Soup, it's what's for dinner

Originally uploaded by mooncrazy

February, even though the weather is warm, is soup month for me. I can't get past the fact I'm making it wearing shorts but soup is a good "winter" meal for us.

A little spring cleaning was needed in my freezer after the holidays and January visit from relatives. I found some cubes of ham and a bone. There was also a package of chicken bones (I throw hardly anything away) left over when I boned a chicken last week. I roasted the bones with some chopped onions, carrots, and celery and then simmered the ham and chicken bones with the veggies in a large pot, about 4 quarts of water. Add some salt and pepper but remember, this is not the final product. The broth was drained through a sieve and discard everything else, it has served it's purpose. Chill in the fridge over night makes it easier to get rid of the fat. I then got busy making two soups.

Split Pea with Ham

1 lb of dried split peas, rinsed and sorted

2 quarts of broth

1 small onion, chopped

3 carrots, grated

3 stalks of celery, chopped

about 1 1/2 cups of chopped ham

salt and pepper to taste (careful with the sauce as the broth is sure to have seasoning)

Bring all to a simmer and cook uncovered until the peas are no longer peas, about 2 hours. If it gets too thick add some canned chicken broth or a bit of water. Adjust the seasonings and serve. We like cornbread to accompany it be it can be a first course if you wish. This soup freezes quite well and since it's just me and my honey, I freeze up separate containers for a future lunch.

The next soup is Artichoke Potato Puree and that post will be along any day now.

A Sunday afternoon soup

After picking up some andouille sausage ***at the market the other day, and have no idea why I did that, but I did. I thought "weeeeeell I'll think about something I want to do with it, it'll come to me."

Well it did in the way of a TV show on foodtv.com. Didn't see it from the beginning but the chef made my adapted version of Split Pea Soup with Andouille Sausage. And boy did that get my attention.

Ingredients

1 lb green split peas
10 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
1/2 lb andouille sausage
1 cup diced mild onion
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 1/2 cup small diced carrot (I had shredded carrots on hand)
1 cup diced celery
1 small can chopped green chiles (optional)
1 whole bay leaf
Salt & pepper to taste
1/4 tsp smoked paprika

You could put all of this in a crock pot and cook for 5 - 6 hours.
However I did not do that.

My Method

saute onions, celery, carrots till soft, add the garlic, but do not allow to burn. Chop the sausage and add to the mixture, saute sausage till slightly brown. Add the stock and split peas. Cook on med/low heat for 3 - 4 hours. The kitchen will be enveloped in this wonderful aroma. I added the chopped green chiles and smoked paprika near the end and chopped cilantro before serving.

I see this revisited one nite this week. So wonderfully rich, full of flavors and serve with some tasty sourdough rolls and my adult beverage of choice happened to be a Corona. Please let me know if you prepare this. Feedback folks, we need feedback.

***thanks to Ellie for pointing out that not everyone knows what andouille sausage is, I included a link.