Norman’s Spinach, Bacon and Olive Pizza

Norman’s Spinach, Bacon and Olive Pizza

What do you like on a pizza? I don’t think there is any end to what people put on pizza. I like a lot of different things on pizza. I’ve put lamb, pork, smoked sausage, calamari, chicken, anchovies along with the usual choices of Italian sausage, pepperoni, peppers, mushrooms and onions.

I will however draw the line at fruit although I did break my own rule in this very blog. My housemates talked me into making them a pizza with pineapple. See the May 15th post for Pizza I thought I'd never make. 

You people who put pineapple on pizza, well ... I just don’t understand you. Skip the fruit and skip the barbecue sauce with  pizza. I don’t think it is a mortal sin, like ketchup on hot dogs, but the thought of it makes me squeamish. 

1 batch of Norman’s Pizza Dough (08-15-13 post)

1 batch of Norman’s Quick Pizza Sauce (05-21-13 post)

1 lb. fresh spinach, washed twice

olive oil

1 clove of garlic, minced 

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

8 oil cured black olives, chopped

3 slices bacon, cooked semi crisp

Oregano

Fresh ground white pepper

1 lb. shredded mozzarella cheese

Corn meal

Preparation

Make your pizza dough. While that rises, heat a cast iron skillet and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Add the garlic and then add the well-drained spinach. Cook the spinach over high heat until it has wilted. Remove from the heat.

After you let the pizza dough rise, use your fingers and shape it into a 16” circle. Slide the pizza dough onto a large pizza pan which has been sprinkled with corn meal. 

Spoon and spread the pizza sauce evenly on all but the outer half inch of the pizza crust. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese evenly over the sauce and then add the chopped olives. Now spread the sautéed spinach over the sauce. Crumble and add the bacon evenly over the spinach. Sprinkle it with oregano and white pepper and then spread the mozzarella evenly over the pizza.

Bake the pizza in a 430º oven until the cheese is golden brown. Remove the pizza from the oven and sprinkle it with extra good olive oil. Let the pizza sit for about ten minutes before slicing.

Serving

Along with your pizza, you want a good crisp salad, a bowl of minestrone soup and a bottle of Chianti. If you are having anyone join you for dinner, you’d better make two pizzas. I usually polish off one by myself. Is that wrong?

Tortellini with Calamari

Tortellini with Calamari

Why do so many people turn their noses up at calamari?  Maybe because calamari is a fancy way of saying squid. I can just hear some of you now, “Ewe! Gag me!” Those of you that didn’t have that reaction think of calamari as a deep fried appetizer served at Italian restaurants.

I generally follow the philosophy that anything that is worth eating can probably be made into a pasta sauce. That is certainly the case with calamari. Note, you can also use that frozen mixed seafood (which usually has calamari, shrimp, cuttlefish and mussels) if you can’t find just plain calamari. 

Olive oil

3 shallots, minced fine

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup white wine

4 oz. shiitake mushrooms, sliced

1 28 oz. can San Marzano tomatoes

1 tsp. basil

1/2 tsp. thyme

Cajun seasoning

1 tsp. Louisiana hot sauce

1 lb. frozen calamari rings

1 lb. frozen cheese tortellini

Preparation

Heat a large skillet. Add enough olive oil to coat the bottom and then add the shallots and garlic. Stir until they soften, but do not brown the garlic! Add the white wine and the mushrooms. Bring the wine to a boil and then simmer gently for five minutes.

Put the canned tomatoes in a blender along with the basil, thyme, the hots sauce and a few sprinkles of cajun seasoning. Blend until just smooth. Add the contents of the blender to the skillet and let it simmer, uncovered for about ten minutes to reduce it by about half. 

Add the calamari to the skillet and bring it back to a boil. Let it simmer for another three minutes to cook the calamari. You don’t want to overcook the calamari or it will become tough. Taste it and adjust for salt and pepper. Let it rest while you cook the tortellini.

Serving

To serve this, place a big pile of tortellini in a shallow bowl and smother it in the sauce. Have plenty of good, crusty bread for dipping in the sauce. I’d also suggest a Greek style salad, broiled asparagus and a bottle of Valpolicella. Have plenty of everything because you’ll probably go back for seconds. I always do.

Norman’s Stir-Fry Vegetables

Norman’s Stir-Fry Vegetables

I bet you didn't know I could come up with a healthy recipe!

I’m always on the outlook for side dishes that cook up fast at the last minute, when just about everything else is ready. That was especially important back when I had my big Wednesday night dinners every week. 

