During the 19th century London was often covered in fog, called a pea-soup fog because it was as thick as yellow pea soup. Pea-soupers were the result of soft-coal burning before the clean air act. Pea soup is a classic- it is immortalized in the 16th century nursery rhyme, where pease was the word meaning peas:
Pease porridge hot, Pease porridge cold, Pease porridge in the pot Nine days old.
In fact pea soup is one of the most ancient dishes around. Pea soup is talked about in Aristophanes' The Birds, and according to one source "the Greeks and Romans were cultivating this legume about 500 to 400 BC. During that era, vendors in the streets of Athens were selling hot pea soup." For a fantastic history on peas and pea soup click here.
Split Pea Soup
6 Slices of thick bacon (I like Fletchers, you can get it at Costco)
2 onions
2 cups of peas
8 cups of water (or follow the directions on the bag of peas for how much to add-you can always add more water if it is too thick later as well)
2 chicken stock cubes or (2 tablespoons stock paste)
1 tablespoon Basil
Black pepper to taste
Bay leaf or two
Cut the bacon into small strips and fry in the bottom of a large saucepan until cooked, about 7 minutes on medium high heat. Removed bacon from the fat with a slotted spoon and keep aside. Add in the chopped onion stirring until translucent-then the remaining ingredients. Cooking 30-40 minutes (with the lid on) until the peas start to fall apart and thicken the soup. You can puree part or all of the soup in the blender if you prefer, but I like it as is. Top with some bacon bits and serve hot with crusty french bread.
The BBQ is out and it is officially spring. That means: Things on sticks! Starting to get sick of 'grilled chicken' ie just chicken...on a grill... I decided it was time to mix it up.
Lemon Rosemary Chicken Skewers
1 chicken breast per person
1 small bunch of fresh rosemary finely chopped
1/8 Cup Lemon Juice
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Mix all the ingredients except the chicken and the oil in a small bowl. Chop the chicken into skewer size chunks. Very SLOWLY while whisking, add the oil into the lemon-mix until thick and it tastes how you like it. Toss the sauce with the chicken and leave it to marinate for 30 minutes. While this is going on, it is best to soak the skewers in water. This will help keep the wood from burning or worse, catching on fire. After the 30 minutes are up, skewer the chicken and put on the grill until crispy on the sides, firm to the touch and well, the chicken is done.
This sauce and also be poured on a whole chicken breast, marinated and baked. It goes fantastically with spring veggies like asparagus, pea sprouts, or corn on the cob for a hands on meal.
OK. Seriously. These are the BEST MUFFINS EVER. My recipes all bite. This is the keeper. You have to try it. You just have to. Tossing the blueberries in flour keeps the muffins from going soggy, and the sugar on top before baking makes for the perfect crunch. I have a bit of a culinary crush.
Blueberry Muffins From Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook
I know it is cheating to just pot a link, but I can't help it. These babies are just TOO good.
Even my little dog Marley is putting on his reading glasses to get a load of these muffins. Also exciting in Martha news, there is now a section on dogs. Don't start watching the videos, it is addictive and has stopped me from studying for finals which is what I really need to be doing. As if I needed a good reason not to do homework. I am starting to realize I may be the biggest slacker law student ever. I am very motivated to be a fantastically awesome family lawyer, but around here it looks like my puppy is the only studious one.
(That is a total lie, my boyfriend hits the books like a mad man).
I like to pretend I am better at baking than I really am. Specifically in the cake department, for some reason white cakes I seem to be incapable of making, I even made white cupcakes fall and that takes a very special talent. I am however, reasonable at making muffins. (Except of course when I go a little crazy, I have been known to over-blueberry my muffins resulting in a soggy, but very darn fruity, pile of muffiny ooze).
Muffin making skills are important. Nothing says love like a morning full of freshly baked muffins and tea. And poppy seed muffins particularly fun, they have dots! It is very exciting business. I always happen to have on hand a can of poppy seed cake filling from the store, I have never actually used it as cake filling but I do use it in muffins and cakes. I suppose I could just buy actual poppy seeds, but that would be way too easy.
These muffins are reasonably healthy, reasonably because they are made with fat-free yogurt which I think makes for a better (moister) muffin texture and cake-y crumb. Plus, they taste great, and make your house smell like the home of the domestic goddess (or god) that you are.
Poppy Seed Muffins
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
a full 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs at room temperature
1 cup nonfat yogurt
dash of milk (this depends upon the thickness of your yogurt)
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 stick of butter melted (1/2 for the muffins and 1/4 for brushing into your muffin tin), I prefer salted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons poppy seeds, or poppy seed filling
zest of one lemon
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Sift the dry ingredients, all but the sugar; salt baking powder & flour into a bowl. I sift 3 times, but I am a little over the top. Next, in a different bowl, mix the sugar together with the eggs, until well blended, about a good minute of mixing, no slacking off. Then add in the yogurt, poppy seeds and vanilla followed by the melted butter, finally I add the zest. Using a microplaner is fantastic but a zester or grater will also do. Worst comes to worst you could even use a knife and practice your tiny chopping skills. Add the flour and stir with a spatula in just a few strokes, you want it lumpy but mixed. If your dough is too stiff (it should be about the consistency of pancake batter) add a little splash of milk, 3 tablespoons ought to do you. If you over mix you will have hard muffins. Use the rest of the melted butter to grease your muffin tin, I use a little pastry brush but you could pour it in and use a paper towel too if you were desperate.
