This will tick my sisters off

 

1. Bread? Go for it. One of these days I’ll advance to sourdough, but not yet.

   A good split pea soup can be cut with a knife when cold. Carve yourself off a bowlful and heat it up.

   Um, where do you get ham stock? They only have chicken and beef at my grocery store. And is that a small white onion, or a standard yellow one?

   Posted by Drew458       10/30/2011  at  01:20 PM  



2. Ham hocks, without a doubt!

   Posted by Rickvid in Seattle       10/30/2011  at  01:36 PM  



3. Actually, GFS has ham stock, but you can always do it the old-fashioned way. Got some ham bones, maybe some leftovers from the pig, add some onion, celery, etc, whatever you like, roast it down, add water and freeze.

   Yes, my split pea soup does need a knife when cold. I posted this years ago at http://www.food.com/recipe/savory-split-pea-soup-78894

   Seriously, use a couple of smoked ham hocks. Diced ham just isn’t the same.

   Posted by Christopher       10/30/2011  at  01:37 PM  



4. I’m with you Drew. Haven’t tried sourdough. It’s on my list. But this goes well too.

   1 1/4 cups / 300 ml warm water (105-115F)
   2 teaspoons active dry yeast (one packet)
   1 tablespoon runny honey
   1 cup / 4.5 oz / 125 g unbleached all-purpose flour
   1 cup / 5 oz / 140 g whole wheat flour
   1 cup / 3.5 oz / 100 g rolled oats (not instant oats)
   1 1/2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
   2 tablespoons butter, melted, for brushing

   In a medium bowl, sprinkle the yeast onto the warm water and stir until the yeast dissolves. Stir in the honey and set aside for a few minutes, until the yeast blooms and swells a bit - 5 - 10 minutes.
   In the meantime, mix the flours, oats, and salt in a large bowl. Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir very well.
   Brush a 8-cup loaf pan generously with some of the melted butter. Turn the dough into the tin, cover with a clean, slightly damp cloth, and set in a warm place for 30 minutes, to rise.
   Preheat the oven to 350F / 180C, with a rack in the middle. When ready, bake the bread for 35-40 minutes, until golden and pulling away from the sides of the pan. I finish things up by leaving the bread under the broiler for just a heartbeat - to give the top a bit deeper color. Remove from oven, and turn the bread out of the pan quickly. Let it cool on a rack so it doesn’t steam in the pan. Serve warm, slathered with butter.
   Makes 1 loaf.

   Yeah, it’s a yeast bread, but you don’t have to kneed it. Just one rise.

   

   I really doubt you can do better than smoked ham hock split pea soup with this bread.

   Posted by Christopher       10/30/2011  at  01:58 PM  



5. Looks like a really great bread recipe. I’m borrowing it if you don’t mind.

   Posted by irish19       10/30/2011  at  11:42 PM  



6. irish, just report back on how you liked it.

   Posted by Christopher       10/31/2011  at  12:38 AM  



7. Yes we do soup and split pea and ham is one of our favorites. We are light eaters so I bag them up in qt ziplock and then put those into a gallon one and into the chest freezer. Last year we went until Feb with our soup and sandwich Sundays - this year it may be an every other day thingy.

   I love bread - killed two bread machines over the years. But between the gluten free diet of the baby girl and my weight issues - it’s been cut back a lot.

   We did find a cast iron skillet gluten free cornbread recipe in one of her allergy free cookbooks that fits the bill for a ham and split pea dinner.

   Posted by wardmama4       10/31/2011  at  08:59 AM  



8. I thoroughly detest crock pots as cooking utensils.  They do well as serving vessels at a pot luck, though.  I found a 12 qt iron camp oven, the kind with legs and a rim around the lid for a few bucks at a garage sale several years ago then cleaned it by putting it in a fire until it turned a uniform red, allowing it to cool, then scrubbing it with a stainless steel chore girl and re-seasoning it.  That thing weighs less than a crock pot and has no moving or electrical parts to fail.

   My favorite “spilled pea” as my son used to call it, soup, starts with the cooking liquor from a nice corned brisket of beef with the grease skimmed off cold.  Bring it to quantity with water or chicken stock, then go to town with the dregs of the refrigerator, split peas, a potato, a rusty old onion, some disreputable looking celery, wiggly carrots, some dried out garlic cloves, and a diced bell pepper.

   Yes it does require a couple of smoked ham hocks, I get mine from a local butcher shop that buys olde fasshynde smoked hams that need soaked and baked.  The hocks resemble nothing so much as chunks of half burned hardwood knots.  Four hours or so of simmering in an iron oven softens ‘em up nicely and no additional salt is needed in the soup. The meat from them is as close to Nirvana as I expect to get.

   I have used the cut up rind from some genny-you-wine smoked slab bacon to excellent effect as well.  A bowl of sour cream on the table for diners to gob in as needed is good, too. Bacon bits and diced green onions aren’t out of place, either. 

   If I have lots of time, the iron oven goes in the stove oven at about 300F for a few hours if not, on the big burner on the stove top until things are tender.  It’s hard to screw up spilled pea soup and the lid on the iron oven fits like the door of a bank vault.

   Posted by Gerry N       10/31/2011  at  03:03 PM  



9. That looks so good I think I’ll try it this week. It’s beginning to get cool enough (even here in the South) to start thinking of nice hot bowls of soup for dinner.

   Posted by Punkins       11/02/2011  at  04:43 AM  

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