With a hot wok, this cooks up real quick. If you don’t have a wok, you can heat up a cast iron fry pan until it is real hot and use that. That’s not the best, but it works in a pinch. I’ve done that on camping trips when I didn’t have my wok.

Stir frying vegetables on my last camping trip.

Now if this is a little too vegetarian for you, you can add a cup of cubed smoked sausage at the start and then continue with everything else. Just don’t call it Stir-fried Vegetables if you do that. The FDA will fine you for false labeling if you do.

Peanut oil

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 bunch of broccoli, cut into branches

1 red bell pepper, cut into strips

1 large onion, cut into wedges

1 small zucchini, cut into chunks

2 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

1 tablespoon of toasted sesame oil

Preparation

Heat you wok over high heat until hot. Add a tablespoon or so of peanut oil and swirl to coat the wok. Add the red pepper flakes, stir and then add the broccoli. Stir for about a minute. Add the bell pepper and stir for a couple of minutes.

Add the onion and stir for a minute or so and then add the zucchini. Let that cook, stirring for a minute or so. Add the garlic. Stir for another minute. Add the soy sauce and stir to coat. Now add the sesame oil. Turn the heat off and stir until everything is mixed well. Serve immediately.

Serving

This little stir fry goes well with a lot. My favorite is to serve a big pile of this stir fry next to pork chops broiled with white wine, rice, a crisp salad and fresh homemade bread. If you do that open a bottle of Merlot to wash everything down.

Braised beef shanks with garlic and wine

Beef Shanks Braised With Garlic And Wine

When was the last time you dined on beef shanks? Last week, last month, sometime in the last year? Don’t tell me you’ve never had beef shanks! You have to give them a try.

This is one of those bistro style meals. It is a great meal to fix while you are doing chores around the house. The oven does most of the work. By the time it’s ready, your mouth will be watering from the wonderful smell.

For the price of a few beef shanks and some wine, you can make your home smell like a cottage in the French countryside. Iʼll bet you didn’t even know that was something that you wanted to do. Trust me, you do. After you taste it, youʼll see why itʼs important to just do as I say.

4 beef shank portions - about 4-5 lb. 

(or a big thick pot roast)

1-1/2 bottles of merlot 

(this is a good place for ʻ2 Buck Chuckʼ)

30 cloves of garlic - peeled

2 stalks of celery - chopped fine

2 medium carrots - chopped fine

Pinch of herbs de provence

salt, pepper, ground cayenne

1/2 tsp. thyme

4 branches of fresh rosemary

1/2 lb. mushrooms - quartered 

1 tbs. room temperature butter

1 tbs flour

Preparation

Heat a large braising pan with a tight fitting lid. Add enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Brown the shanks on both sides. When you turn the shanks over, add the celery, carrots, the herbs de provence, thyme and sprinkle everything with salt, pepper and cayenne. 

Add the garlic cloves and the wine. Bring the wine to a boil. Cover and roast in a 350 degree oven for 2 hours. After two hours have passed, add the mushrooms and rosemary. Stir them down into the wine and roast, covered, for another half hour.

Stir the butter and flour together in a small bowl to form a paste. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on the stove. Put the shanks on a plate. Bring the sauce to boil. Add the butter flour paste and stir to dissolve it while the sauce simmers and thickens, for at least five minutes. Turn the heat off and place the shanks back in the sauce. Turn them a few times to coat them.

Serving

Place a beef shank on a plate next to a couple of roasted potatoes. Break up the potatoes  and cover the beef and potatoes with lots of the sauce. Make sure you get plenty of garlic cloves on them as well. 

Now add some buttered cauliflower, some warm homemade bread and butter and open a bottle of top quality Syrah. Iʼll tell you, I could eat all four servings myself. Itʼs a beautiful thing.

Chicken Parmesan

Chicken Parmesan

Well, today marks the six month anniversary of the Great Lisle Flood of 2013. On the 18th of April, around 6:00 AM, the East Branch of the DuPage River topped the six foot levee and streamed into my neighborhood. After six months, half the homes on my side of the street are still unoccupied. 

Water streaming over the top of the levee.

The village won't allow many of these families to repair their home, and instead insist on elevation, which they can't afford and insurance won't cover. 

Water climbing up the 6 foot backyard fences

My housemates are in that situation and are looking to purchase a new home. They can neither reside in, sell, or repair the home they own, even though they had full flood insurance. They're trying to make the best of a very bad situation.

