Question I need answered... soon, ty

[Rovers]

Posted the recipe I want to use in the pea soup thread, but I really could use some help in this area regarding using leeks.

 

I have always loved leeks, but I have never cooked them before. I saw one pea soup recipe that used them, and I'd like to try this, but have no clue about leeks. I was going to very lightly sautee the onions in EVO with a bit of garlic for the soup, should I cook the leeks with the onions like that? Should the leeks be cooked longer than the onions? How much of the leek does someone use? Just the white part, some of the green? Should it be lightlyt sauteed or thrown in with the carrots, potato and celery?

 

My first try at pea soup and I don't want to screw it up. Any advice apprecaited, I'll be making this around noon tomorrow.

[Bier Meister]

very important to clean them (they hold a lot of dirt). trim each end. leave about 2 inches of dark green and cut off only about 1/4 inch of the white side. cut in half lengthwise and soak in water for 10 min more or less.

 

you can julienne or give them a larger dice. i sweat them and use them as part of my base when making soups ........ ultimately i end up blending them with other ingredients of my soup. to answer one of your questions, i would saute them with the carrots, celery, and potato.

[Rovers]

Thanks... the recipes I've seen don't call for any precooking of the carrots, celery or potato. I saw one that suggested cooking the onions in EVO with with garlic. I was wondering if the leeks should be sauteed with the onions like that. When you say to sweat the leeks, do you mean steaing them slightly?

 

I don't have a food processor, so I have to cut things to the right size for just tossing it into the soup. I was thinking a julienne cut, diced about a half inch long. Same for the carrots and a bit larger for the celery. I'll cube the potato fairly small.

[Bier Meister]

Thanks... the recipes I've seen don't call for any precooking of the carrots, celery or potato. I saw one that suggested cooking the onions in EVO with with garlic. I was wondering if the leeks should be sauteed with the onions like that. When you say to sweat the leeks, do you mean steaing them slightly?

 

I don't have a food processor, so I have to cut things to the right size for just tossing it into the soup. I was thinking a julienne cut, diced about a half inch long. Same for the carrots and a bit larger for the celery. I'll cube the potato fairly small.

 

 

sweating is sauteing without adding color/carmelization to it. whether to sweat or not is preferential, though i tend to do it 80-90% of the time to add some flavor and/or tenderness. while i have a food processor, i use a blender at home to puree soups. because of that, the cut usually doesn't matter so long as they are uniform.

[Rovers]

OK, thanks, to use the right terminology, I was going to sweat the onions, now I will do the same with the leeks.

 

I like a fairly chunky pea soup. I really don't want to puree it. So I think the celery, carrots and potao should be fine just tossing it into the soup.

 

I only had a half gallon of chicken stock, so the other half gallon was water, and the 4 1/2 cups of split peas have been soaking for a couple of hours now. I guess I should have goten some Colleg Inn or other broth, oh well. Looking forward to this. My old roomie used to make his mother's recipe for pea soup, he thought he was this great cook... he wasn't, but his mother's pea soup recipe was da bomb.

[Bier Meister]

gotcha..... i had a different image of pea soup (have always seen it as a smooth puree). given that you prefer it chunky, i'd do a 1/4 inch dice on your veg, including your leeks.

[Rovers]

gotcha..... i had a different image of pea soup (have always seen it as a smooth puree). given that you prefer it chunky, i'd do a 1/4 inch dice on your veg, including your leeks.

 

Cool. I've seen recipes, most of them in fact that call for a puree. I like it a bit more like a NE clam chowder, maybe a bit less chunky than that, but you get the idea. Something that eats more like a meal rather than a soup. Chunks of ham. Soft chunks of potato. Lumpy consistancy.

[detlef]

My

 

For starters, I actually prefer my pea soup to not be pureed but rather to simply break down on it's own into a very coarse puree-like texture. I certainly don't want the peas to be at all firm or even distinguishable, but not silky smooth.

 

As for the leeks bit. If we're talking terminology, I'm not sure if one could ever "dice" a leek. Just because the layers are so fine that one dimension virtually rules out a cube shape. I also typically like to use either leeks, or ontions, but not both. To me, they do the same thing only differently. If I want a mild and greenish flavor, I go with leeks. If I want a pungent greenish flavor, I go with scallions. If I want a bold and sweet flavor, I go with yellow onions or shallots. I also agree that leeks should only be sweat in an application like this. I like them grilled and roasted, and even fried in some, but typically their mild flavor asks for gentler cooking.

 

I can only think of one application where I've used both leeks and white onions, and that is to make a blond risotto base with celery, onions, and leeks. Otherwise, I'm racking my brain to recall instances where I've used both together.

 

Lastly, when it comes to pea soup, I like it simple. So, honestly, I would sweat the leeks (cut into fine 1/4 moons) with maybe some ham or bacon, add the rinsed peas, water, and some salt. That's it. If it gets thick, add more water. I have no idea how many peas to water because I've never cooked a recipe and never bothered to write one down. I just add it as I go as needed. So, obviously, you don't want to start with a ton because then you're screwed.

