Split Pea Soup with Ham

My fondest memories of split pea soup were as a kid growing up. My dad would take Sunday’s fresh ham bone and any leftovers and make the best split pea soup I can remember.  I have been asking him for years for the recipe but he tells me it is different every time. He cooks with “what’s on hand” just like I do now.

I picked up a smoked ham hock at Stoltzfus Meats at the Ardmore Farmers Market. These guys have the freshest and tastiest pork in the area. They also have fresh hocks that I could use for this soup but I purchase them for my pork osso buco. The smoke (cured) hocks give you that little bit of smokey flavor, but they also add a lot of salt to the recipe so you have to adjust for it.

In fact, the first time I made this split pea soup with a smoked ham hocks, I used all chicken stock and no water. It turned out to be a mistake because between the chicken stock and the ham hock, the soup was way too salty. It would have been better if I used all water or a combination of water and chicken stock as I do in this recipe.

There are lots of variations when making split pea soup. You can substitute lentils or some other form of legumes for the split peas, add other vegetables like eggplant or squash, spice it up with curry or make it creamy. I have even seen recipes for split pea soup made from a lamb bone that looked interesting.

This recipe is for a basic split pea soup made with a smoked ham hock. It was adapted from several recipes I found in my cookbook collection but mostly from The New Basics Cookbook, one of my first cookbooks and still one of my favorites. When in doubt, I always go back to this book for help.

Split Pea Soup

Ingredients

1 pound dried green split peas – be sure to remove any stones and give the split peas a good rinse in your strainer. You don’t have to soak the peas like you do with many other varieties.
2 smoked ham hocks (or 2 fresh ham hocks or 1 leftover meaty ham bone)
5 cups of water
5 cups of chicken stock
2 ribs celery, diced
2 sprigs of fresh parsley, chopped fine
2 sprigs fresh thyme
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, chopped fine
2 carrots, chopped fine
1 leek (white part of the leak only) – sliced – be sure to was the leek well after it is sliced. There is often a lot of grit between the leaves. I use my salad spinner for this job.
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup of spinach leaves, slivered
Salt & pepper, to taste

How to Make Split Pea Soup

Heat up the water and chicken stock in a large soup pot or stockpot. Add the split peas and bring to a boil.

Add the ham hocks, half the parsley, the fresh thyme and celery. Reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes with the cover just partially on. Be sure to give it a stir every 10 or 15 minutes.

Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium high heat and add the onion, leek, garlic and carrots. Sauté until the vegetables are soft and add them to the pot. Add the spinach and simmer for 30 minutes, again partially covered.

Turn off the heat and remove the ham hocks. Using a small paring knife, remove the meat from the hocks being sure to trim off and discard any really fatty pieces. Cut the meat up into pieces and return to the pot.

Taste and adjust seasoning with salt & pepper. Add the rest of the parsley and serve.

The New Basics Cookbook also uses 2 tablespoons of dry Sherry with this recipe. Although I think it would be a great addition, I was serving this to my kids and I didn’t think they would appreciate the flavor so I left it out. You could bring some sherry to the table for anyone who might be interested in adding it him or herself. My 10-year-old daughter loved this soup by the way. Without the sherry of course!

Don’t Throw Out That Roasted Chicken Carcass

Question: When you roast a whole chicken for dinner or buy a rotisserie chicken at the market, what do you do with the carcass after cutting most of the meat off?

I bet many of you just toss it. I often do but last night I again realized what a mistake this is. Instead use it to make a simple chicken broth you can use to make a quick and easy chicken soup. It cannot be easier and the flavor is so much better than anything you can buy in a can.

I’m not talking about making a classic chicken stock that does take time to do properly. I’m talking about covering the chicken with water in a large saucepan or small soup pot and let it simmer for an hour or more with the lid mostly on.

You can remove most of the already cooked meat and just simmer the carcass or leave whatever meat is on the bird and remove it after you are done. Whatever is easier for you.

Last night, I let the carcass simmer for about a 1-½ hours while I helped the kids with their homework and worked out. When it was done and the liquid had plenty of flavor, I removed the carcass and any remaining bones from the liquid and added some chopped carrots and celery.

While the carrots and celery were cooking, I removed most of the edible meat from the bones and reserved it until the carrots and celery were tender but still a little crunchy. I could have added leeks or fennel or broccoli but this was for my oldest daughter and me and this is what she wanted. You can add whatever you like or want to clean out of the refrigerator. It’s going to be good.

When the vegetables were done, I added the reserved chicken meat and some store bought cheese tortellinis that I just cooked for my younger daughter who doesn’t like chicken soup. I could have added cooked pasta; egg noodles or even cooked the pasta in the chicken broth. It could not be easier. This is a classic shortcut meal.

This simple chicken soup was incredibly flavorful. So much better than any commercial soup you can find. The flavors are fresh and clean without all the salt and artificial flavorings.

And to think, I almost threw out that carcass.

I was contacted by this very cool web site that posts short video clips on a variety of subjects, one of them being cooking. With Father’s Day coming, I thought I would post this one on How to Make Lobster Bisque.

Some of you may be thinking of buying live Maine lobsters for dad this weekend and not sure what to do with the head and shells after you feast on the tail and claws. This video will show you how to make a delicious Lobster Bisque with those parts you typically throw away.

The ingredient list and recipe is below and if you are buying live lobsters, be sure to read my article, How to Buy Live Maine Lobsters and Not Get Ripped Off. The article will also give you a great resource for buying lobsters online.

Click anywhere on the image to start. 

Lobster Bisque Recipe - Recipe from VideoJug.com

Ingredients:

2 lobster heads and leftover lobster pieces
1 ¾ oz butter
1 onion , chopped
2 carrots , peeled and chopped
2 tomatoes , chopped
2 oz tomato paste
4 garlic cloves , crushed
A few sprigs of thyme
4 ¼ fl oz brandy
2 fl oz sweet white wine , such as Muscat
2 1⁄8 pt fish stock or water
17 fl oz cream
salt , to taste
1 pinch of cayenne pepper
A few sprigs of parsley , to garnish

Equiptment:

1 cutting board
1 knife
1 large saucepan
1 wooden spoon
1 sieve
1 bowl
1 ladle
1 hand blender

How to Make Lobster Bisque

Chop the lobster head

Remove the shell from the head (set aside to garnish with later). Chop the meat and do the same with any other joints and leftover pieces of lobster.

Make the bisque

Place the large saucepan on a high heat and melt the butter. Add the onion, carrots and garlic. Cook while stirring until the onions turn translucent. Add the chopped lobster pieces, tomato paste, brandy, sweet white wine, chopped tomatoes, thyme, cayenne pepper and salt. Stir well and add the fish stock

Finish with the cream

Add the cream to the saucepan and allow to simmer for approximately 1 hour.

Strain the bisque

After approximately 1 hour, strain the broth into another saucepan (be sure to strain as much liquid from the solidsas possible before discarding them).

Whisk the soup

Stir vigorously until frothy.

Serve

Ladle the soup into a serving bowl. Garnish with a few sprigs of parsley and the lobster head. Enjoy this seafood soup on a cold winter’s day and enjoy all your favourite flavours of summer!