Well, I think I'll mark the anniversary with some comfort food. I was thinking of Chicken Parmesan. That goes quite well on a blustery, cold October day.

Is there anything more versatile than chicken? It can be fixed so many different ways. That’s probably why when ever anyone taste some strange meat, they say it tastes like chicken. Chicken tastes like so many things depending on how it is prepared.

Now you could use chicken breasts with this. I happen to be partial to chicken thighs. For that matter, you could also substitute thin boneless pork as well. If you do that, have no doubt, it will taste like chicken.

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs

salt and pepper

2 cups flour

1 tbs. cajun seasoning

1/4 cup half and half

4 eggs

Olive oil

Norman’s Marinara Sauce (07-19-13 Post)

Basil

1 cup of grated parmesan

1 lb. shredded mozzarella

Preparation

Place the flour and cajun seasoning in a zipper bag. Whisk the half and half together with the eggs. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Shake it in the seasoned flour. Coat it with the egg mixture and  shake it again in the seasoned flour.

Heat a large cast iron skillet and add enough olive oil to make an eighth of an inch depth. Cook the chicken, in batches, on both sides until it is nicely browned. As the chicken is removed place it in a large baking dish or casserole pan. Sprinkle it with a little more cajun seasoning. Once the chicken is all cooked, cover the chicken with the marinara sauce and sprinkle it generously with basil. Top with the parmesan cheese and then the mozzarella cheese.

Bake the chicken at 380º until the cheese is browned and the sauce is bubbling. Allow the casserole to set up for about ten minutes before serving.

Serving

As long as you are using my marinara sauce, you might as well serve the chicken parmesan next to a big pile of Spaghetti Marinara. Cover both of them with an avalanche of grated parmesan cheese. Next, I would add some broccoli that has been sautéed in olive oil and white wine and hit that with grated parmesan too. 

I’m in the mood for Chianti, so you can serve that too. Don’t forget the soup to start the meal and, of course, fresh homemade bread, still warm from the oven.

Norman's rye bread

Norman’s Rye Bread

Did you have a favorite bread as a child? One of my loyal readers once told me how, in her childhood, she considered store-bought bread (i.e. Wonder Bread) a special treat because all she got at home was home-baked bread.

When I was little, my favorite was the oatmeal molasses bread my mom or gram made often. If, however, I had to choose a store bought bread, it would have been Beefsteak Rye bread. I could eat slice after slice of it, toasted and buttered. The saltiness and the caraway combined with the melting butter had me coming back for more.

Have you ever tried homemade rye bread. It is better than that store bought rye, and is very easy to make. Now you have no excuse for not giving it a try.

3 cups light rye flour

1 cup unbleached flour

1-1/4 tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. caraway seeds

Dash of dill

1 tbs. salt

1/2 tsp sugar

2 tbs instant yeast

1 tbs. olive oil

2 cups (approximate) of  lukewarm water

cornmeal

Preparation

In your mixing bowl, combine the flours, cocoa powder, caraway seeds, dill, salt, sugar, yeast and olive oil. Add the water and mix to form a dough. Once again, you may have to adjust the amount of flour or water to get the dough just right. Knead the dough for a few minutes.

Allow the dough to rise in a warm place for about a half hour. Knead it again and then divide it in half. Form it into two long, thin loaves and place them on a baking sheet lined with a little cornmeal. Let them rise until they double in size.

Bake in a 500º oven for about twenty minutes. You want the bread to be hard and crusty on the outside and soft and moist on the inside. Allow the bread to cool on a rack for at least ten minutes before slicing.

Serving

Warm buttered rye bread goes with just about anything. You can start your meal out with a bowl of homemade pea soup with rye bread. Next serve up roast pork, roast potatoes, gravy, buttered Brussels sprouts and, of course more rye bread. With this, I like ice cold Riesling from Germany.

Norman's eggs over easy

Norman’s Eggs Over Easy

I can't believe I'm even posting this one. It is so simple that everyone knows how to cook eggs over easy, right? I have, however, had some that weren't so great at restaurants over the years. Since I'm fussy about how my eggs are cooked, I decided to write this one down.

Over the years I have been moderating the way I eat. I now yield somewhat in order to make things just a little healthier. For example, in the years of my youth I would fry potatoes in bacon fat. (When I have some, I still like to fry potatoes in duck fat from a roast duck but that’s a tale for another recipe). Now, I usually fry potatoes in olive oil or peanut oil. I also make pie crust out using olive oil instead of lard.