 

Serve it with some hot sauce and you're set. If you're going to put things like carrots in there, make sure you cook the hell out of them, because you certainly don't want anything al dente in a soup like this.

[Rovers]

My

 

For starters, I actually prefer my pea soup to not be pureed but rather to simply break down on it's own into a very coarse puree-like texture. I certainly don't want the peas to be at all firm or even distinguishable, but not silky smooth.

 

As for the leeks bit. If we're talking terminology, I'm not sure if one could ever "dice" a leek. Just because the layers are so fine that one dimension virtually rules out a cube shape. I also typically like to use either leeks, or ontions, but not both. To me, they do the same thing only differently. If I want a mild and greenish flavor, I go with leeks. If I want a pungent greenish flavor, I go with scallions. If I want a bold and sweet flavor, I go with yellow onions or shallots. I also agree that leeks should only be sweat in an application like this. I like them grilled and roasted, and even fried in some, but typically their mild flavor asks for gentler cooking.

 

I can only think of one application where I've used both leeks and white onions, and that is to make a blond risotto base with celery, onions, and leeks. Otherwise, I'm racking my brain to recall instances where I've used both together.

 

Lastly, when it comes to pea soup, I like it simple. So, honestly, I would sweat the leeks (cut into fine 1/4 moons) with maybe some ham or bacon, add the rinsed peas, water, and some salt. That's it. If it gets thick, add more water. I have no idea how many peas to water because I've never cooked a recipe and never bothered to write one down. I just add it as I go as needed. So, obviously, you don't want to start with a ton because then you're screwed.

 

Serve it with some hot sauce and you're set. If you're going to put things like carrots in there, make sure you cook the hell out of them, because you certainly don't want anything al dente in a soup like this.

 

Thanks guys.

 

I may slightly boil and drain the carrots, poatato and celery especially, agreed, I don't want them al dente at all. 2 hours, 20 minutes in with the peas may not soften them enough.

 

I am trying to duplicate that recipe my old roomie had used from his mom, and she used potato and carrots for sure. They were distinguishable, but very soft. Det, like you said, this version is not pureed, but a bit lumpy, and the peas are not distinguishable at all.

 

I'll have to rethink the leeks vs. onions now. Glad you mentioned that, I don't recall any recipe calling for both either, that was my idea. Maybe not such a good one.

 

As for the meat, I have a large untrimmed ham bone which I will cook for an hour and a half with all the ingredients. Then I'll remove the bone, trim it, cube the meat and return that to the soup. I'll also add 4 slices of cut up raw bacon.

 

Spices are marjoram, thyme, 4 bay leaves, S&P.

[detlef]

Thanks guys.

 

I may slightly boil and drain the carrots, poatato and celery especially, agreed, I don't want them al dente at all. 2 hours, 20 minutes in with the peas may not soften them enough.

 

I am trying to duplicate that recipe my old roomie had used from his mom, and she used potato and carrots for sure. They were distinguishable, but very soft. Det, like you said, this version is not pureed, but a bit lumpy, and the peas are not distinguishable at all.

 

I'll have to rethink the leeks vs. onions now. Glad you mentioned that, I don't recall any recipe calling for both either, that was my idea. Maybe not such a good one.

 

As for the meat, I have a large untrimmed ham bone which I will cook for an hour and a half with all the ingredients. Then I'll remove the bone, trim it, cube the meat and return that to the soup. I'll also add 4 slices of cut up raw bacon.

 

Spices are marjoram, thyme, 4 bay leaves, S&P.

Sounds delish. Don't forget the tobasco to shake on top. Oh, and chunk of crusty, buttered bread.

[Rovers]

It's on the stove, but I may have secrewed up, I dunno. There is a white foam on top of the soup. It's simmering, covered now.

 

The half gallon I used for stock (the other half gallon was water) was actually from some home made chicken soup I had frozen. It had some noddles in it. I strained it and used it. Wondering if the starch from the noddles is causing this. Hopefully, it won't hurt anything and if it stays on top I'll scoop it off when the soup is done if it doesn't disappear. I'll find out soon enough, around 4pm EST. Not very appetrizing looking right now.

 

Might it be from the ham bone? It was a spriral cut ham with glaze. It seems to be coming up around the bone, not on the outside. That ham still had lots of meat and fat on it. I dunno.

 

I skipped the onions and went with 2 large leeks. A gallon of water/stock to 4 1/4 cups split peas. 5 carrots, medium size, 2 potato cubed. Sweated the 3 celery sticks after chopping and leeks, went a little longer on the celery. Brought the carrots and potato to a near boil and dumped that in the pot.

 

Recipes I've seem call for 1 hour 40 minutes, then remove the ham bone, then another 40 minutes uncovered. I'm sure the foam is just asthetics. I wish it wasn't there tho.

[Rovers]

The foam has all but disappeared!

[detlef]

It's on the stove, but I may have secrewed up, I dunno. There is a white foam on top of the soup. It's simmering, covered now.

 

The half gallon I used for stock (the other half gallon was water) was actually from some home made chicken soup I had frozen. It had some noddles in it. I strained it and used it. Wondering if the starch from the noddles is causing this. Hopefully, it won't hurt anything and if it stays on top I'll scoop it off when the soup is done if it doesn't disappear. I'll find out soon enough, around 4pm EST. Not very appetrizing looking right now.

