Let's Split

Piping hot bowl of split pea and ham soup with homemade croutons and thick shavings of Romano cheese.

The temperature outside is dropping fast and all I want to do is sit inside on my couch and eat and drink. Steaming hot comfort food is a necessity for the bitter winter days.  And this soup is a MUST for your winter repertoire - because it is simple, healthy, satisfying and insanely good!

It is an easy split pea and ham soup, that can be made in a slow cooker or on the stove.  I made this in my slow cooker and let it go all day long.  

Simply Insane Split Pea and Ham Soup:

• 1 Pound dry split peas (sorted and rinsed) 
• 1 ham hock (I used one I had frozen from a ham I cooked for Thanksgiving)
• 1 cup finely diced carrots
• 1 cup finely diced red onions
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 4 cups water
• 1 1/2 cubes of chicken bouillon
• 2 cloves finely sliced garlic
• Course ground pepper, onion powder, garlic powder (about 1 Tsp. each)
• Croutons - 4 Slices crusty bread -  Cut crusty bread into largish square pieces and pan fry them in 2 Tbsp of olive oil and dust lightly with garlic powder

Directions:

1. Throw all ingredients into slow cooker and turn cooker on High for first two hours.
2. Turn to Low for last 4-6 hours
3. About an hour until finished pull ham hock out and pick bits of ham off and cut into small pieces for later. 
4. In batches, take the soup (sans the ham hock) and process it in a food processor or blender until finely pureed.  Return blended soup back into slow cooker along with the chopped ham, and let cook uncovered for the last hour.  
5. It's Done - Ladle into bowls and top with homemade croutons and thick shavings of Romano cheese.

*If you don't have a slow cooker then just throw everything in a large stock pot and bring to a boil - then turn to low and let simmer for a few hours (stirring occasionally) - then follow the rest of the directions as above and once blended, just finish it with a further 15-30 minutes cooking on low - rather than an hour with the slow cooker.
 **And if you don't want to blend the soup and leave it all whole, it is still very good - just a different texture.

diced carrots and onions

Dry split peas (prior to sorting)

Fun with the new camera

Rinsed peas, carrots, onions, and ham hock -just add stock, water, bouillon, and spices

I didn't get any shots of the slow cooker in action - but I am pretty sure you can all visualize broth added and cooking...slowly.

And if you are lucky enough to have leftovers, it is often even tastier the next day, because all the flavors have had time to really meld together even more.   I know I always say to put your own twist and try new variations, but try this version first, because I really can't think of anything I would add or take away. 

Give it a shot and let me know what you think.

Snack Attack

POP QUIZ, Hot Shot...

You have a tube of crescent roll dough, mini Bavarian bratwurst, cream cheese and mixed berry jam - What do you do?....What...do...you....do?

Make a sweet and savory snack.

I first made a twist on pigs in a blanket.  Simply roll out a triangle of the puff pastry dough and place a link of bratwurst and a few slices of red onion on the widest end of the dough and and roll it up.  Then top each roll with a little shredded cheddar cheese and get ready to put in oven.

Prior to rolling up

Hot out of the oven.

I repeated the process for half of the dough and reserved the other half for our sweet pastry.

For the sweet option - make a mixture using a 1-to-1 ratio between your jam (I used mixed berry) and softened cream cheese.  Once mixed well, place a spoonful in the center of the dough and enclose it within the dough by pinching the edges together.  You can see how i did it in the pictures below.

Then put everything on the same greased baking sheet and put it into the oven according the directions on the pastry packaging.  Use the cooking times on the package as a guideline as it will most likely take a bit longer.  So you will just want to keep and eye on everything and take it out of the oven once it's reached a nice golden brown.

Prior to baking

Golden perfection

Puff pastry is another one of those great, versatile ingredients that can turn even the most ordinary of foods into something a bit more interesting.