Split Pea Soup with Slow Cooker Homemade “Cheater” Stock Recipe
I’ve been with Secret Recipe Club since the beginning back in April of 2011 with my Venison Chorizo Picadillo post. I’ve come across a wide variety of bloggers and had a lot of fun participating. But with a little sadness, this will be my last post with SRC as it’s time to say goodbye.
This month’s assignment is with From Grandma Loy’s Kitchen. Since it’s winter, I decided a soup from her extensive recipe collection would be the way to go. However, if you have a sweet tooth you should check out her cookie, candy, cake and brownie recipe – oh my goodness!
I choose her Warming Split Pea Soup, which is originally from Woman’s Day magazine. She usually uses bullion cubes to make the stock, so it’s a very frugal recipe, since split peas are also inexpensive. While bullion cubes are fine when you’re in a pinch, I always have plenty of homemade stock in my freezer. I hope you do, too, since having delicious stock makes your food taste that much better.
However, making homemade stock is so easy when you use this slow cooker method I learned from Top Chef Masters winner Hugh Acheson!
How to make homemade “cheater” stock in your slow cooker
After roasting a turkey, chicken or a pig (like at a barbecue), take the carcass or bones and place them in your slow cooker. Cover with water.
Add some herbs to the water – thyme, oregano, sage, rosemary, etc. Dried or fresh will work.
Add some crushed garlic cloves. Cut up an onion, a couple of carrots, parsnips, and some stocks of celery and add them all to the slow cooker.
Cover and cook on low overnight or for 8 to 10 hours.
Remove large pieces from the slow cooker and strain the liquid into freezer containers. Freezer and label with date. Pour liquid into a couple of ice cube trays. Freeze and store cubes in ziplock freezer bags to use when you just need a little stock in your cooking.
Making Grandma Loy’s Warming Split Pea Soup
Besides using stock instead of bullion cubes (I used ham stock, not stock and water as in the original split pea recipe), I also used grocery store brand organic split peas instead of regular split peas. They’re about a dollar more per pound.
I also decided to sauté and caramelize the onions to soften them up and add a little unique flavor to the split pea soup. I didn’t use any carrots because I forgot! Oops! You can use carrots if you wish as that would add some nice color to the soup. Otherwise, I pretty much stuck to Loy’s split pea soup recipe and it turned out great. My husband raved about it and said I should add it my regular recipe rotation!
Next time, I’m going to make a double split pea soup batch. It’s delicious and this batch has already disappeared.
Split Pea Soup
Based on a recipe from Woman’s Day magazine
Ingredients
- 1 pound organic split peas
- 6 cups stock (you can use beef, chicken, ham or vegetable stock)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large red onion, chopped
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
Directions
Pour peas on to a plate to check that there are no rocks or other foreign objects in with the peas.
Heat olive oil in a 4-quart pot over medium high heat. Add onions, minced garlic, thyme, pepper and salt. Stirring frequently, sauté until onions soften, start to brown and caramelize.
Add stock and peas. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 60 minutes or until peas are soft. Stir occasionally.
You can puree the soup in a blender, a food processor, or with a wand blender if you wish.
Serve with gluten free bread and a nice side salad.
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 1 Hour 10 Minutes
Total Time: 1 Hour 25 Minutes
Servings: Serves 6
Serving size: 1/6 of recipe
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