 

Might it be from the ham bone? It was a spriral cut ham with glaze. It seems to be coming up around the bone, not on the outside. That ham still had lots of meat and fat on it. I dunno.

 

I skipped the onions and went with 2 large leeks. A gallon of water/stock to 4 1/4 cups split peas. 5 carrots, medium size, 2 potato cubed. Sweated the 3 celery sticks after chopping and leeks, went a little longer on the celery. Brought the carrots and potato to a near boil and dumped that in the pot.

 

Recipes I've seem call for 1 hour 40 minutes, then remove the ham bone, then another 40 minutes uncovered. I'm sure the foam is just asthetics. I wish it wasn't there tho.

The foam is nothing to worry about and neither is whatever starch may have been leached from the noodles. Split pea soup is much more forgiving than beer. By orders of magnitude.

[Rovers]

I forgot to add salt and pepper.

 

Good thing. I took a taste. That spiral ham had plenty enough salt in it already. The soup needs no more. Added the pepper. It has a long ways to go to thicken up yet, worried maybe too much liquid, but it does taste great already. Uncovered it and turned up the heat a tad to low. Another 15 minutes and I remove the ham bone, cube that meat and add it back in.

 

If it doesn't thicken... anything I can do? Detlef, I know you said go easy on the liquid, but even at that it wasn't quite enough to cover the ham. Can I just cook it longer?

[Rovers]

I added about a tablespoon of corn starch, and put it on a very low simmer. It is thickening up nicely now. Had to simmer it for nearly two hours longer than expected to get the consistancy I wanted. The flavor is off the charts. Really outstanding. Another twenty minutes, and it's chow time.

 

Thanks for the advice and invaluable help Bier and det. The dog is also very happy.... that ham bone was delish she told me.

[Bier Meister]

My

 

For starters, I actually prefer my pea soup to not be pureed but rather to simply break down on it's own into a very coarse puree-like texture. I certainly don't want the peas to be at all firm or even distinguishable, but not silky smooth.

 

understand.... i am not a hugh pea soup fan. when i make it, i like to break it down with the bermixer and thinning a little with veg stock..... smooth

 

As for the leeks bit. If we're talking terminology, I'm not sure if one could ever "dice" a leek. Just because the layers are so fine that one dimension virtually rules out a cube shape. I also typically like to use either leeks, or onions, but not both. To me, they do the same thing only differently. If I want a mild and greenish flavor, I go with leeks. If I want a pungent greenish flavor, I go with scallions. If I want a bold and sweet flavor, I go with yellow onions or shallots. I also agree that leeks should only be sweat in an application like this. I like them grilled and roasted, and even fried in some, but typically their mild flavor asks for gentler cooking.

 

nod..... when typing was debating how to phrase it for him. i typically slice them, then saute or sweat. because he wanted his "chunky," thought a little square would be less stringy and easier to eat.

 

I can only think of one application where I've used both leeks and white onions, and that is to make a blond risotto base with celery, onions, and leeks. Otherwise, I'm racking my brain to recall instances where I've used both together.

 

Lastly, when it comes to pea soup, I like it simple. So, honestly, I would sweat the leeks (cut into fine 1/4 moons) with maybe some ham or bacon, add the rinsed peas, water, and some salt. That's it. If it gets thick, add more water. I have no idea how many peas to water because I've never cooked a recipe and never bothered to write one down. I just add it as I go as needed. So, obviously, you don't want to start with a ton because then you're screwed.

 

Serve it with some hot sauce and you're set. If you're going to put things like carrots in there, make sure you cook the hell out of them, because you certainly don't want anything al dente in a soup like this.

[Rovers]

Thanks again you guys.

 

Bier, I did add some additional stock and pureed a pint. I liked it that way quite a bit too, although some very tiny bits of meat were still in the soup. Nothing you had to chew, but it did affect the texture slightly.

 

I ended up halfing the leaks, then quartering lengthwise, then chopping it. Basicaslly, fairly finely diced. The leeks were not distighuishable in the soup in terms of texture. They disappeared.

 

I brough some to a family New Years gathering yesterday and it was a big hit. Pea soup is not everyone's cup of tea, but for those who like it, they said it was as good as they ever had... maybe better.

[detlef]

nod..... when typing was debating how to phrase it for him. i typically slice them, then saute or sweat. because he wanted his "chunky," thought a little square would be less stringy and easier to eat.

I was just picturing some poor prep cook being told by his chef to dice leeks and to cut them small enough so that it would truly be a dice. Chef walks back 20 minutes later and sees the kid has gotten through like 1 leek and has this perfect pile of microscopic leek dice.

[Bier Meister]

I was just picturing some poor prep cook being told by his chef to dice leeks and to cut them small enough so that it would truly be a dice. Chef walks back 20 minutes later and sees the kid has gotten through like 1 leek and has this perfect pile of microscopic leek dice.

 

 

but only after fetching a left handed knife and peeling grapes.

[Rovers]

You pros can't dice a f'n LEEK?