Proper pea and ham soup, the making!

[Heckler]

Was in Somerfields the other day and saw some proper dried peas, you know the ones, with a little tablet and a string bag, nostalgia, so I bought some. Tonight the kitchen is full of the smell of slowly cooking pea and ham soup. Last night I put the peas to soak with the little tablet, tonight some smoked bacon bits from Lidl, an onion, some celery, a clove of garlic, a stock cube, choped potatoes and water in a pot, its been on now for a couple of hours, slowly softening all the ingredients, It was still a bit thin, so I put some split lentils in and now it has thickened nicely. MMMmm cant wait till tomorrow lunch time!
Stu

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Sounds lovely!

We make soup most days.... can't think why more people don't do it... so easy, so tasty, and no more expensive than canned stuff with all its attendant chemicals....

Had a lovely home made tomato soup for lunch today.

 

[Heckler]

What I did last year, on a regular basis, was get a can of chopped toms, the can filled with water, a chicken stock cube and some dried basel, heat it up and then wizz it, then thicken to taste with some cornflour, lubbly jubbly and cheap as chips.
Stu

 

[Twister_Ken]

Good recipe, but spuds aren't needed. Peas, bacon and water are enough, onion is a nice extra, and for the real deal add about 1/8 teaspoon of chilli powder.

Mind you, it's phart phodder.

 

[Danny Jo]

Nice recipe, but I use a slightly different approach using dried split peas and ham shank - total cost, not including cooking and transport, £ 2.10 for around 10 portions. Take one ham shank (Caernarfon butcher, £1.50) cover with water and cook on low heat (slow cooker, bottom over of Aga, or whatever) for 6-12 hours; take 500g of split peas (£0.60 or thereabotouts from Tesco, Asda or any self-respecting whole food store) and pressure-cook for 10 minutes, or soak overnight, drain, boil briskly for 10 minutes and simmer for 30 minutes. Add ham stock to cooked split peas, season with pepper (don't add salt, the ham will provide more than enough) and if you want to get fancy, fried onions and garlic. Simmer until peas turn to homogenous mush. Perfect winter food and delicious. There is an added bonus of 2 or 3 portions of cooked ham from the shank.

 

[Capn Pugwash]

Maybe we should start up a Soup Kitchen - not the ones for down and outs (although in these current economic conditions that might not be a bad idea!) but to swap recipes for winter warmers. Cheap and cheerful or exotic and unusual!

I love carrot and coriander. Try and get the coriander from a Indian grocers, you get 10 times the quantity for the same price!

Fry an onion and garlic in some oil, add 2lbs chopped carrots and saute for about 10 mins. Add a handful of roughly chopped coriander. Then around 2 pints of chicken or vegetable stock. Simmer for 20 mins. Cool slightly and then liquidise so it turns quite thick. Heat gently and serve garnished with some fresh chopped coriander and if your feeling rich, a dob of cream fraiche. Luverly grub!

 

[quimby]

1 pack frozen mixed veg
2 veg stock cubes
mixed herbs 1heaped teaspoon
seasoning

method
heat till cooked using veg stock
add seasong plus mixed herbs
whiz with hand blender to your preferred consistency
add cream or creme fraiche

If you want a cream of veg soup
push through a sieve and serve with home made croutons

croutons

cut bread into smallish squares
drizzle with good olive oil
sprinkle with chopped garlic then grill or oven cook till golden brown.

Better than bought`nt soups /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[ianat182]

Can I offer the following for Chicken and mushroom soup.
Slice two large shallots or onions/leeks place in large saucepan with knob of butter and cook until softened ,not browned. Dice 4-6 large field mushrooms (or buttons) and add to the pan ,chop one stick of celery and place in pan. Stir in two tablespoons of flour or cornflower and mix. Add 1litre of vegetable stock(or chicken stock)and bring to boil. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Transfer pan contents to blender and pulse until reduced to smooth puree. Replace into the pan and bring to the boil,simmer for 5 mins . add blended cooked chicken to pan just before serving ( in case there is a vegan guest) season with with black pepper, and serve with crusty breadrolls. Enjoy !

 

[matelot]

No - not chilli powder TK and not really bacon either. Just cook a large Whitworths packet of dried peas (after overnight soaking) with a small ham hock or ham bone with some decent meat on it plus bay leaf , black pepper and water in the pressure cooker. Decent length of time so that the ham falls off the bone and the peas when stirred go mushy. If necessary you can add a bit of milk to thin down.

Interesting to know that some of us still make it, mind you. My kids wouldnt go near it.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Don't knock the chili powder until you've tried it! As for bacon, yeah I meant boiling bacony stuff, not rashers.