My Favorite Split Pea Soup

Remember my Easter Ham?  I held on to the bone that remained from that home and decided to make some Split Pea Soup with it.  It might be warm in other parts of the country but it has remained cool enough here for a bowl of soup to be a treat.  Here is what you will need to make some, too:

Ingredients

• a ham bone or ham hock
• 1 pound bag of split peas
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 large celery stalked, diced
• 2 quarts of water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 pepper

 

Place all the ingredients in a large pot or dutch oven with the exception of the ham bone.  

Add the 2 quarts of water and start to heat over medium, high heat.

 

When it starts to boil, add the ham bone and back off the heat to low and cover.

You want the soup to simmer on low until the peas completely dissolve and soup is thick and creamy.  On my cooktop, this took about 3 hours.  Just check your soup every half hour or so to see when it's reached that point.

When the soup has reached its desired consistancy, remover the ham bone from the soup.

Once the ham bone is cool enough to handle, strip off the meat into little chunks and return it too the soup.

Now it ready to enjoy.  I served my soup wtih these rolls using a recipe from the Pioneer Woman show on the Food Network.  Definitely a keeper and super easy, too.

Garlic Herb Chicken

 

To be truthful, I am not a big fan of boneless, skinless chicken breast.  They are pretty plain, potentially dry and flavorless.  The word I like to use is "insipid".  But if you cook them and retain their moisture, add a bit of flavor, chicken breast can be a great blank canvas.

This is my favorite recipe for boneless, skinless chicken breast and it's easy!  Here's what you'll need:

Ingredients
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
Salt
Pepper
1 cup of white wine ( chardonnay is my favorite)
1 Teaspoon of dried herbs (rosemary, herbes de provence, thyme all work well)
4 boneless, skinless chicken

Place an oven-safe plate in the oven and set the heat to Warm.

 

Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken breast and set aside.

Heat the extra virgin olive oil over medium heat in a saute pan with a good-fitting lid or Dutch oven.  Add the sliced garlic and cook until they are about the color of a potato chip then remove with a slotted spoon.  Do not let them get too dark because they can turn bitter. We want our olive oil infused with great garlic flavor and burnt garlic is not the way to get there.

Keep the heat at medium and add the chicken breast to the pan and brown on each side.

Add the cup of white wine, pour slowly to reduce splattering.  I prefer using a dry white wine like chardonnay but use what you enjoy the most.  

Also, add the teaspoon of herbs, I used herbes de Provence this time around but rosemary and thyme work equally well .  If you are using fresh herbs from your garden you should use a tablespoon of them, finely chopped.

 

Once the liquids begin to simmer reduce the heat to low and cover.  Let cook for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes are up, remove the chicken breast and place them on the heated plate that was warming in your oven.  Keep the breasts in the oven while you reduce the sauce.

Raise the heat to medium to reduce the white wine sauce.  Keep stirring until the sauce reduces by about half and thickens a bit.

Remove from the heat and return the warmed chicken breast back to the pan.  Smother them in the sauce and they are ready to serve.  Hope you enjoy this recipe.

Well, It's About Time I Got One.....

Lookie at what I got for a late Christmas present which just arrived this week. I have been pining over a Le Creuset dutch oven for almost a decade and now I finally own one.

My dear husband got tired of me calling any cooking show host that had one a female dog (got to keep it clean here!). He knows I like doing the homework and finding the best price around so he gave me the cash in my Christmas card and said that I had to use the money to buy one.

So, here it is! It's over 7 quarts and beautiful. I just need to get cookin'...probably a beef stew will break it in. Figuratively speaking.