Split-pea soup with sweet potatoes and mint-from 'Cooking Under Pressure' by Lorna J. Sass-amazing that it looks like pea soup, isn't it. For more visuals, rent 'The Exorcist'
Directions are for cooking in a pressure cooker
- 2 T sweet butter or oil
- 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
- 3 stalks celery, sliced
- 2 c dried split peas, picked over and rinsed
- 4 c water
- 2-4 c vegetable or chicken stock or bouillon
- 2 medium sweet potatoes (12 oz) peeled and chunked
- 2 large, sweet apples, such as McIntosh, peeled, cored, and cut into eighths
- 1 bay leaf
- 2-3 t. dried mint
- 1 t salt, or to taste
Heat the oil or butter in the cooker. Saute the onion, stirring frequently, until golden brown, about 4-5 minutes. Add the celery and split peas, stirring to coat with the fat.
Add the 4 cups water plus 2 cups stock, making sure to scrape up any bits of onion that are stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add the sweet potatoes, apples, bay leaf, and mint. (She adds that 2 t gives a taste of mint, 3 t strongly flavors it. I used 2) Lock the lid and bring to high pressure over high heat. Adjust heat to maintain high pressure and cook for 10 minutes.
Let the pressure drop naturally or set the pot in cold water to quick-release. (Other quick-release methods can cause sputtering.)
Stir well to blend the ingredients and thin with additional stock if desired. (I did, mostly to use up the whole box.) Remove the bay leaf and add salt to taste before serving.
I served this along with some Kalamata olive bread from one of our local bakeries. And I added a little hot pepper sauce and plain yogurt to mine. It's a nice variation on the standard split pea soup with ham-a little bit sweet, and not quite as heavy tasting. I loved it.
On the needles: I had lots of time yesterday at work when I had to be present, but there was no work for me to do. So I got lots done on the Christmas scarves. The third seaman's scarf is now past the neck ribbing, and about a third of the way down the second tail. That's as far as I got before running out of yarn. Oops. So this evening's task is to spin some more so I can get it plied and continue on this scarf.
With time getting short, I pulled out my bin of hand spun to see if there was anything already spun I could use for another scarf. There was some Border Leicester in a large enough bunch, but it felt a little coarser than I'd like for a scarf. But I did find two skeins of merino, one green multi and one purple multi, that together look like good candidates for an entrelac scarf. So off the the local coffee shop to swatch. Yep, they'll do. They're stuff I spun the first year I was spinning, so the consistency isn't all the great, but once knit up, they look pretty good.
Accountability: Hmm, not doing too well lately. Alright, since I need to report something, I put away all the clean dishes, and tossed an old pair of jeans that had holes in the knee and around one belt loop that pulled off. Oh, and I dropped off the dry cleaning. And submitted my vacation request form.
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