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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Pea Happy

I made the world's best split pea soup this week.

Seriously - the world's best. And I know there's a lot of good pea soup out there. But this? This is the best.

Now the reason I'm making split pea soup is because Texas is still pretending to be a climate that would be produced if England and Antarctica had a baby. A horrid, ugly, wet, grey baby that no one likes.

So I've just given up being a southerner and decided to buy a sweater and make things like pea soup. I might even learn to knit or go digging for clams in the cold, wet earth.

See how dramatic it makes me?

Well I told a bunch of people I'd share my recipe, so here you go. Don't forget to whisper my name when you taste it.

World's Best Split Pea Soup Ever in the WORLD

  • 1 pound dried split peas. Soak these overnight. Throw away the nasty pea water a few times and add clean water.
  • 1 large sweet yellow onion, lazily chopped into large pieces
  • Fresh thyme - about 10 sticks of it, a handful, whatever
  • Crushed red pepper flakes - I used a lot - like 1 TBSP - you make up your own mind.
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 Smithfield smoked ham hocks
  • 6 C. chicken broth
  • 2 tsp. salt and black pepper to taste
  • 1/2 C half and half

Throw it all in the crockpot - except the half and half. I stripped the thyme leaves into the crockpot and threw away the stems.  Cook it on low for about 6 hours and then on high for the last two or three hours, depending on your crockpot's personality. At the end, toss the hocks, add the half and half and blend the soup with a stick blender until smooth. Whisper my name. It's even better the next day because it sort of firms up and gets that real split pea texture.

Oh - since everyone keeps asking, this is my crockpot and I love it like I love the sun.
 
It has given me many fabulous meals. 

Now, if the sun would just come back, I'd be totally happy!


I made this card for a Hope You Can Cling To challenge. The hexagons are a Westminster / Sizzix quilting die and the B is from Serif Essentials. The bee is from Nature Walk and the greeting is from my beloved Pursuit of Happiness. I dyed some of our white twine with Summer Sun.

I never get tired of "be happy" cards. :)

And now that you have my recipe, you can PEA happy!

Loveyameanitbye.


8 comments:

  1. WHAT?! No ham hock?! What kind of southerner ARE YOU!? Pffth.


    wv: kaminneu
    As soon as I kaminneu hugged me and offered me some soup.

    ReplyDelete
  2. OMG I am going to have to make this! And I totally had to google "hock" because I've never even used one before. And by used I mean cooked. My crockpot is so wonky and cooks unevenly I'm going to have to shop for a new one...so thanks for providing a link!

    Cute card! And I have that die and NEVER thought of honeycomb before. Brilliant.

    wv:abighavo
    I made the best guacamole with the abighavo.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Was that UTICA cut crushed red pepper from Stuart's in Roch-cha-cha????? Hmmmm????
    Soup sounds great. Card is truly great. Love the hexagon/hive idea.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I feel for you, but it is December, and even though you live in Texas, you need the rain/fog. :) So says me in a bamly 40' sunshine. ;)

    jennik

    wv: glusati
    The pea soup is glusati free, right? Oh wait, that is gluten free. *snort*

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your card is so sunny and summery. Love it!
    Sounds like a great pot of soup! I make mine similar but I don't soak the peas, I don't mash it with a blender and I have never added any cream. :) I just like it that way.
    Your Texas weather sounds like our Maritime weather here in New Brunswick. Yuck!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I was thinking about you and your recipe when I carved my ham from the bone the other day (and froze it)! Thanks for sharing. I'm going to give it a shot, cause Santa is bringing me a brand new crock pot.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Soup sounds yummy Miss Lydia and that's one very cool and modern looking crockpot. Would you believe I'm still using one that's 20+ years old? Fun sunshiny card too...nice reminder that summer will be here again someday. It's going to take a wee bit longer here in the Pacific Northwest than in Texas though. Love the bee especially and just ordered the stamp set so I can play with him and my new gnomes...poor gnome has no idea what's coming. BTW...in case anyone went looking the bee appears to be from Nature Walk. :S

    ReplyDelete
  8. It's 9am and I suddenly, mysteriously want pea soup. Now, I just have to find a substitute for the ham hocks and I'm golden. My mil makes a mean pea soup and then puts ( all beef) frankfurter chunks in it. It's the only reason my boys would eat something green for awhile. Love the card, Queen Bee. *smile*

    ReplyDelete

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