Split Pea Soup

One of the most fulfilling kinds of cooking for my family is cooking a nice soup or stew. It’s so comforting especially in cold weather, usually frugal, fills the house with fragrant aroma, and an indication that my day at least has dinner planned and already on the stove — all very satisfying feelings.

Split Pea Soup is one of the comfort foods I had growing up, although some siblings wouldn’t touch the green liquid. But when I have a leftover ham bone, I have to decide whether it will be red beans and rice or Split Pea Soup. The latter won this week. Yum!

This can be the easiest meal ever. The peas do not need to be soaked, as do dried beans, so after rinsing, put all the ingredients together, bring to a boil, then simmer a few hours and the main portion of your meal is done.

I use Who’s Your Mama, Are You Catholic, and Can You Make a Roux? by Marcelle Bienvenu as a basis for my recipe, although I add some changes. (I didn’t realize there’s a reprint in hardbound version. My paperback is worn and such an awkward size. I have to say replacing would be a temptation.)

Trader Joe’s sells a Mirepoix which saves that step of cutting and dicing the onions, carrots, and celery (the trinity in French cooking). It’s a luxury I’m glad I took since we’re under the weather here. My adapted version is below.

Split Pea Soup (serves 8-10)

1 pound dried split peas
1 ham bone, 2 ham hocks, or 2 cups diced ham (I didn’t have a large ham bone or lots of ham, so in the last step of adding the wine I added chopped kielbasa into the soup.)
3 quarts chicken broth and water (I use Imagine brand, 2 quarts brother, 1 quart water)
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup coarsely chopped carrots
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 teaspoon ground thyme
2 bay leaves
salt and black pepper to taste
a few dashes Tabasco sauce
1 cup sherry or dry white wine

Put all ingredients (except wine/sherry) into a large soup pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 2 hours. Add white wine or sherry (and sausage) and cook for another 20 minutes. Remove bay leaves and serve.

Serve with crusty French bread, Southern biscuits, or cornbread, perhaps a salad to round it all off.

I enjoyed a leftover bowl for lunch. It always seems to be better the next day. My son likes to help in the kitchen, but his question every time we make this is “What happened to the peas?”

This is also what I will serve on Palm Sunday, as this is known as Car-Sunday or Carling Sunday. See the links below for more information.
Pease Porridge
Yellow Split Pea Soup

Triduum and Easter Plans

I’ve been neglecting my food blog. I visit here often, because I have found it so convenient to print out my recipes, and not have to search around. But I haven’t been very creative in the kitchen, so I haven’t added to the blog.

But for those that are tired of seeing blueberries on the top venue, this post is for you.

I have to mention that I’ve decided blogging is the best thing for me. Why? Because when I write down my plans and/or the events of the feast days, I can remind myself next year what I did. It was nice to see last year’s events, and easy for me to remember what cake recipe I actually did make for the lamb.

I’m keeping meals at basic for the Triduum. After seeing Joanna Bogle on Feasts and Seasons, it made me want Hot Cross Buns, which I may buy from the grocery store. I preferred her recipe which had a flour and water cross, but the whole bun had a sugar glaze. The local ones just have icing crosses, which seem less penitential. But Mrs. Bogle said having the buns on Good Friday, even with their spicy sweetness makes that day special. It’s a special food only eaten on that day (although she did mention some serve the buns on Easter morning, too).

She also mentioned something about being in the kitchen more during holydays, such as Holy Week than the rest of the year. I’ve been feeling guilty that I bake only during these times, that it’s not a good representation of my life, and I worried I was detracting from the feast. But she said just the opposite — spending the extra time making these treats for the holy days marks the time and food as special, unique. She said it more eloquently, but it made me feel more confident to continue.

Tonight I’m serving roast beef and mashed potatoes. We’ll rushing out to get a good seat for the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, but we’ll try to do similar to last year.

We’re spending Easter Sunday at my mother’s. Her meal will be roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn, asparagus, green salad, rolls, and I will bring the Lamb Cake for dessert.

I’m making two cakes, one allergy safe for my son. I can’t praise enough the mixes from The Cravings Place. These are the best egg, dairy, and gluten free mixes ever. Trust me, I can’t make something this good from scratch. We’ve now had the brownies and chocolate cake mix. Yummy, even for those who don’t have to abstain from certain foods.

Easter Monday, part of the Octave of Easter, when each day is Easter Sunday all over again. I’ll be serving up Ham with Spirit Glaze. I love serving ham. It makes me feel frugal, when I can whip up several meals and lunches from one ham. It also is one of my son’s favorite meals.

And now to work….

Easter Ham

Christ is risen, Alleluia! He is risen, indeed, Alleluia!

My mother hosted our Easter family celebration this year. For the main meal, she decided to have roast beef and ham, and I offered to bring the ham and bake it for her. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but many glazes on hams have allergens, particularly wheat. Some hams have injected juices, so it’s important to read labels before buying ham.

I bought one at Costco. I follow the reheating instructions, 325 degrees at 8 minutes per pound, but I do not use the glaze packet, instead I follow the recipe from the old version of Joy of Cooking for Spirit Glaze for Ham. This is really taste, keeps the ham moist, and is my family’s favorite. When serving dinner, the question came “Is this Jenn’s ham? Allright!”

