I've been spending the holidays at B's and I don't miss my own kitchen as much as I thought I would. Simply put, I decide to equip his kitchen with some key cooking pieces that I cannot live without. Some girls leave toiletries at their boyfriends'. Me, I leave cookwares and bakewares and kitchen gadgets and pantry items. Makes perfect sense to me.
Since I arrived on Christmas Eve, we've been eating very well everyday. I'm going to do a little bragging, ready? Christmas Eve dinner was Virginia country ham, chestnut mushroom sausage dressing, caramel stewed apples, and maple glazed roasted sweet potatoes. We opened presents with mugs of rich hot chocolate in our hands, made with raw milk (yum!). Christmas breakfast was slices of stollen. Christmas supper consisted of country ham in buttermilk biscuits and beluga lentils in balsamic vinaigrette. We began Sunday morning with a relaxing breakfast of caramel apples bread pudding and hot chocolate. Monday morning we enjoyed fluffy buttermilk pancakes with maple syrup and tall glass of berries banana smoothie. For dinner, we had sausage apples mushroom cheddar strata and soul-warming bowls of split pea soup with ham (recipe below). Tonight, while the roast chicken and herb roasted fingerling potatoes were in the oven, we relaxed with glasses of sparkling apple cider and a cheese plate. Oh, what a delicious cheese plate it was too! There were selections of Cowgirl Creamery fromage blanc, Midnight Moon aged goat gouda, a locally made Mountaineer, parmigiano reggiano, golden delicious apples, baguette, and Italian cherry honey. There'll be more homecooking in the next few days! This is what happens when B's at work and I'm left to my own devices...
Split Pea Soup With Country Ham
serves 4
Ingredients
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 stalk of celery, diced
- 225g of yellow split peas, picked over
- 1/2 cup country ham, cooked and diced
- 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 4 cup water
- olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Method
- In a 3.5 quart dutch oven or heavy bottem sauce pan, heat 2 tsp of olive oil over medium high heat.
- Saute onion and celery until softened and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
- Tip the yellow split peas, ham, chicken broth, and water into the pot. Bring to boil then turn heat down to a simmer. Simmer for 60 minutes until soup thickens and peas are soft.
- You can season and serve the soup at this stage but I like my soup smoother. Simply take an immersion blender and puree the soup until thick and creamy.
