One of my favorite new books this year, "The Seasons of Henry's Farm" has a recipe adapted from Deborah Madison 's recipe called "Waste Not, Want Not" Pea Soup. What intrigued me was that the stock used the pea pods. This always bother me - the pods go from the garden right to the compost pile!
Never again. This recipe was magical. It was worth the fuss and bother to make the homemade stock with scallions, parsley, carrot, lettuce leaves (thank goodness since I had a huge lettuce harvest, too) and the empty pea pods. I didn't use the optional beef soup bone, and didn't miss it a bit. Once the stock is done, then it is scallions, peas, salt, pepper, and sugar - and the result was the freshest, cleanest tasting pea soup I have had in a long, long time. Perfection.
I am sure it was both the stock and the rest of the recipe that made it so good, but the next harvest of peas, I am making another batch of the stock to freeze even if I don't make the pea soup!
Copyright 2010, EmeraldAcre.blogspot.com
Showing posts with label Pea Soup with Mint. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pea Soup with Mint. Show all posts
Monday, June 14, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Fresh Picked
One of the benefits of growing your own vegetables is that you know what "fresh picked" looks and tastes like. So when you buy something that the seller claims is "just picked", and you notice deflated pods, stringyness, loss of crispness, fading color, soft spots - you know the claims are not true. You know that "fresh picked" still has the warmth of the sunshine on it, the bite of all its flavor, the aroma of its essence and perhaps a bit of dirt. My "favorite thing" in the vegetable garden is always what I am harvesting at the moment, just as my favorite thing in the flower gardens is what is blooming. The best of the best? Whatever is picked in the garden and eaten on the spot!
So the peas we purchased at a farm stand were not just picked, but they look great nonetheless. Since mine are still blooming and not yet podded, I was excited to find these so I could start shelling. It takes a lot of shelling to get 3 cups for fresh pea soup, but the extra work seems approriate for a dish that gives so many rewards. I also pulled up a huge amount of mint from my going-to-be melon and squash bed, so it looks like Fresh Pea Soup with Mint is on its way!
Copyright 2010, EmeraldAcre.blogspot.com
So the peas we purchased at a farm stand were not just picked, but they look great nonetheless. Since mine are still blooming and not yet podded, I was excited to find these so I could start shelling. It takes a lot of shelling to get 3 cups for fresh pea soup, but the extra work seems approriate for a dish that gives so many rewards. I also pulled up a huge amount of mint from my going-to-be melon and squash bed, so it looks like Fresh Pea Soup with Mint is on its way!
Copyright 2010, EmeraldAcre.blogspot.com
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