One thing I won’t yield on however, is when I cook eggs over easy. I like my eggs cooked in butter (or sometimes bacon fat). I don’t think there is anything better than eggs and butter. If you are going to have eggs, you might as well do them right.

2 eggs

1 tbs. butter

1 small shallot, sliced razor thin

Fresh ground white pepper

Salt

Preparation

Heat a small non-stick skillet over medium heat. Remove the eggs from their shells into a small cup or saucer. Gently, without burning it, melt the butter and add the shallots. Shake the skillet until the shallots soften, but do not brown them.

Carefully pour the eggs into the skillet. Sprinkle them with a little salt and a generous amount of the white pepper. When the bottom of the eggs begin to set, you should be able to gently shake the skillet until the eggs are sliding around in the skillet.

If you are confident in your ability to do this, shake the skillet back and forth and then, with a little wrist action, flip the eggs. If you don’t want to try this, use a plastic spatula to flip the eggs. Sprinkle them with a little more white pepper. After about a minute, slide them onto a warm plate.

Serving

Here’s how I like to serve the eggs. Next to the eggs, place three strips of crisp bacon. Now add some potatoes fried in olive oil. On another plate, have several slices of homemade bread, toasted and buttered to mop up the yolk. 

Now add a bowl of freshly sliced strawberries and lots of good coffee. If it is the weekend, you may also want to have a glass of chilled Prosecco.

Norman’s Meatball Étouffée

Norman’s Meatball Étouffée

Back when I would go down to South Louisiana each spring I fell in love with Cajun food. Crawfish Étouffée, Turtle Sauce Piquant, Fried Oyster Po’ Boys, Seafood Gumbo and Turtle Soup are all favorites of mine that I would indulge in during my visits. 

When I’m not there, I have picked up the habit of making Cajun dishes out of ingredients found in the Chicago area. This is a good example of how I would do it.

For the meatballs:

1 lb. ground beef

2 eggs

2 shallots, minced fine

4 cloves of garlic, smashed and finely minced

1/2 cup grated parmesan

1/4 bread crumbs

1 tsp. cajun seasoning

For the étouffée:

1 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped bell pepper
1 cayenne pepper chopped
2 cloves garlic - smashed and minced 

1 cup olive oil
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. white pepper
1/2 tsp. ground cayenne
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. thyme

1 quart or more of chicken stock

Preparation

Place the beef, eggs, shallots, garlic, parmesan, bread crumbs and cajun seasoning in a bowl. Use your hands and combine everything together until it is well mixed. Still using your hands and form them into little meatballs. Set them aside.

Have the onions, celery, peppers and garlic chopped and ready right by the stove. Heat a large dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the oil and using a long handled wooden spoon, whisk the flour into the oil. Continue whisking over medium high heat without splashing yourself until the flour is the color of milk chocolate. 

Donʼt let the flour scorch. As it reaches a light brown color, lower the heat to medium. As soon as the chocolate color is reached, add the onions, celery, peppers and garlic. Stir for about two minutes and add the seasonings and two cups of the vegetable stock. 

Bring the liquid to a boil, while stirring. Add more chicken stock, a little at a time. You want the sauce to be fairly thick, like a gravy. Check it by bringing it to a boil after each addition of stock.

Add the meatballs and let them simmer in the sauce for twenty minutes, stirring gently so you don’t break them up. Add more stock if the sauce gets too thick. Taste and adjust for salt, pepper and Tabasco.

Serving

To serve my meatball étouffée, place a big pile of rice in the center of the plate and smother it in the étouffée, making sure you have lots of meatballs on it. Along with this, you will want to serve fresh homemade bread and butter, a large tossed salad, green beans sautéed with almonds and plenty of icy cold beer.

Red beans and rice

Red Beans and Rice

I know I've mentioned this before, but South Louisiana is one of my favorite places to visit (along with Michigan's Upper Peninsula). For seven years in a row, my son and I vacationed there. We stayed at Cajun Cabins of Bayou Corne, just outside of Pierre Part, Louisiana and always enjoyed it. If you want to see the real Louisiana Bayou, this is the place to stay!

Most restaurants in the area offer this on their menu. In South Louisiana, red beans and rice is traditionally a Monday night dinner. I don’t know why that is, but so be it. Make up a big batch of this on Sunday while you watch a football game and then, when you get home from work on Monday, all you have to do is heat it up while you make bread. What else do you have to look forward to on Mondays?

