I Can't Stop Making Soup: Split Pea with Ham edition

I know I've posted this recipe before. Furthermore, I also acknowledge that it tends to get posted around New Year's, mostly due to the leftover ham available at this time of year. Lastly, I am positive that this soup will keep you warm and satisfied, therefore, I think it's fine that I just keep posting it.

This version (same recipe, different story) centers around a sudden desire I had a few weeks back to stock my freezer full of goodness. I never cook with the explicit intention of freezing portions. A friend of mine is convinced that it's cheaper for her to eat out (as a single diner) than to cook larger quantities of her food and freeze some for later. I'm giving this a go myself so I can test out if it just gets too boring to plow through a huge amount of the same food for a week (which I believe is one of her concerns) or if there is some merit to having a freezer full of meals at the ready.

In the first week, I ate approximately four servings, about half of what I made. In between other meals and holiday meals, this worked out fine for me. The second week was more of a challenge, even though I absolutely love Split Pea with Ham soup, it looses it's luster somewhat after having to eat it for so many meals.

For my next experiment, I'll need to freeze everything in individual portions so that I don't feel obligated to eat the same soup/meal every day until it's gone. I didn't plan out the portions properly and ended up with huge serving dishes of each soup. I may also sign up some other cooking-friendly friends who would make something and we could split our frozen portions, for some variety.

Either way, I am going to create a few recipes for my friend, have her make them, freeze individually, and see if she finds that she'll eat at home a bit more and could possibly even save a few bucks. I do acknowledge that not everyone thinks cooking is fun (like I do), so this experiment may not work, but it's really worth a try.

Split Pea with Ham Soup ala Gran Fran serves 8 as a side dish

Ingredients:

• 1 Package Green Split Peas (or about 12 ounces), rinsed
• 1 Ham Hock (nitrate free is best)
• 1 Large Yellow Onion, sliced
• 2 Large Carrots, sliced
• 4-6 Whole Cloves
• Thyme
• Bay Leaf
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 Cloves Garlic, peeled and smashed

Method:

• Saute onions and carrots in the olive oil in a large non-reactive pan.
• Place hamhock in the pan and brown on all sides.
• Add washed peas, stirring over meium heat.
• Pur boiling water to cover, about 4 cups, into pan (or as much as you need to actually cover the hamhock).
• Add cloves, thyme, bay lead, pepper and garlic. Wait until the soup is further along in its cooking to add salt, since the handhock is fairly salty on its own).
• Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, partially cover the pan and simmer for 3 hours, stirring every now and then.
• Let cool and refrigerate. Then skim all of the fat off the top.
• Remove hamhock, dice the meat, and return to the soup.
• Reheat soup and serve with toasted baguette and a nice glass of wine.

Fish Stew: For Now or Later

It has been a long time since I spent Christmas Eve in New York with Gran Fran and Joe. My sister is here in San Francisco and we have our own family gatherings, but I do miss Gran Fran's Feast of the Seven Fishes. We do a pretty good job of it, if I may say so myself, out here in SF.

I remember one of the first times she made Boulliabase (which is essentially the same sort of recipe as the below). We drove out to the docks in Long Island and got the freshest shellfish there was. A story for another time, was when we got live Lobsters from the same fishermen and I had to sit in the back of the car with a plastic bag of crawling Lobsters near my feet.

But  I digress. My tale today is about making this stew, and serving it to your friends and family as part of any celebration or just as a weekend treat. You may have noticed, I have a thing for soups. Well, stews rank right up there, so this is another favorite of mine.

Gran Fran always uses the liquor Anisette mixed with vermouth for her version. I don't always have that in my cupboard, so use dry vermouth with fennel seeds. Let me tell you, there is a huge difference. The Anisette has a depth of flavor that you just can't get with my version. But, of course, as I always say, make do with what you have and you'll still end up with a great dish.

When I was home during Thanksgiving, Gran Fran was kind enough to make this wonderful fish stew for me. She let me take pictures while she cooked. I usually cook and shoot everything I post. It was eye-opening to try and work in real-time shots while Gran Fran cooked and not get in her way. We often communicate via yelling (not I'm angry-type yelling, more of an I'm just trying to make my point kind of yelling). And so, you can imagine, that Joe decided to excuse himself from this particular event, hiding out in their office.

