Thursday, January 25, 2007











I cannot for the life of me figure out how to make these pictures line up, but this is the progression of last night's soup. (Minus, obviously, the addition of split peas and water and frozen peas and the blending etc.)

After my friend Teri's offhand mention of split pea soup I was reminded of how much I love the split pea soup from Vegetable Soups from Deborah Madison's Kitchen, which is not at all murky and, well, pea-soupy, but light and frothy with a kick of lemon and smoked paprika. (And, I have to say, of all the cookbooks I have ever reviewed, Vegetable Soups is the one I return to most often, which is saying a LOT since I a)would never describe myself as a soup person and b)am most definitely not a vegetable person.) Plus, you get to make a mirepoix, which is possibly one of my favorite things to do in the kitchen- I love chopping.

I do not normally make a full batch of soup, and this stretched my dutch oven to its limits, but I wanted leftovers to freeze. I did not have quite as much leftovers as I imagined, though, as we went through several bowls of it last night. Topped with bread crumbs which are toasted in butter and then sprinkled with lemon juice, rosemary and salt, it is possibly my all-time favorite soup- elegant enough to serve as a dinner party starter but hearty enough for a mid-week, mid-winter supper.


3 comments:

Rev.Speats said...

Pea Soup Andersen you've rocked a long long time...Now it's time for you to pass the torch!

Unknown said...

I think I want to paint the walls of my new apartment the same color as your dinner.

Hannah said...

am pretty sure benjamin moore can re-create, no?