Split Pea Soup

 When temperatures drop into the forties in Chicago, I pull out my Le Crueset, fill it up with winter veggies, some kind of smoked meat, a legume and don’t stop till the tulips emerge in spring.  Soup weather has arrived and no one is as excited as my friends and family.  One of our favorites is Split Pea.  My recipe uses smoked turkey, which is a bit leaner than the convention ham hock and still yields a delicious smoky flavor.

Split Pea Soup

1 lb yellow or green dried split peas

1 smoked turkey drumstick or 2 smoked turkey wings

1 medium yellow onion

3 ribs of celery

4 carrots

6 garlic cloves

4 bay leaves

3 medium potatoes

2 tbsps marjoram

Start by rinsing the dried peas with cold water.  Then combine the peas in a large saucepot with 3 cups of water, 2 garlic cloves, 2 bay leaves and 1 tablespoon of marjoram.  Season with salt and pepper and cook at low heat for about 1 hour or till the peas are soft.

In a large soup pot, sauté 1 chopped medium onion, 3 chopped ribs of celery, 4 chopped carrots and 2 whole garlic cloves.   

Once the veggies are caramelized, add the smoked turkey, pealed potatoes, 2 bay leaves and a tablespoon of marjoram.  

Cover the ingredients with water and bring to a boil.  Add salt and pepper, and simmer at low heat for 2 hours. 

When the peas are finally soft, remove the bay leaves and using a hand mixer or blender, puree the peas and boiling liquid. 

 Return your attention back to the broth.  When the meat starts to pull away the bone, remove the turkey leg and bay leaves.  Using a fork and a knife to remove the skin, bones and tendons from the drumstick.   This should be fairly easy if the turkey leg has been cooked long enough.  Discard the bones, skin and tendons and save the meat.

  Skim off the excess fat off the top of the soup.  Using a potato masher, smash the potatoes and veggies in the broth.  I prefer smashing potatoes in soup as opposed to cubing them because I feel the cubed potatoes get hard after cooking for too long.  Return the turkey to the broth and add the pureed peas.  Continue to cook the soup for another 45 minutes. 

Finish the soup with a bit more marjoram and salt and pepper to taste. 

Alicja’s Croutons

Oregano

Day Old Italian bread

Garlic

Red pepper flakes

Ollive oil

Growing up my mom would make homemade croutons whenever she made split pea soup. My husband Scott loves croutons in his soup so I always recreate my mom’s crouton.  I use day-old Italian bread, which I cube, and sauté in olive oil with red pepper flakes, one grated garlic clove and oregano. 

Raw Brussel Sprout Salad

After a short hiatus I’m back with a great Brussels sprout recipe.  Yesterday, I enjoyed the last day of the outdoor Green City Market; next weekend we will visit the market at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Musuem.  The market was filled with Brussels sprouts yesterday; some venders were even selling the growing stalk with the Brussels still attached. 

I myself planted some Brussels sprouts on my roof top garden, although I planted them too late so I will not be able to harvest them before the first frost. 

I need to give credit to Michael Chiarello of Bottega for influencing this recipe.   I first had this salad several years ago on a trip the Napa Valley with the girls.  I have worked to recreate it for a couple of years and believe it’s pretty spot-on.  Maybe Michael could comment?

Raw Brussels Sprout Salad

1 lb of Brussels sprouts

1 tablespoon of chopped shallot

1 tablespoon of chopped roasted hazelnuts

1 large organic hard-boiled egg

1 lemon

½ cup grated Pecorino Romano

¼ cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (California*)

a handful of Italian parsley leaves

To start, make sure you find some really large Brussels sprouts, we will be using a mandolin to shred them and don’t want to recreate a scene from Saw V. Cut off the brown ends of the Brussels sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves.  Use a mandolin to shred the Brussels sprouts down to the core.  I have a pretty unsophisticated mandolin I picked at whole foods, if you do not have one, just carefully slice the Brussels sprouts by hand.   

In a separate bowl combine 1 tablespoon of chopped shallots, the juice of one lemon (~1/4 cup) and a ¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil. Whisk these together and season with salt and pepper.  Ten minutes before serving combine the dressing, Brussels sprouts, Italian parsley leaves, Pecorino Romano and a chopped hard-boiled egg.   

Leave the salad to sit for 5-10minutes to allow the favors to mingle. As you bring the salad to the table sprinkle the roasted hazelnuts on top.  

*I prefer California Extra Virgin Olive Oil because it has a very woody flavor in comparison to the Greek and Italian Olive oils.   My favorite, Pasolivo is from the central coast of California, from a region of great food and wine, Paso Robles.  In Chicago it is sold at Olivia’s Market in Bucktown and FoodStuff in the burbs.