reid@glacier.ARPA (Brian Reid) (01/19/86)
In response to an earlier question about why pea soup is too bland, here is
my recipe for pea soup. I evolved it from one that I read in the Washington
Post in the 1960's. When I make it it sure isn't bland, but I have a nagging
suspicion that I add more garlic and more peppercorns than I am admitting to
here. I go on soup binges from time to time, and I'm in the middle of a
soupmaking binge right now. Yum.
1 lb split peas
1 lb bacon
4 oz butter
2 stalks celery
1 1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup instant mashed potato flakes
(or, if you are a purist, 2 cups of mashed potatoes)
3 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
3 quarts beef broth
2 bay leaves
12 cracked peppercorns
6 green cardamom seeds, cracked
1 jigger good cognac
1/2 tsp chinese hot pepper oil
Soak the peas for 6 hours and no more. Use 1 teaspoon salt per quart of
soaking water. Drain; discard the soaking water.
Cook the bacon until crisp; drain, dry, and discard fat. The bacon should be
crisp enough that the pieces will crumble as you stir the soup while it is
cooking.
In a stockpot, put the cooked bacon, the butter, the celery, and 1 cup of
the onion. Saute over medium heat until the onion begins to brown.
Add the beef broth, the mashed potato flakes (or mashed potato) and the
parsley. Simmer for 2 1/2 hours, or until the peas are tender.
Add the remaning 1/2 cup chopped onion, and the minced garlic.
In a tea ball, or tied in cheesecloth, put the bay leaves, the peppercorns,
and the cardamom seeds. Simmer for another 1/2 hour.
Remove the tea ball or cheesecloth. Add salt to taste, being careful not to
add more than 2 teaspoons. Because the cooked peas have the ability to block
your taste buds somewhat, make sure you rinse your mouth with a drink of
water after each time you taste the soup while seasoning it, else you will
oversalt it.
Pour in the cognac and the hot pepper oil, stir well, and serve immediately.
Sprinkle some chopped fresh chives on top of each bowl after serving it. If
you don't have fresh chives, then stir some dried snipped chives into the
soup 5 minutes before serving it.
I like to serve soups like this with unbuttered fresh bread.
If you want to fool with the recipe, one of the places to fool with it is
the spices that you put in the tea ball. Try some combination of Indian
seasonings (coriander and cumin and ginger and cloves) or try taking out the
peppercorns and cardamom seeds and putting in mustard seeds.
Outside the tea ball, try adding sesame oil at the end instead of the
cognac. Try adding rutabagas, chopped into cubes, at the beginning of the
cooking. Try substituting olive oil for the butter, and adding a half cup of
grated Peccorino Romano at the end, right before serving. And, of course,
try using ham hocks instead of bacon.
--
Brian Reid decwrl!glacier!reid
Stanford reid@SU-Glacier.ARPAprl@cbdkc1.UUCP ( Paul Lyons x3229) (01/21/86)
In article <3322@glacier.ARPA> reid@glacier.UUCP (Brian Reid) writes: > >In response to an earlier question about why pea soup is too bland, here is >my recipe for pea soup. I evolved it from one that I read in the Washington >Post in the 1960's. When I make it it sure isn't bland, but I have a nagging >suspicion that I add more garlic and more peppercorns than I am admitting to >here. I go on soup binges from time to time, and I'm in the middle of a >soupmaking binge right now. Yum. > >1 lb split peas >1 lb bacon >4 oz butter >2 stalks celery >1 1/2 cup chopped onion >1 cup instant mashed potato flakes > (or, if you are a purist, 2 cups of mashed potatoes) >3 cloves minced garlic >1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped >3 quarts beef broth >2 bay leaves >12 cracked peppercorns >6 green cardamom seeds, cracked >1 jigger good cognac >1/2 tsp chinese hot pepper oil > >Soak the peas for 6 hours and no more. Use 1 teaspoon salt per quart of >soaking water. Drain; discard the soaking water. > >Cook the bacon until crisp; drain, dry, and discard fat. The bacon should be >crisp enough that the pieces will crumble as you stir the soup while it is >cooking. > >In a stockpot, put the cooked bacon, the butter, the celery, and 1 cup of >the onion. Saute over medium heat until the onion begins to brown. > >Add the beef broth, the