I find the best way for getting muffin batter into a muffin tin is to use two large spoons, one to spoon and the other to scape off that spoon into the tin- this will help you from getting mix all over the sides and burning on and being a pain for washing up later. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean. If you are feeling fancy you could make a glaze, for after the muffins cool, by taking powdered sugar and lemon juice, just enough juice to turn the sugar into a thick ooze- and brush or dribble it over your muffins, the thicker the paste the more crunchy the gaze gets when it hardens.
I moved! (Not websites, don't worry, I am not cool enough to figure out how one of those fancy typepad blogs work), but houses. My new kitchen (being in a house instead of a cramped apartment near the university) is probably twice as large. I actually have EMPTY drawers in my kitchen, can you imagine? and a dish washer! (not just my boyfriend now!- a real one with buttons and all, though now that I live with him there are more dishes and a great built in excuse to make lots and lots and lots of food).
I am also inheriting a TV (it is the above stated boyfriend's, not mine) and I have to say it is odd. I have not had a TV since I moved out of my parent's house to start going to college (a long time ago). I use the internet (hey the shows only have like 3 commercials!) and science friday's on NPR as entertainment. I am not sure I like it. I mean, I enjoy the fact that there is a big soft sofa next to it for some good old fashioned spooning while watching it. But the box is loud and all flashy with its neon lights, screaming buy buy buy and sometimes it is just a little more than I can take. I do get Heroes a whole 24 hours earlier though, so there is an upside. It is all about settling in.
So, any time I need to sit down to write a paper, this is what usually happens. First I clean my apartment, because honestly, who can write when it is messy? That gives me at least 30 minutes of procrastination time. And then I cook something, preferably something that makes me get up to stir thus leaving my computer. This recipe doesn't actually need to be stirred all the way through, but it still takes up some good time, and you can stir for good measure anyway. It isn't really the writing so much that gets to me, as the editing. You know you have made it when you can finally afford someone to do all that miserable stuff for you. Unless I either regress however to been 14 and somehow conning my parents into re-reading my papers, or jet forward in time until I am a multi-millionaire (ha, ha, someday right?) I am stuck with the everyday tried and true procrastination technique of chili making.
There are actually some legitimately very good reasons to make this chili. (1) By using dried beans you save money and make your whole place smell nice for ages while it cooks. (2) You will look like a fantastic domestic-goddess and/ or mega-cooking-stud for cooking your own chili from scratch. (3) It has turkey instead of beef, which fits in with all those new years’ resolutions. (4) It tastes good. (5) it tastes good, AND it is made with beer, so you get to taste test while cooking just to make sure the brew hasn't, you know, gone off or anything. (6) Beans have fiber. Oh yes! So it is ALMOST like by eating this chili you are in fact giving your body a little pre-valentines day gift. For those interested here is a lovely quote from the central bean co website!
"Today, beans are recognized by many health-related groups, including the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society and the American Diabetes Association as an extremely beneficial addition to most diets. That’s because they’re high in complex carbohydrates, protein and dietary fiber, low in fat and sodium, and completely cholesterol-free. It’s long been recognized that increasing the fiber content in our diets promotes a healthy digestive tract and reduces the risk of many types of cancer. And fiber also plays a significant role in lowering high blood cholesterol rates, one of the main risk factors for the development of cardiovascular disease. Beans are one of the best sources of fiber available, and they’re an excellent source of protein as well. In fact, a one pound can of beans contains more protein than a pint of milk, yet ounce for ounce, fewer calories and fat than eggs, meat or cottage cheese. "
WOW! That is amazing, doesn't it make you want to eat chili now?
Beer & Turkey Chili with Corn Bread
1 cup dried black beans
1 cup dried kidney beans
3 small onions, chopped
8-10 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons oregano
2 cans of stewed tomatoes plus juice
1 can corn or 2 cups frozen corn if you have it on hand
1 bay leaf
1 bottle of bear
3 teaspoons beef base (or use stock instead of water, or 2knor beef bullion cubes)
First take the beans and put them into a bowl with a good 6 cups of water on top and stick them in the fridge overnight. Soaking the beans overnight I find the easiest way, though there is a speed-up way of cooking them, draining the water letting them be in the fridge for a while and then re-cooking them but this sounds like a lot of fuss and washing up.
The next day when you are ready to go, put the bowl under a running tap until all the water in the bowl is clear- then just pour it in. I would estimate about 4-6 cups, it is all going to bowl off anyway so it really doesn’t matter, it depends on how high a temperature you are planning to cool the beans on. You need enough water to cook them, over several hours so you will want a bit. Pour the beans and water into a big pot.
Add the onions, garlic (I know it sounds like a lot but after hours of cooking it won’t taste like it), beer, and everything else except the turkey. Cook on medium for as long as it takes to get soft beans, 3-4 hours. This is a long process, but if you get it going you don't need to sit around stirring it just clamp a lid on until most of the liquid is gone and then come back and turn it up and stir until the rest is gone.
In a separate pan, brown your turkey meat in a little olive oil and once it is browned, add it into the chili, top with cheese, and serve.
I like to serve it with corn bread, - here is my favorite recipe. Because the cornbread takes 25 minutes to cook it is a good idea to get this in the oven and then start in on your turkey browning.
Also, if the people you feed are anything like the people I do, you are going to need a few extra bottles of that beer you used to help them wash it all down. At the moment I am on a Manny's kick, a local Seattle brew, made by Georgetown with a fantastic malty-but-not-too-malty taste.
Split Pea Soup 
