Dept. of Saturday Goodness

[kaffy_r]

Soup, Stays, Sliders and More

I'm ending the day with a smile on my face, for a number of reasons. 

First is the split pea soup I made. First, I had to go hunting for yellow split peas, which for some reason weren't stocked by two groceries I went to; I found them in the third grocery. I also thawed some smoked pork hocks I'd had in the freezer for some time now, and used them to flavor the soup. There's precious little meat on hocks, and a lot of fat, but I was able to take the hocks out of the soup, and strip them for the meat that they did have, which I put back into the soup. I'd worried about the peas not getting cooked enough, but I shouldn't have. I followed the recipe and they dissolved into the kind of mush I was hoping for. 

(I just realized that this probably doesn't sound very tasty for those of you who are vegans or vegetarians, or for anyone who isn't fond of mushy split peas. Smoked pork hocks in particular are probably really do. not. want. for some of you. But for omnivores like Bob and me, this is perfect late fall, early winter food.)

Second: my Stray Kids concert disappointment has been ameliorated by both a good night's sleep, and by learning that two fellow Stays, with whom I'm acquainted via YouTube, got tickets for SKZ concerts, one in L.A., and the other in Toronto. The Torontonian had never bought a ticket for any concert, and he's a dedicated Stay. He video'd himself while he bought his ticket. When he got it, he jumped up from his seat and walked around a bit; he cried for joy. I found myself grinning in shared joy. The L.A. concert-goer is a much more recent Stay, a Tool-lover* who was convinced by a friend to listen one of the Kids' latest albums, and was blown away. He had real difficulty in getting his ticket, but got one for the second show SKZ added. I get a kick out of him and his reaction to the group, and I'm chuffed that he gets to go. 

Third: sliders, and not the tasty ones. The slider on a zipper, specifically the zipper on Bob's winter jacket, which has been driving the two of us absolutely spare because it got jammed and we could not, for the life of us get it unjammed. We finally got our act in gear and took it to a tailor in a nearby dry cleaner. Within minutes, she'd gotten rid of the jammed slider and replaced it with a working one. Bob's winter jacket is now ready for use. That's a good thing, since we've had our first snow. (It melted, but not before about two inches accumulated, and I joined one of the other building owners in shoveling the wet, heavy stuff.)

And finally, Bob found our spare car key, which has been missing for a couple of weeks. Huzzah!!


*Tool is ... not pop. Very much not pop. It's a band that my son loved when he was a Goth kid in high school. 

Comments

[dreamshark]

Hey, that's how I make pea soup too (although I just use regular green split peas)! It sounds delicious. You know what makes pea soup even more delicious? Buy a jar of sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil and use about a quarter cup of that to saute the onions at the beginning. I learned that trick from a lentil soup recipe, but it's just as good in pea soup.

And guess what! I just found MY lost car key too! It was where lost keys always are - the place you searched carefully a half dozen times. Mine had been missing long enough that I had a new one made (at great expense), so now we have 3. And two of them have air tags on them, so this doesn't happen again.

[kaffy_r]

I'd love to try the sun-dried tomato-infused oil, but lately, I find that I have to avoid far too much tomato-based food, because it hurts the interior of my mouth; I also have to avoid too much oil, for the same reason and for other things that are TMI. *grump*

It was where lost keys always are - the place you searched carefully a half dozen times.

Bingo! That's what happened with Bob. He'd scoured the car from top to bottom with no luck. Then yesterday, he opened the passenger side door to get in, looked down ... and there they were.

[cmcmck]

Yellow split peas are available in our local Asian grocery and also the Polish grocery- clearly popular with all sorts of folks!

I do love a good pea soup although my version is veggie. I use a rapeseed oil marinade mix (I have various versions) to add that certain flavour.

[kaffy_r]

I've experimented with completely vegan soup (and other dish) recipes, and I discovered, quite by accident, that Marmite mimics a beef flavor so well that the meat eaters at the table didn't know the soup/other dish didn't have a beef base. It's not horribly salty, but it's very strong, which is why I like using it. Add onions and lots of celery (I love the taste of celery), and, if you want, a roast vegetable soup base, and it's very tasty.

I use peanut oil, although rapeseed/canola is available. What's your marinade recipe?

[cmcmck]

I am a total marmite junkie. I grew up on the stuff and still love it.

I have one oil with a load of Thai spices and another with a mix of mediterranean herba which was the one I used last time.

I also use extra virgin olive oil when pushing the boat out.

[kaffy_r]

Delayed response - hurrah, another Marmite fan! And I like the idea of infusing oil with spices and herbs.

[thisbluespirit]

Soup is always an achievement! Yours sounds very tasty, too. And I'm glad you at least got to enjoy vicarious ticket purchases! <3

[kaffy_r]

Thanks - the soup is going to be our Sunday dinner; I need to either make bread or (American/Canadian) biscuits to go with it.

Shared joy is real joy, even if it isn't happening to you, and I'm glad I experienced it in these two cases!

[carbonel]

The only split pea soup I ever make is from those Manischewitz tubes. I really like that (with some added ham), though it took me a while to figure out that the cooking time on the instructions is way too short.

[kaffy_r]

The idea that instructions are always wrong when it comes to cooking times is familiar to me. Much as I like many of the recipes in "The Joy of Cooking," most of them are wrong on times Or perhaps it's my oven that's out of whack?

[maruad]

Happily the local co-op and the local bulk bin store both sell yellow split peas. I generally use bacon or left over ham but our butcher carries smoked pork chops which work really as well.

I tend to use meat, peas, chopped onions and broth though sometimes I will toss in chopped carrots or some other veggie (including potatoes) depending on what is in the fridge.

[kaffy_r]

our butcher carries smoked pork chops

Smoked pork chops? I haven't spotted those around here, but I can see why those would be helpful. We're in a area where there are lots of foodstuffs for soul food, which is why the pork hocks are pretty much always available. I may look for ham bones for the next time I use this recipe.

I put onions and carrots in this iteration, and the carrots were done just right. When they cook too long they have a slight aftertaste that I don't like. And yeah, checking the fridge to see what you can find as a soup ingredient is pretty universal I should think. Heh.