Split Pea Soup & Oat Cornmeal Bread

Something’s not quite right this week. All I’ve managed to accomplish is one disaster after another. The week started off with two kitchen mishaps and ended with yet another broken phone. Yeah I know, there’s only ten days left till Christmas and I could start making excuses about the holidays and stress, fighting the crowds at the mall..blah,blah,blah. Except that I find the holidays far more exciting than stressful and I don’t shop at the mall (It’s called the Internet- you might have heard of it). So what could be the problem? Full moon? Nope that was last week. My body’s a bit off because I had a pesky cold for two weeks which then turned into strep throat? Nope, also last week. A grand conspiracy stirring in the universe to mess with my normally organized and peaceful existence?- that must be it.
It all started with the grapefruit. About a month ago I came across this recipe for candied grapefruit peel that I just couldn’t get out of my mind. Those sugar coated bright orange peels called out to me in a way that was impossible to resist. All sane and rational thoughts (like who would want to eat these) flew out of my head and before I knew it I was peeling, slicing and simmering a big ol’ pile of grapefruit peels. I even had the perfect packaging all planned out. A small pint sized glass jar filled with the sugary strips and adorned with a green ribbon and carefully hand lettered label. The whole thing would be just so Martha. Except it wasn’t.
After the two hours of simmering in a simple syrup the peels looked great. As instructed I set them on a rack to dry before rolling them in sugar. Well, a few hours later they were still wet so I decided to let them dry overnight- couldn’t hurt right? Wrong..oh so wrong. The next morning they had shriveled and curled up to the point of no return. There was no way these babies were ever going to look good, even a thick sugar coating couldn’t save this disaster. I couldn’t even take a picture, it was that ugly.

It wasn’t a total loss though. I mean we did eat the grapefruit, and while the peels were simmering for two hours I made a batch of the most delicious Cranberry-Nut Mini loaves with Flax that I have ever tasted. Except that I dropped them on the floor. Let me clarify, I dropped them on the floor while they were still hot and the cute little breads just fell to pieces. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the spot where I dropped them- right next to the dog’s food bowl. I did manage to salvage some of the bigger pieces, and after dusting them off a bit (ewww!) I discovered just how amazing this bread was. Which of course made me even more upset because who wants to drop awesome bread on the floor. I will be making another batch of these breads very soon but for now you should visit this blog for the recipe and inspiring pictures.
So what’s a girl to do to salvage this week of disasters? I decided that the solution to my woos would be a nice big pot of the ultimate comfort food- soup. Soup is a pretty hard meal to mess up (unless you drop it on the floor – come on, I know you were thinking it). I wanted something hearty and healthy that didn’t require a ton of ingredients, hours of chopping or any sort of fancy culinary skills. So I pulled out my trusty Soup Makes the Meal cookbook by Ken Haedrich and flipped through the pages until I came upon the perfect recipe. He calls it No Bones About it Split Pea Soup. I just call it Split Pea Soup. I choose a ham free recipe not because I have anything against ham, in fact I think this soup is pretty fantastic with a bit of ham sprinkled on top, but as I didn’t happen to have a ham bone lying around this seemed the way to go. This is a really simple recipe that I have adapted a bit to suit my own tastes. Feel free to play around with it and add different spices if you so desire. And if you’re one of those people who can’t imagine pea soup without the ham bone (or if you happen to have on lying around) just throw it in the pot with everything else.I also made a quick and hearty bread to go with my soup because soup without bread is like a fish without water. This is a pretty dense bread that is amazing when dipped in the soup and just as yummy smeared with a bit of butter. Enjoy.

Print Recipe

Split Pea Soup Sans Ham
adapted from Soup Makes the Meal by Ken Haedrich
Serves:6-8

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups dried split peas, rinsed and picked
5 cups water
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 potato, peeled and cubed
1 teaspoon Herbs de Provence (or just dried thyme)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Spanish smoked paprika
Optional toppings:
Cooked ham, diced
Cheddar cheese, shredded
Sour Cream
Italian Parsley

1. In a large Dutch oven or stock pot heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook until soft and translucent, about 8-9 minutes. Add the garlic during the last minute. Stir in the peas, water and stock. Bring to a boil, stir and reduce heat to low. Keep the soup at barely a simmer over low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

2. After 1 hour, raise the heat a bit and add the potato and Herbs de Provence. Partially cover the soup and simmer for at least an another hour and a half or until the peas and potato are soft. Remove from the heat and add the salt, pepper, and paprika.

3. Working in batches, purée the soup in a food processor until smooth. Add more salt and pepper if needed. Serve hot with you favorite toppings.

Oat & Cornmeal Raisin Bread
1/2 cup rolled oats (not quick cooking)
2 cups buttermilk
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup raisins

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan. Set aside

2. In a small bowl whisk together the oats, buttermilk, egg, honey and oil.

3. In a large bowl combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center of the ingredients and pour in the liquid mixture. Stir until just blended.Fold in the raisins and pour into the prepared pan.

4. Bake for 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a wooden tester inserted comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 15 minutes before slicing.