January 25, 2010

serendipitous peas

pea soup

Split pea soup! It warms me while also reminding me of the Claymation Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer special where the little elf and Yukon Cornelius argue about whether the fog is as thick as peanut butter or pea soup. Also it is pretty easy to do it up right proper in the slow cooker, and I was pretty pleased that I was able to wing it more or less completely and have it turn out so well. Partly I attribute this to how I have a new excellent grocery store that happens to be closer to where I live than any supermarket, and I got all the ingredients there.
So, get this stuff:

  • 16 oz. dried split peas
  • 1 small yellow onion
  • 2 carrots (not gargantuan monster carrot-beasts; smaller ones)
  • 1 medium potato
  • 1 quart vegetable broth
  • approx. 1 tsp. dried thyme
  • approx. 1 tsp. white pepper
  • pinch sea salt
  • approx. 3/4 lb. really good thick bacon

    • Rinse off the peas, drain, and set aside; dice all the vegetables, combine all of it the crock pot with the broth and spices. Lay some strips of bacon right on the top, submerging them slightly in the broth; leave 2 or 3 for later. Cook on high for 4-5 hours (maybe your crock pot is superior to my crock pot and will cook your food faster; it took pretty much 5 hours for me).

    Half an hour before serving, remove the strips of bacon with some tongs, trim off all the remaining fat, then dice up the strips of bacon and toss them back in. Fry the bacon you reserved over medium heat until it’s pretty crispy, then crumble it up and throw it on top of your bowl of finished soup. (When it’s done, you should be able to squish the peas pretty easily by mushing them against the side of the crock pot with your chosen mush-utensil. I used my GERMAN VIOLENCE SPATULA, which is named in all-caps only because I got stopped at the airport for additional screening when I brought it home with me, but then justice prevailed and I got to keep it to cook another day.)

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