Grandpa Chuck's tag just reminded me that on a cold day a nice pot of soup is just the ticket, so here is the recipe for the split pea soup I have in the crock pot:
Keeping in mind I didn't really measure anything:
Put 2 bones from a fresh ham (the pork roasts you get in the stoer that look like a ham that hasn't been cured) into a pot and cover with water. Simmer for several hours and remove bones from pot. You can then put the stock in the fridge to chill over night and skim any fat off the top, tho you don't want to skim too much of it off. Once the bones cool, pull off any meat that remained on them and use them in the soup (this recipe is to die for using a regular ham bone or even a smoked ham hock or too, just cook them in water the same way to get all that porky goodness ). You can either use the same pot, or transfer the liquid to a crockpot. Add 1/2 onion, diced into small pieces, 3-5 cloves garlic, diced into small pieces. Add about 5 cups split peas, more water to bring liquid to almost to the top if needed and let simmer. I added a bay leaf, salt and pepper to taste and once it has been simmering a while, a few splashes of worchestershire sauce. Let soup simmer all day (this is why I love my crock pot, every kitchen needs one as a vital appliance). You will need to taste the soup every so often in order to figure out what seasonings it needs more of, if you do add somthing, let it simmer for a while to allow the newly added seasoning to cook in befoer adding more. Once it is done, serve in bowls with a nice crusty bread on the side.
Budding cooks may want to find an exact recipe to start with if you haven't done much cooking before. I find that the first time I make something I do want exact measurements so I know how it is supposed to taste. Then I can play with it after that to see if I can improve on it for my tastes or figure out yummy variations.
For any budding cooks out there, buying in bulk and pre-prepping things and putting them in the freezer is a very good thing. For our hamburgers we like them seasoned. So I took the flat of burger (probably about4+ pounds and seasoned it with seasoned salt, worchestershire sauce, garlic powder, pepper and onion soup mix. I mixed it all together and made small balls. Taking freezer paper, I cut it into squares and the put a piece down, squished a burger ball onto it, put another square on top and then pressed into a patty. Freezer paper is wonderful stuff, one side of it is plastic or wax coated to keep food from sicking. So I repeated this until I made patties out of all the burger and now we have already seasoned burgers for nights when we want a quick dinner.
Keeping in mind I didn't really measure anything:
Put 2 bones from a fresh ham (the pork roasts you get in the stoer that look like a ham that hasn't been cured) into a pot and cover with water. Simmer for several hours and remove bones from pot. You can then put the stock in the fridge to chill over night and skim any fat off the top, tho you don't want to skim too much of it off. Once the bones cool, pull off any meat that remained on them and use them in the soup (this recipe is to die for using a regular ham bone or even a smoked ham hock or too, just cook them in water the same way to get all that porky goodness ). You can either use the same pot, or transfer the liquid to a crockpot. Add 1/2 onion, diced into small pieces, 3-5 cloves garlic, diced into small pieces. Add about 5 cups split peas, more water to bring liquid to almost to the top if needed and let simmer. I added a bay leaf, salt and pepper to taste and once it has been simmering a while, a few splashes of worchestershire sauce. Let soup simmer all day (this is why I love my crock pot, every kitchen needs one as a vital appliance). You will need to taste the soup every so often in order to figure out what seasonings it needs more of, if you do add somthing, let it simmer for a while to allow the newly added seasoning to cook in befoer adding more. Once it is done, serve in bowls with a nice crusty bread on the side.
Budding cooks may want to find an exact recipe to start with if you haven't done much cooking before. I find that the first time I make something I do want exact measurements so I know how it is supposed to taste. Then I can play with it after that to see if I can improve on it for my tastes or figure out yummy variations.
For any budding cooks out there, buying in bulk and pre-prepping things and putting them in the freezer is a very good thing. For our hamburgers we like them seasoned. So I took the flat of burger (probably about4+ pounds and seasoned it with seasoned salt, worchestershire sauce, garlic powder, pepper and onion soup mix. I mixed it all together and made small balls. Taking freezer paper, I cut it into squares and the put a piece down, squished a burger ball onto it, put another square on top and then pressed into a patty. Freezer paper is wonderful stuff, one side of it is plastic or wax coated to keep food from sicking. So I repeated this until I made patties out of all the burger and now we have already seasoned burgers for nights when we want a quick dinner.
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