Smoked Turkey Split Pea Soup

[mamadeb]

I love my crockpot. It's like not having to cook at all, yet I get to eat food made to my specifications.

Tonight, dinner is split pea soup.

Several weeks ago, the kosher supermarket that used to be just a butcher shop was selling store-smoked turkey thighs. In the past, they've sold chicken sausage and spicy Italian sausage, and other special storemade products, and I've learned that if I don't pick them up when I see them, I'll never see them again. So, I bought one, and tossed it in the freezer for when I had a use for it. After discussing it with my husband, we hit on split pea soup, which is apparently often made with ham.

I've never had it made with ham. My mom, even though we never kept kosher, made it with beef neck bones, and that's the way I'm used to split pea soup tasting. But, hey. It sounded good.

So. Last night, I took the thigh and a frozen chicken breast filet out of the freezer and put them to thaw in the crockpot. Then I chopped up a head of celery and a pound of carrots and a large onion, and put them in a container in the fridge. This morning, I took the meat out of their wrappings (they were still partially frozen), and dumped the veggies on top. I added somewhat more than half a bag of green split peas and some bay leaves and enough water to cover, set the crockpot to low and that was that.

When I got home, I took the skin and the bones out of the pot and shredded the meat, and it smells lovely and smoky and rich. I haven't done more than tasted it yet, but so far, it's lovely.

Comments

[amireal.livejournal.com]

My mom's always made it with hot dogs.

I've found it a good meal with the added meat on a cold day or if I'm sick.

The meat does add some flavor to the soup itself. But its not a bad thing.

I like hot dogs for the ase of cooking, since they come precooked, its only 20 minutes in the pot after adding them.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Oh, YUM!

I usually make split pea soup without meat (living in a land of vegetarians and vegans), but this sounds like something I'd like to try.

That sounds so good. I'm envious of your having a source for specialty kosher products....

[ratcreature]

My mom didn't use ham, but the cheaper fatty parts from the belly in split pea soup. Personally I'm just glad that she resisted my dad's repeated requests to make the soup like *he* had it as a kid which apparently involved pig snouts and feet. Something which quite frankly I found just gross. I mean, I can get behind the idea not to be wasteful and use as much of an animal as possible if you slaughter it, but I had troubles to imagine that you could actually eat the snouts. Not to mention that nowadays it's really hard to get these parts.

[vass]

Yum, yeah.

My mother always made it with either ham or bacon, and I make it now with smoked tofu.

[kmelion.livejournal.com]

Which supermarket/butcher?

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Glatt Mart, which almost exactly one long block from where I live.

[kmelion.livejournal.com]

So they expanded their grocery section? I used to shop there all the time and they had like...5 aisles of groceries, in addition to all their refrigerator and freezer cases.

My mom shops at Pic and Pay, which is on Ave. M, off Ocean Ave.

[estherchaya.livejournal.com]

So? Nu? How did it turn out?

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Turns out the crockpot is *not* the ideal way of making split pea soup. It tasted just fine, but the peas never collapsed. I ended up taking a couple of bowlfuls and simmering it on top of the stove for a half hour.

We transfered the rest of the soup to a large pot and I'll reheat it on top of the stove on Wednesday. It should be better then.

[estherchaya.livejournal.com]

that's interesting.... my mother used to make it in the crockpot all the time. (I don't care for it, so I can't tell you how good it was, but my father liked it...) Were the beans dry? Maybe soaking them first would have helped. But that defeats the purpose of having the convenience of the crockpot.