In the end, the food was wonderful and I loved being able to document Gran Fran while she actually cooks. When she posts on her blog, I end up cooking the recipes myself here in SF and posting pictures for her. Oh the greatness of technology. But, there is nothing like having a tried-and-true dish made by the person who first served it to you. Mine is always good (and my sister and her husband's versions are great, too), but Gran Fran just adds a certain something.

Make this and add your own personal touches. Except for the method, you can add or subtract any amounts of fish to your liking.

Merry Christmas to you all!

recipe courtesy of Fran Claro, reposted from The Italian Pantry

Friday Night Fish Soup

Serves six

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups potatoes, diced
• 1 cup carrots, diced
• 1 cup celery, diced
• 1 cup onions, diced
• Salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 2 tablespons tomato paste
• 4 tablespoons anisette or other licorice-flavored liqueur
• 1/4 cup dry vermouth
• 2 bay leaves
• Sprinkle of red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon dried basil or 1 tablespoon fresh
• 2 quarts boiling water
• 1 1/2 pounds cod fillet, skinned, rinsed
• 3 dozen little neck clams, well scrubbed
• 1 pound mussels, debearded and well scrubbed

1. Warm oliveoil in a pot large enough to hold all ingredients.
2. Add vegetables; sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Saute vegetables until golden, about 15 minutes.
4. Add tomato paste;  saute over low heat 10 minutes.
5. Add anisette and vermouth; reduce by half.
6. Add herbs, pepper flakes; cover all ingredients with boiling water.
7. Bring to boil; reduce to simmer.
8. Partially cover; simmer 30 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.
9. Add cod; simmer 10 minutes.
10. Return soup to boil.
11. Add clams and mussels.
12. After 7 minutes, check if shellfish open; remove from shells.
13. Cook shellfish until most open;  discard any that have  not opened.
14. Add shelled seafood to soup.
15. Serve soup with crusty bread.

Hot and Sour Soup

I can't stop making soup. This is my third batch in two days. So, here it is, hold onto your hats, the best hot and sour soup recipe I've come across.

It involves a lot of steps, but it's not really that hard, just follow along and calmly work it. The original recipe came from Cook's Illustrated, but I've adapted it, enough, I hope, to call it my own. I use chicken instead of pork and since I am gluten-free, I use Tamari instead of regular soy sauce, as it has no wheat in it.

You'll want to get all your ingredients organized, lined up and measured out since some of the steps have a few sub-steps. It's well worth it, so hang in and have fun.

See that bottle? Chinese Black Vinegar. It's the secret ingredient for the flavor in this dish. Between this and the white pepper, it's amazing how much earthiness and valor these give to the soup. The white pepper is very pungent, use caution! As it is always easy to add more, but you can't remove it once it's in there.

The meat picks up an amazing texture when it is soaked in the cornstarch mixture.I've read that it helps to seal in the juices of the meat, which, if the soup is any example, then, yes, it works!

This is fun, don't over think it. But, do, go slow and try to make the drizzled stream as thin and consistent as possible.

Important Note:  Read the entire recipe all the way through first, please. You will need a bunch of small and medium bowls for this process. So grab them as you are reading and it should help start you off on the right foot.

Hot and Sour Soup 

adapted from Cooks Illustrated, 5/2006

• 4 tablespoons tamari (gluten-free soy sauce) or soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch , plus an additional 1 1/2 teaspoons
• 8 ounces extra firm tofu, drained and cubed (see below for directions)
• 1 boneless skinless chicken breast cut into 1 inch by 1/8-inch matchsticks
• 3 tablespoons cold water , plus 1 additional teaspoon
• 1 large egg
• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 4 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms , stems removed, caps sliced 1/4 inch thick (about 1 cup)
• 5 tablespoons black Chinese vinegar or 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar plus 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (see note above)
• 2 teaspoons chili oil
• 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 3 medium scallions , sliced thin

First, drain the tofu:

• Take the tofu out of the container, put it into a shallow pie plate (or any dish with a short rim).
• Then, put a plate on top, and press down hard. Place two or three cans on top of the plate (I used canned beans) and leave to drain for about 15 minutes. Add more time if the tofu still appears soggy when you check it.
• You'll know when it's ready to be cubed when the liquid has pooled at the bottom of the dish and the tofu appears much drier than it had been, but not super dried out.
• Dice the tofu into cubes and set aside (though it's likely the broth will be simmered and ready by the time you've cubed your tofu).

Next Marinate the Chicken:

• Whisk in a medium bowl:
  • 1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
  • Sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• Thoroughly mix the chicken strips in the marinade and leave to soak for about 10 to 20 minutes.
• The meat will become silky and somewhat fatter than it was when you began.