mashed potato flakes (or mashed potato) and the >parsley. Simmer for 2 1/2 hours, or until the peas are tender. > >Add the remaning 1/2 cup chopped onion, and the minced garlic. > >In a tea ball, or tied in cheesecloth, put the bay leaves, the peppercorns, >and the cardamom seeds. Simmer for another 1/2 hour. > >Remove the tea ball or cheesecloth. Add salt to taste, being careful not to >add more than 2 teaspoons. Because the cooked peas have the ability to block >your taste buds somewhat, make sure you rinse your mouth with a drink of >water after each time you taste the soup while seasoning it, else you will >oversalt it. > >Pour in the cognac and the hot pepper oil, stir well, and serve immediately. >Sprinkle some chopped fresh chives on top of each bowl after serving it. If >you don't have fresh chives, then stir some dried snipped chives into the >soup 5 minutes before serving it. > >I like to serve soups like this with unbuttered fresh bread. > >If you want to fool with the recipe, one of the places to fool with it is >the spices that you put in the tea ball. Try some combination of Indian >seasonings (coriander and cumin and ginger and cloves) or try taking out the >peppercorns and cardamom seeds and putting in mustard seeds. > >Outside the tea ball, try adding sesame oil at the end instead of the >cognac. Try adding rutabagas, chopped into cubes, at the beginning of the >cooking. Try substituting olive oil for the butter, and adding a half cup of >grated Peccorino Romano at the end, right before serving. And, of course, >try using ham hocks instead of bacon. >-- > Brian Reid decwrl!glacier!reid > Stanford reid@SU-Glacier.ARPA Will someone out there please define just what a stalk of celery is!!! I am getting confused!!! The unit of celery that you by from the store is considered to be one stalk according to what is printed on the bag. If this is true then the "2 stalks" above seems like a lot of celery!!!
stu16@whuxl.UUCP (SMITH) (01/23/86)
I'm sure what was meant was 1 RIB of celery. (Or 2 RIBS). -- whuxl!stu16
reid@glacier.ARPA (Brian Reid) (01/24/86)
(I assume that the reposting of my entire 40-line recipe in front of a 2-line question about its ingredients was an accident involving the use of stupid posting software so I won't flame about it) When making soup, a "stalk" of celery is however much celery you would like it to be, and "2 stalks" is twice that much. Soup is remarkably resilient to errors in the amount of celery. When I make that pea soup recipe I grab the bunch celery from the fridge, pull 2 of the arms from it, chop them, and put them in the soup. The length of the arms depends on how many tuna sandwiches and peanut-butter celery sticks have been made from that bunch of celery. It doesn't matter to within a factor of 5 how much celery you use. -- Brian Reid decwrl!glacier!reid Stanford reid@SU-Glacier.ARPA
ins_alal@jhunix.UUCP (01/25/86)
In article <1289@cbdkc1.UUCP> prl@dkc1.UUCP ( Paul Lyons x3229) writes: >Will someone out there please define just what a stalk of celery is!!! >I am getting confused!!! The unit of celery that you by from the store >is considered to be one stalk according to what is printed on the bag. >If this is true then the "2 stalks" above seems like a lot of celery!!! According to Craig Claibourne (sp?) in his _Kitchen Primer_, a STALK of celery is that big thing you buy at the supermarket; a RIB is one of the several units that make up the stalk (most people mistakenly refer to the ribs as 'stalks'). -- bitnet: ins_alal@jhunix.BITNET arpa: ins_alal%jhunix.BITNET@wiscvm.WISC.EDU uucp: ...{ihnp4!whuxcc | seismo!umcp-cs | allegra!hopkins} !jhunix!ins_alal OR ...decvax!decuac!aplvax!aplcen!jhunix!ins_alal "Are we having FUN yet? Huh, huh, are we, are we, huh?
guy@slu70.UUCP (Guy M. Smith) (01/28/86)
In article <3461@glacier.ARPA>, reid@glacier.UUCP writes: > and peanut-butter celery sticks have been made from that bunch of celery. It > doesn't matter to within a factor of 5 how much celery you use. > -- You should be a bit more careful if you are using celery from the center and including the leaves. The flavor can be quite strong and I know of at least one pot of soup that was ruined this way. As I understand, celery is actually an herb, not a vegetable, and is related to parsley (sp?).