Green Pea Soup with Tarragon

This was devised as a way of salvaging another recipe we made. When we prepared this Julia Child recipe, we wound up with like 2 lbs of cooked peas left over.


Ingredients

• 2 pounds of leftover cooked peas (or else frozen, whatever)
  
• 1 red onion, chopped
  
• 4c vegetable broth
  
• 3tbsp dried tarragon... unless it's pretty freshly dried, in which case 2tbsp. Otherwise 3tbsp fresh.
  
• plain nonfat yogurt for serving
  
• 1 round of ham (4oz?), cubed and fried for serving
  

Saute the onion in a soup pot with some olive oil until tender. Then add the broth, peas, and tarragon. Cook until the peas are done or at least warmed through - about 5-8 minutes, depending on whether they're frozen. Remove from heat and put it through a blender until smooth. Return to heat and simmer, adding a little extra broth as desired until it's the right consistency. Stir in the ham. Correct seasoning. Serve with yogurt drizzled on top.

Thoughts: We've made pea soup before in a couple of different ways, but this was actually really good. The tarragon worked really nicely, and the soup was actually thick enough. This was the first time I really felt like the ham complemented the soup, too. All in all a really good recipe. I'd make it again.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Hoppin' John

Ingredients

• 1c dry black-eye peas, washed
  
• 6c water
  
• 3-4 smoked ham hocks
  
• 1 medium onion, chopped
  
• 1/2 a red bell pepper, chopped
  
• 2 bay leaves
  
• 3c worth of chicken bouillon (for us, 1.5 cubes)
  
• 1 14oz can diced tomatoes (with chilies)
  
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
  
• 1c long grain white rice
  

In a large pot, add everything except the rice. It's a good idea to add the beans then the water before adding anything else, since sometimes the iffy black-eyed peas will float to the surface. Bring to a boil and reduce to a gentle boil / high simmer for an hour to an hour and a half, until there are about 2c of liquid left. Now mix in the rice, cover, and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes on low (leave that lid on!), then take it off the heat and leave covered for another 10 minutes. Serve.

Thoughts: I'm not sure this is authentically hoppin' john - it was kind of cobbled together from the suggestions of several people who seemed to think they knew the "right way". But this was JUST awesome. Too good, in fact. Anyway, in the future it might be good to cook the onions first with the bell peppers, but I'm not sure that it's necessary - this was really good, and had a really rich, complex flavor.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Split Pea Soup with Ham

Ingredients

• olive oil
• salt
• pepper
  
• 1 cup precooked ham, grilled and chopped.
  
• 1 large leek, rinsed and chopped
  
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup green split peas, rinsed
  
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 5 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
• 5 and 3/4 cup chicken broth

Heat oil over medium high heat. Add the chopped ham and grill until it gets a little caramelized. This should take 5-7 minutes. Remove the grilled ham and set aside.
Add a little more olive oil to the pan, if needed, and add leek and bay leaf. Saute until leeks are wilted but still bright green, about 3 minutes. Add the split peas and stir to coat them with the olive oil. Add the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low, cover, and let simmer for around 35 minutes, or until the peas are tender.
Remove from heat. Using a slotted spoon, remove about 1 cup of the soup solids and put in blender. Add 1/2 cup of the broth. Add 4 tbsp of the dill and the frozen peas. Puree until smooth. Return the puree to the soup and bring to a boil again. Add the ham and mix until it's evenly distributed. Remove from heat and sprinkle with fresh dill. Eat.

Thoughts: This was a pretty straight-up recipe and it was also pretty easy. Also good for you; it didn't require any cream or anything. Plus ham is actually surprisingly lean. So all in all, pretty healthy. The original recipe didn't actually call for ham, but we figured you can't REALLY have split pea soup without ham. Unless you're like, a vegetarian, or trying to keep kosher or something. But the ham really added an extra flavor and texture dimension to the soup that I think the soup definitely benefited from. I would definitely make it again. The dill was also a good touch. Dan thought there was a little too much salt, probably because of the chicken stock.

Disaster Index: 1/10