1 lb. dried red beans

Water

4 slices of bacon

2 onions, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

2 jalapeño peppers, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 lb. smoked sausage

2 bay leaves

1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic salt

1 tsp. fresh ground white pepper

1 tsp. paprika

1 cup white wine

3 smoked ham hocks

Tabasco

Cajun seasoning (I like Slap yo Mama!)

Freshly steamed rice

Preparation

Sort through the red beans and remove anything that isn’t a red bean. You’d be surprised what I’ve found mixed in with beans over the years. Rinse the beans and place them in a pot. Cover them with water. Bring the water to a boil and cover the pot and turn off the heat. Let them soak at least an hour, or even over night. 

In a large pot, cook the bacon until crisp and set aside. Add the smoked sausage to the bacon fat and brown on both sides. Add the onion, celery, peppers and garlic. Stir and let them cook a few minutes. Crumble up the bacon and add that with the smoked pork hocks, bay leaves, thyme, oregano, onion powder, garlic salt, pepper and paprika. Stir and allow it to cook a few minutes.

Add the wine and scrape up anything that has stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add the drained beans and enough water to cover everything by at least an inch, at least three quarts. Use fresh water, not the soaking water. 

Bring everything to a boil. Give it a few sprinkles of Tabasco and several shakes of cajun seasoning. Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 2-1/2 to 3 hours. Stir often. 

During the last hour, smash a few of the beans with your spoon against the side of the pot as you stir. When everything is ready, the sauce should be nice and thick. The ham hocks should have broken up as it cooked. If not, help them along. Taste for salt, pepper and Tabasco.

Serving

To serve this, take a large soup bowl and place a big scoop of rice in it. Now ladle on the red beans, getting plenty of meat. You also want fresh baked bread and butter, a large salad, ice cold beer and plenty of Tabasco. Dat good, you know!

Baked eggplant

Baked eggplant

When was the last time you had eggplant with your dinner? Don’t turn your nose up. I don’t know why it is that people think they don’t like eggplant, but many who say they don’t like it, have never tried it. If you haven’t tried it, give this recipe a go.

I bet you never bought one of these before, have you?

Many recipes for eggplant have you salt it down and let it drain before cooking it. I used to do that until I realized it taste great whether you do that or not, so I skip that step now. 

Do you like the flavor of olive oil? I’m referring to the real fruity flavor of a good extra virgin olive oil. If you don’t like it, skip this dish. Eggplant doesn’t have a lot of flavor on its own, but it has the ability to take on flavor, and in this dish, the flavor is olive oil.

Now, don’t go using that bargain basement olive oil on this recipe. That’s ok for fried potatoes but not for this dish. Here you need to use the best olive oil you can afford. Come on, it’s not that expensive.

1 eggplant, peeled and sliced

Olive oil, the very best you have

Cajun seasoning

2 cups of my Marinara sauce

8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese

Fresh ground white pepper

Preparation

Heat a large skillet until hot. Add your olive oil, about a quarter inch in depth. Start cooking the eggplant in a single layer. Season it lightly with cajun seasoning. You may notice that the eggplant will absorb the oil like a sponge. You might have to add a little more, but the eggplant will release much of the oil it absorbed back to the skillet as it browns. 

Cook the eggplant on both sides until it is limp and starts to brown and then remove it to a casserole pan or pie plate. Repeat until all the eggplant is cooked. Add the marinara sauce evenly over the eggplant in the casserole. Note: you don’t have to use marinara. Any good spaghetti sauce that you have leftover will work. Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese evenly over the top of the sauce and give it a good grinding of white pepper.

Bake the eggplant at 350º until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese starts to brown. Remove it from the oven and grind a little more white pepper over it. You will notice that the sauce is real oily, that’s ok. That’s why you used the good olive oil. Let the eggplant sit for about ten minutes before you serve it so the cheese can set up a little.

Serving

Baked eggplant is tasty with a lot of dishes. Steaks and chops as well as roasts go well with this. I like it along side rigatoni with smokey pork, homemade bread (which is good dipped in the oily eggplant sauce) and a crisp salad. I would also open a bottle of Zinfandel to wash everything down.

Norman’s Steak Bone Broth

Norman’s Steak Bone Broth

Do you like steaks on the grill. Heck, who doesn’t (alright, you vegetarians don’t, but I never did understand you guys). My favorite steak is a giant 2” thick porterhouse steak, seasoned perfectly and grilled so it is completely charred on the outside but still rare in the center. 

