Split Pea Soup

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I just made this the other day. I'd forgotten how much I liked it. My 5-year-old said, "It looks like dog throw-up." She's right, it did, but it tasted much better than dog throw-up.

I couldn't find an actual recipe for this. Everyone just said to add whatever you want. This is what I did and it was tasty:

16 oz. bag of split peas
1 onion chopped
1 can carrots, or about 2 carrots sliced
1-3 C. ham cubed, or leftover ham bone
2 bay leaves
thyme
Montreal steak seasoning



Put peas in large pot and cover with a couple inches of water. Add bay leaf, some thyme, seasoning, any other spices that sound somewhat appealing. Also add ham and onion.

Bring to boil and let simmer about 2 hours. Keep an eye on it. You may need to add more water as it cooks. If you used a ham bone, pull it out and get all the meat off it you can. Add carrots, and cook until they're tender.

Place about half the soup in a blender and blend until smooth, then mix back in with remaining soup.

Serve with lots of cheese, or a dallop of sour cream. Also very good with whole wheat bread.

Marshmallows

This is a fun recipe.

Marshmallow syrup. (Most recipes just use corn syrup, but this makes them fluffier and less sticky and is worth the extra steps. This makes enough for about 3 batches of marshmallows.)

2 C. water
5 1/3 C. can sugar
1 tsp. cram of tartar
pinch of salt

Place ingredients in 4-quart pan, stirring until sugar is moistened. Bring to boil and cover for 2 minutes to allow steam to wash sugar crystals from sides of pan. Uncover pan, insert candy thermometer and keep heating. Do not stir again!

Cook to 240 degrees (223 for high altitude at my house). Remove from heat and let cool 15 minutes. Store in clean jars up to 2 months. Ignore any syrup that crystallizes.


Vanilla Marshmallows

1/2 C. + 2 Tbsp. cold water
1 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
3 Tbsp. unflavored gelatin

3/4 C. water
1 1/4 C. marshmallow syrup
pinch of salt
1 1/2 C. granulated cane sugar

Spray bottom and sides of pan or mold (I like the 9x13x2 inch pan best, but it can also go into a cookie sheet). Wipe with paper towel, leaving thin coat of oil.

Combine cold water and vanilla. Pur over gelatin in a small bowl, stir until there are no lumps, and set it aside.

Place water, marshmallow syrup, salt and sugar into 4 qt. pan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Place lid on pan and let boil for 2 min. Remove lid. Do not stir once lid has been removed. Insert candy thermometer, and boil until temp. reaches 250 degrees (237 at my house).

Pour batter into electric stand mixer. Add gelatin mixture. Beat on high 10-12 minutes, using wire whisk attachment.

Spread marshmallow mixture into pan and let it set up at least 4 hours or overnight.

To cut, lightly sprinkle work surface with powdered sugar, cornstarch or mixture of both. Ease marshmallows from pan and flip over onto work surface, gently pulling the marshmallow out. Cut with pizza wheel sprayed with cooking spray or rolled in powder mixture. Toss marshmallows in powder coating to keep from sticking together. Store them in an airtight container.

You can vary your coatings, or add things to the marshmallows, but this is a good, standard first batch recipe. Just experiment with them. My favorite is to swirl dulce de leche into the marshmallows as I pour them into the pan. I also like to skip coating them with powder and dip them in melted chocolate instead.