SPLIT PEA SOUP RECIPES

[Welland Tribune January 11, 1947]

By Betsy Newman

To my way of thinking a good Split Pea Soup is a very good dish to come home to, especially if you’re tired and cold. Serve it with hot buttered toast and it is even better. Everyone has their own way of making soup, of course. I, like you use the bone and attached small pieces of meat when I have ham for dinner, but you could buy an end of ham, take off what meat you could use, and boil the bone for soup.

Today’s Menu
Split Pea Soup
Hot, Buttered Toast
Cole Slaw  Baked Apples
Graham Crackers  Coffee

Split Pea Soup
1 c. Split peas
Ham bone
3 stalks celery
1 large carrot
1 medium-sized onion
Salt, pepper to taste

I hate to say “salt and pepper to taste,” but in this case it is necessary, because some ham is much saltier than others and so requires less salt. If you get the slow cooking kind of peas soak them overnight. The quick cooking ones do not need soaking, and may be added to the soup and cooked until soft.

Cover the ham bone with plenty of water, add celery, onion and carrot, and simmer slowly for 3 hours.

Take the ham bone out, cut off the small pieces of meat and save to add to soup later on. Mash  through a strainer and put back into soup. Let soup get cold, put in refrigerator or other cool place until fat forms on top.

When it is well chilled, take fat off, reheat soup, add peas and cook until they are soft, season to taste, and serve piping hot. Or you can make a puree of the peas and add them to the soup, or cook the peas in the soup with other vegetables, and strain into soup with them.

Split Pea Puree
1c. split peas
2 qts. Water
1 tbsp. Flour
1 tsp. Onion juice
2 tbsp. Butter or other fat
Salt and pepper

Soak peas overnight (unless you have the quick-cooking kind), then put them over the fire with water and bring to a boil. Cook slowly until soft, then rub through a sieve, heat, and thicken with a mixture of fat and flour, rubbed together. It will be smoother if you melt the fat, then add your flour and mix smooth. Season with salt, pepper, celery salt and onion juice. Stir or beat until smooth.

Baked Apples
Bake apples stuffed with raisins and honey. Serve warm with a pitcher of top milk or cream. Hot gingerbread is nice to serve with the apples. A ready-made mix takes but a few minutes to whip up and may be baking while the rest of the meal is being eaten.