You need a hot charcoal/wood fire to do that. I like to take two split oak logs and put them about 8” apart in my grill. I then fill the area between them with charcoal. Next I pile a bunch of dry sticks on the charcoal and light it. It will eventually light the coals and when it is ready, I grill the steaks. The oak adds a nice smokey flavor to the steak. In my mind it is the only way to cook a steak.

Once you finished that wonderful steak dinner, what are you going to do with the steak bones? You wouldn’t dare throw them out, would you? They are loaded with beefy, smokey flavor that you mustn't waste. Here’s what you should do with them.

Leftover bones from 4 charred steaks

Several branches of fresh parsley

1 onion, cut in half

1 bay leaf

3 stalks of celery with leaves, broken

2 carrots, split lengthwise

1 cup white wine

4 cups water

salt

white pepper, freshly ground

Preparation

Place the bones in a large sauce pan with the water and the wine. Note, it is even ok to use the bones your guests have nibbled on. The cooking will kill all their horrible ailments, I promise.

Add the parsley, onion, bay leaf, celery, carrots along with a little salt and pepper. Bring the liquid to a boil, cover, reduce the heat and let it just barely simmer for a couple of hours. In addition to making a wonderful stock, it will make your house smell nice.

Allow the broth to cool and then strain it into a container. Refrigerate it for tomorrow’s dinner.  

Serving

Well, now I have a conundrum! What am I going to write in this ‘serving’ section? You aren’t going to serve this broth. You will use it to make some other meal. This broth will add a nice zing to many recipes and is especially good in spaghetti sauce. You use it to thin out the tomato paste. 

It is also great to use when you make gravy for roast beef. If you do that, you can serve the beef, with mashed potatoes all covered with the gravy you made with this broth. Then, add some cauliflower, a salad, and fresh homemade bread. If you do all that, open up a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and your dinner will be in good shape.

Norman’s Yellow Pea Soup

Norman’s Yellow Pea Soup

As soon as football season starts up, I start getting a taste for pea soup. More times than not, I find myself making pea soup on Sunday during the game. I make both green pea and yellow pea soup, but please don’t think that these colors indicate a possible Packers fan. Nothing could be further from the truth. Only the Vikings rate higher on my dislike scale.

Now, contrary to what you might think, there is a little more involved in making this soup than simply taking a yellow pea. You are going to have to make a stock first. But as you can see, it is not to complicated. And, remember that a good soup is an essential part of a balanced meal. Along with fresh baked bread, it is one of the things that makes us civilized.

If you like, you can use whole peas for the soup. They have thin little skins which add to the texture of the soup. I use whole peas quite often.

For the stock:

1 bone from a good roast ham

1 onion - quartered 2 stalks of celery

4 branches of parsley 2 bay leaves

Water

For the soup:
3 stalks of celery - minced

2 large onion - chopped 

4 carrots chopped

2 small hot peppers - minced

1 lb. split yellow peas - sorted and rinsed

1 tsp. cajun seasoning

1 cup (or more!) chopped roast ham 

1/2 tsp. thyme

1/4 tsp. oregano

Tabasco

Preparation

To make the stock, take a large stock pot and place the ham bone in it along with the onion, celery, parsley and bay leaves. If you want, throw in a tsp. of black peppercorns, I do. Fill it up with enough water to cover the bone and bring it to a boil. Now think. You are going to make a whole pot of soup with this stock, make sure you add enough water, about 5 quarts. Let it simmer gently, covered, for two hours.

Take the ham bone out of the stock and remove the meat for the soup. Strain the stock into a large soup pot and discard the stuff in the strainer. Place the soup pot on the stove over high heat. Add the celery, onion, hot pepper, rinsed and sorted peas, the cajun seasoning, oregano, thyme and the chopped ham. Add the ham bone back in if you like. Bring this to a boil, reduce the heat and, stirring frequently, simmer the soup for another two hours or so. You will know when it is ready when the peas have pretty much fallen apart and the soup is semi-thick. 

Now if you started with four gallons of stock your soup will probably be too thin. Otherwise it should be just right. Taste to see if you need to adjust the seasoning. It might need some Tabasco or just some cajun seasoning, salt and pepper. My guess is that it will need a lot of Tabasco, but you be the judge. (Iʼm getting permissive in my old age.)

Serving

You must remember that as good as this soup is, it’s not a meal. It is just the first part of a good meal. Serve this soup with a tablespoon of fresh grated parmesan stirred into each bowl as a first course. When you add a salad, warm bread fresh from the oven, lamb chops charred nice and rare, and then some broccoli, youʼll be getting close. Once you open a bottle of Tempranillo, you’re good to go.