with 2 tablespoons of chilled cut up butter.

Then I covered it with the same topping as the last time.

I hope it tastes good, because this was my first time with these fruits.  Since they are friends, I know they will overlook any mishaps.

Bon Appetit Gs!

A bientot!  See you soon.

Football Party For Four

Football season is here, so UD and I decided to have a big football party.  The day of the party, the New England Patriots were playing the Buffalo Bills.  We came up with a last minute, yet riveting guest list and put together an idea for two tasty football treats.

The guest list included me, UD, Frankie Boy and Nellie Bellie (previously known as Stella Bella).

The fare was simple and fun.  We were going to gorge munch on sausages baked in puff pastry, along with crisp golden onion rings.

I am not one to watch the game until it is nearing the end, so in the meantime I am happy to be in the kitchen getting the grub on.

What we need for the onion rings are:

A large cast iron pot
A candy thermometer
A big tub of Crisco Shortening
1 large onion
Onion Ring Mix that includes cornmeal - Or your own creation
Salt for seasoning - I started with Sea Salt, which is great for a finishing salt, but changed over to kosher, because it seemed to stick better.

The sausage in puff pastry only requires 4 ingredients.  So simple.

Puff pastry - defrosted in fridge (preferable) or on the counter top
Your favorite mustard
1 1/2 pounds of your favorite sausage - I used 1 pound and had a little pastry left over
1 Egg and 1 tbls of water for an egg wash

At this point I preheated the oven to 400 degrees.  While I was waiting for it to come to temperature, I started melting the shortening in the pot.  I have never done onion rings this way, so I wanted to be sure to get the correct temperature.  I know I want to get to a temperature between 350 and 370 degrees.

I wasn't sure how much shortening I needed, so I started with 3/4 of a 3 pound tub.  Luckily I kept the shortening nearby, because I wound up using the whole thing. 

During this process, Nellie B kept me company.  She waited patiently near the stove until I got just the right temperature. 

I have an electric stove, and I am actually more comfortable using gas.  But on the Rocky Coast, gas is not quite as available as in the Bay State.

The settings go from Low (1) to High (11).    I started at 7.

Too hot.  So I went down to 6.

Then I settled on just a touch over 4.  But this was with the oven at 400 degrees, so obviously that heated the burner as well.

Once the oven came to temperature, I put the sausage in the oven.  I left them for 20 minutes, and pulled them out.  Some of the water in the sausage seeped out, so I removed that with some paper towels.  I did that because I wanted them to become nice and brown.  That wouldn't happen if they sat in the moisture.

Then I put them back into the oven for 10 more minutes.

They came out beautifully roasted.

I drained them on paper towels.

Then I set them aside to cool to room temperature.

Now it is time to wrap them in the puff pastry.  Sprinkle a cutting board with some flour.

Then spread it out evenly and place your pastry on it.  Have everything else nearby, so it can be a quick assembly.

Carefully open the pastry.  It may stick a little, but don't worry, it will open up with a little patience.

Cut it into 4 strips and spread some mustard on it, leaving the edge all around mustard free.

Then put a sausage on and start to roll it.

They actually only took up half of the strip, so I cut it again.  Put the sausage seam side down on a baking sheet that is lined with parchment paper. Then lightly score the roll at a diagonal 3 or 4 times. Brush the tops with the egg wash (one egg beaten with one tablespoon of water) and put in the 400 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.

Now on to the onion rings.  Follow the mix directions to make the batter.

Cut the onions about 1/2 thick, and separate into rings.  I used two tongs.  One to coat the onion in the batter, and the other to flip in the oil and then remove to paper towel.

The temperature had come to 360, and I just let it sit there until I was ready.  Take a couple of drops of batter and test the oil.  If they bubble and swirl, the oil is ready.

Then put in your first ring. This is one last test of the oil.  Make sure to let any excess batter drip off, before you put the onion ring in the oil.

What a nice looking onion ring.  I am ready to roll.

In the meantime, UD and Frankie were watching the game.  Unfortunately the Patriots were behind at this point.

Both Frankie and UD were feeling a little sad about that.

The sausage came out after 25 minutes and the pastry is nice and golden.  At this point I turned the oven down to 200 degrees, so I could keep the onion rings warm, while I was cooking them in batches.

Because I turned the oven down, I had to turn the burner under the oil up.  It held temperature at the 6 mark.  While you do the onion rings, don't crowd them in the pan.  They will cook more evenly, and they won't drop the temperature of the oil as quickly.

Put the first batch on a paper towel lined baking sheet, and sprinkle with salt.  Put in the 200 degree oven to keep warm.  Let the oil temperature return to 350 degrees or right around there.  Then start the next batch. 

I put the sausage and the onion rings on serving dishes, and Nellie Bellie and I headed down the hall to sit with Frankie and UD, to root for the Patriots.

Hmm, weren't there more O-Rings than this?  They seem to have disappeared along the way.

Unfortunately the Patriots lost, but I think everybody still had a good time.

A bientot!  See you soon.