London Particular

Once again, apologies for not posting in eons, I will get my act together one of these days. :-)
Last week I was interviewed by Pam at http://pamokc.blogspot.com/ So, on the off chance that any of you might want to know more about the reluctant cook, you will find the interview on my other blog here: http://grandlakeink.blogspot.com/

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of posts about all the high-tech kitchen gadgetry other food bloggers have received at Christmas, and thought I would share my latest gadget...


...no batteries or electricity required, this baby is powered solely by elbow grease.

Anyway, without further ado, on with the recipe. You’ve probably gathered by now that we had ham at New Year – don’t worry it’s not still hanging around. I made this a couple of weeks ago, but am only now getting round to posting it, damned shirker that I am. In Victorian London, this soup was known as London Particular as its name derives from the thick fogs, known as pea-soupers, that were around at the time..

Pea and Ham Soup




Ingredients:

1 ham bone with a decent amount of meat still on it
1 large onion chopped, divided
4 cups of chicken broth/stock
3 cups water
Cracked black pepper, to taste
2 bay leaves
1 lb. dried split peas, rinsed and drained
3 carrots, sliced
A handful of chopped parsley

Directions:

• Place first four ingredients in a large saucepan or soup kettle (use half of the onion), and bring to boil. Add bay leaves and season with pepper, reduce heat, and simmer covered for 1 hour.
• Remove ham bone from pot, allow to cool, and shred meat from it. Retain all stock in pan.
• Re-heat stock to boiling, add split peas and remaining onion to the pan. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.
• Add carrots, parsley, and return ham meat to pan. Adjust seasoning if required, and simmer, covered, for a further 30 minutes.

Serve immediately with warm crusty bread.