And Then:

• Combine:
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 3 tablespoons water in small bowl and mix thoroughly
  • Set aside, leaving spoon in bowl.
• Mix:
  • Remaining 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
  • Remaining 1 teaspoon water in small bowl
  • Add egg and beat with fork until combined. Set aside.

Start Putting it Together:

• In a large heavy-bottomed pan, bring the chicken broth to a boil.
• Once the broth has boiled, lower the heat to medium-low and:
  • Add mushrooms.
  • Simmer for about 5 minutes, until the mushrooms are nice and tender.
• Add:
  • Tofu and chicken, including marinade, to soup, stirring.
  • Continue to simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 4 minutes.

Almost Done:

• Remember the mixture you made that you left the spoon in? It's time to stir it and make it more liquid now.
• Add to soup and increase heat to medium-high.
• Cook, stirring occasionally, until soup thickens and turns translucent, about 1 minute.
• Stir in:
  • vinegar (either the Chinese Black Vinegar, or the combo of Balsamic and red wine vinegar)
  • chili oil
  • white pepper
  • remaining 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• Turn off heat.

Make the Egg Drops:

• Get your egg mixture (the last bowl, I hope, that you have left with something you mixed earlier) and grab a spoon.
• Do not stir the soup, make sure it's still when you start this next step.
• Take your spoon and scoop up a bit of it into your spoon.
• Very slowly, like you are just hanging out and not in any kind of rush, start drizzling the egg mixture over the soup, moving around the pot in a clockwise motion.
• Let rest for a bit, about a minute.
• Bring soup back up to a gentle boil over medium heat.

Serve it Up:

Remove from heat and give the soup a light stir, just enough to break up the egg drops, but not so fiercely that the nice thickness that the cornstarch leant to the mix.

Ladle into bowls and top with scallions.

C'mon, it's Ham, that's OK for Vegetarians, Right?

My friend S. is a Vegetarian 98% of the time, with some fish here or there. But, she has a weakness....ham.

I found this out one evening when I came home (S. was babysitting Ms. Iz) to find her chowing down on a big bowl of my split pea with ham soup. After the shock wore off, she told me that ham is her achilles heel in regards to the meat world. And that, there were some lovely ham biscuits that came from Virginia that she treated me to. Pure deliciousness!

The first time I made the split pea with ham soup, I had a bit of a mishap. The hamhock I chose was subpar, too salty, not enough real flavor, you know, none of Gran Fran's best quality ingredients at the Safeway that day. Sadly, it did not make my soup any better, and nowhere near Gran Fran's. But, I perservered (and started buying nitrate free hamhocks) and am now an expert split pea with ham soup.

When I was little, Gran Fran usually made us a batch around Thanksgiving. As with everything, which I believe I have mentioned before, there was so much that it lasted for at least a week. I cherished every last drop. By watching Gran Fran, I learned that you need to brown the hamhock first, and use cloves, not the powder, the whole ones, for the best flavor.

One thing I've realized is that there is an alternative to the hamhock....left over Honey Baked Ham on the bone. It makes a much sweeter soup (welcome, honey), but it's a nice rich alternative, and a good use of a bit of leftovers.

So, in closing, enjoy the hammy-goodness as we had more fully into Fall!

Split Pea with Ham Soup ala Gran Fran serves 8 as a side dish

Ingredients:

• 1 Package Green Split Peas (or about 12 ounces), rinsed
• 1 Ham Hock (nitrate free is best)
• 1 Large Yellow Onion, sliced
• 2 Large Carrots, sliced
• 4-6 Whole Cloves
• Thyme
• Bay Leaf
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 Cloves Garlic, peeled and smashed

Method:

• Saute onions and carrots in the olive oil in a large non-reactive pan.
• Place hamhock in the pan and brown on all sides.
• Add washed peas, stirring over meium heat.
• Pur boiling water to cover, about 4 cups, into pan (or as much as you need to actually cover the hamhock).
• Add cloves, thyme, bay lead, pepper and garlic. Wait until the soup is further along in its cooking to add salt, since the handhock is fairly salty on its own).
• Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, partially cover the pan and simmer for 3 hours, stirring every now and then.
• Let cool and refrigerate. Then skim all of the fat off the top.
• Remove hamhock, dice the meat, and return to the soup.
• Reheat soup and serve with toasted baguette and a nice glass of wine.