Thick As Pea Soup!

As a kid I'm pretty sure I hate split pea soup.  What kid doesn't?  No particular reason (certainly not any logical one but maybe it had something to do with that "in the pot nine days old" thing?).  It's not that I had some horrible, life-altering experience with it.  I only remember it as something my dad would order at a restaurant (on the extremely rare occasion that it was the soup of the day).  Which was  a good thing because otherwise he would never have gotten it.  It was certainly never something my mom ever made (I think maybe she knew what our reaction would be).

So I grew up without ever knowing the wonders of split pea soup. 

Which made absolutely no sense now that I think of it.  I like peas.  I LOVE soup.  What's to hate?  And on a Sunday evening after a day of successfully completing chores, nothing is better than knowing you've got a great bowl of soup ahead of you.

Fortunately, in my exploration of Food Network and the various cooks and their shows, I found a recipe that combined my loves: finding/trying new recipes, making things from scratch (particular healthier things), another crockpot "fix and forget it" recipe for the repertoire, and a furtherance of my "space justification" (a reason to justify the large package of Andouille sausage I bought and stuffed into my freezer).

 

Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup With Chorizo

This recipe comes from Robin Miller who hosted Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller on FoodNetwork sometime ago. 

Terri's tips & changes:

• I usually opt for Andouille (I actually buy both Andouille and chorizo in larger packages and have the hubby freeze them in 2 link packages).  I've made the soup using chorizo (pretty spicy but delicious) and even ham (pretty boring after using either of the other two  but still delicious).
• Violating my "one pot fix and forget it" theme, I actually sauté the Andouille with the veggies before tossing it into the crockpot.  Works either way but we really love the extra "flavor" enhancement of the sautéed onions and slightly browned meat, etc.
• I start with only 8 cups of stock/broth and actually use the broth "packets" which I get on "subscribe & save" through Amazon.  Today I was thinking that maybe using 1/2-1 cup of white wine might also be a good idea.  Will have to try that next time.
• Best served with cornbread:

Perfect Cornbread

Ingredients:

1 Cup flour
1/2 Cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 Cup cornmeal
2 eggs
1 Cup milk
1/4 Cup Shortening

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients.  Combine eggs, milk and shortening.  Stir into dry ingredients just until mixed.  (Do not overbeat.)  Pour into greased 9" x 9" x 2" pan.  Bake at 425 F. for 15-20 minutes.

Terri's tips:

• You can substitute 1 Cup Buttermilk for the milk (reduce baking powder to 3 teaspoons and add 1 teaspoon baking soda).  YUM!
• Shortening:  I use canola oil (makes a more "cake" like cornbread).  You can cut in butter to the dry ingredients instead (will yield a "crumblier" consistency).  I would use butter but I've usually decided at the last minute to make cornbread and using oil is just a whole lot faster.

Try pea soup - it's definitely one of the easier soups you'll ever make!  (And decidedly delicious!)

~later, savoring all foods green, tw