Spirit Glaze for Ham

1/2 to 1 cup dry red wine
1/2 to 1 cup bourbon whiskey (I use Maker’s Mark)
1/2 to 1 cup brown sugar
6 bruised cloves
2 tablespoons grated orange peel

Heat all ingredients in a small saucepan until sugar is melted. Pour over the ham and baste throughout the cooking cycle, about every 15 minutes.

The best thing about ham is that it can do double or triple duty for meals. So this ham was part of our Easter feast on Sunday, then a repeat meal on Easter Monday at home. On Wednesday we had Red Beans and Rice, one of my favorites.

Holy Thursday Meal

On my other blog I’ve talked about planning the Holy Thursday meal. Should I or should I not have a Passover meal? I know it’s a week later, but I thought I would share our menu.

I decided to not do an official Seder, but just incorporate elements that would remind us of Jesus’ Last Supper, and the reading and Gospel from the Mass of the Lord’s Supper.

Holy Thursday Dinner Menu:
Lamb Chops with Artichoke Hearts (Reminder of the Passover Lamb, and Christ the Paschal Lamb)
Mashed Potatoes (allergy free)
Spinach (reminder of the bitter herbs)
Applesauce (reminder of the Charoses, the bricks and mortar in Egypt)
Bread (reminder of the Unleavened Bread and the Eucharist)
Grapes (reminder of the wine and Blood of Christ)
Dessert (Because it’s a festive day in the eyes of the Church)

As a family of three, with a messy 3 year old, we rarely eat in our dining room. But I set the table with a white tablecloth, our china and silver, even for our son. I made a resolution to make sure I do this more often with just us, because my son asked “Are people coming over for dinner?” when he saw the table.

Since dh and I don’t really have a taste for lamb and we’re a small family, I only made a few lamb chops (frozen from Trader Joe’s). The recipe I used was Lamb Chops with Artichoke Hearts, without the olives and tomatoes. It was quite easy and tasty, although it didn’t cover up the lamb aftertaste.

Since we were leaving for the Mass that evening, we didn’t have wine. We read from the book of Exodus 12:1-20 is read —the story of the first Passover before the meal. We also washed feet, reading John 13:1-17. We also talked about the events that happened with Christ that night, using some picture books to tell the story.

This was just a simple meal, but it was wonderful in preparing our son for the Mass that evening. He recognized the white vestments, like our tablecloth, heard the bells and triumphant singing, watched as Father washed the men’s feet, followed Father as he took the Blessed Sacrament to the Altar of Repose.

Was my son well-behaved thoughout? No. It was a struggle through the whole night, wanting to talk, play and wiggle. He was loud, and we had to take him out several times. Dh and I weren’t able to enter very deeply into the Mass. But it still was a beautiful Mass, and a wonderful experience for ds.

Easter Lamb Cake

I had huge success for my lamb cake this Easter, and really I have to give all credit to Elizabeth Foss, since she shared her recipe on the Easter Menu discussion from the 4RealLearning Forums. I have a different cake mold than the Wilton version, but the recipe and directions worked out perfectly. I had no breakage, no floppy cake. The cake itself was firm but moist and tasty. The decorator icing was delicious…a bit on the sweet side, but that’s typical for decorator icing. I used the No. 21 tip and made stars to recreate the fluffy lamb’s wool. I used jellybeans for the eyes and mouth, dyed coconut green and sprinkled on the top of the base to recreate grass.

Thank you, Elizabeth, for sharing your family’s secrets. I’m reproducing the recipe so I can keep it for my records (every year I forget what I did the last time).

Pound Cake:

1 1/2 cups butter
1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese
2 3/4 cups sugar
6 eggs
3 cups cake flour
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Have all ingredients at room temperature.
Beat butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat eggs, one at a time. Sift flour and add to batter. Add vanilla; mix well.
Place batter into a greased and floured pan; follow Wilton baking instructions.

I didn’t need to double the recipe. The leftover batter was enough to fill one 10 inch layer to use as the base for the lamb. Next year I might double to make a layer cake. The pan cooked much more quickly than the lamb, so watch that carefully.

I didn’t ice right away. From my decorating class I had the recommendation to wrap up the cake in many layers of plastic wrap and then freeze the cake. I do believe I was supposed to “crumb” the cake, which was to put a thin layer of frosting all over the cake before freezing, but I skipped that part. The freezing would make the cake firm for decorating and keep it moist.

Hazelnut Frosting

1/2 cup Shortening
1/2 cup Butter
5 cups Confectioner’s Sugar
4 Tbsp. Frangelico (or more to get the right consistency)

Cream butter and shortening with mixer for 3 minutes on high speed. Add Frangelico. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. Mix on high speed for 5 minutes.

I did double this recipe and had only a little leftover. I LOVED the Frangelico addition. I think next time I might add a pinch of salt to cut the sweetness, but I’ll have to think that one over.

I used decorator bags, which turned out to be hard for me to squeeze. Next year I’m going to try to use a Decorator, perhaps like the one from Pampered Chef, which will not require as much thumb movement.