Turns out I DON'T hate pea soup....

[Wifezilla]

I hate commercial, low quality, over salted NASTY pea soup. The stuff I just made from hubby has no resemblance to that yuck in a can! I got brave and tasted it expecting to making yucky faces, but it was YUMMY!!

I soaked the split peas overnight and I also took a ham bone and threw that in to the crockpot on low overnight along with a bunch of onion ends left over from making onion soup.

Today I rinsed the split peas really well, put them in my other crock pot and added liquid from the ham bone broth until it was just covered. When I got home after work I stirred up the peas and they turned to total mush, but it was tasty mush I added gobs of butter, some cream, salt, pepper, garlic and the meat I was able to pick off that ham bone. Gave it another taste and it was really good but needed "something". I added a Tbsp of honey and a Tbsp of Shriracha sauce. That did the trick.

YUMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!

I called hubby and told him my attempt at pea soup was a total miserable failure and I would dispose of it all so he wouldn't have to be tormented by it. For some reason he didn't believe me.

 

[Emerald]

I love a good home made split pea soup. but if you want to try another good one- use good home made chicken stock with plenty of peas and when the peas cook down to the mush you add back the chicken-and some fresh cut/diced celery, onion, and carrot- serve right when the the veggies get done.
I like it better than the ham or smoked pork hock one.
A very nice Jewish lady gave me the recipe years ago.
And do not skim off the "schmultz" when making the stock--that adds just the right amount of flavor to the peas.
Schmultz--good old fashioned chicken fat!

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Oh! Homemade is sooooo Yummy
And I second the stock recomendation.
It ramps up the yum factor even more.

I was doing a Traditional Foods class a couple years ago, and I served Split pea soup.
Unknown to me, one of the ladies hates the stuff with a passion.
She never said a word, ate her bowl and then asked for more.

Then she told me that was the first time she had enjoyed it.
Yay homemade

 

[abifae]

mmmm

good plan. i shall steal leftover ham bits from christmas and make soup.

 

[Henrietta23]

mmmm

good plan. i shall steal leftover ham bits from christmas and make soup.

Ditto!! Both MIL and my mother are making ham, tomorrow night and Christmas Day. I will beg for the bits and bones!

 

[ORChick]

If you prefer your pea soup less mushy, and with more "character", make it with whole dry peas (available in the bulk bins at health food stores usually). I soak them, and then cook them with onions, potatoes cut in fairly large dice, diced carrots, and a smoked ham hock, or ham bone (lacking such I will fry some diced bacon, and garnish the finished soup with that); salt, pepper, herbs of choice to taste (marjoram or thyme are good), and a large pinch of cumin seed (or some curry powder), as well as a bit of tabasco sauce for me. The whole peas get nice and soft, but don't disintegrate entirely, and the larger bits of potato also maintain some integrity, so the end effect isn't quite so "invalid food like" as I find split pea soup often to be.

 

[abifae]

I have dried split peas right now, in fact.

 

[Emerald]

I forgot! I have used the split yellow peas before and they have a slightly different taste--still good tho and I have also put them in half green and half yellow and they are good that way.
I have also put in different lentils with the peas as I was missing about 1 cup of split peas once to make soup-I spilled them ! and then being a tiny bit germaphobe I fed them to the chickens instead of washing and use them! The lentils become very creamy.

 

[Javamama]

That sounds really good. I might have to cook some this weekend.

 

[ranchhand]

Works great with lentils, too. The brown lentils are the firmest and the good news is that lentils don't need pre-soaking!