Let the sun shine yellow split pea soup

When I think of a spring soup, split pea soup immediately comes to mind.  Even though the ingredients are available any time of the year, I remember eating this soup only in springtime.  The soup's sweet, rich and smoky flavor is great at keeping the raw chill of a fickle spring day at bay. A great soup to eat when the air is thick with fog and the sharp scent of peat.  The soup I had growing up was always green with pink chunks of ham.
I had no idea that yellow split peas were an option.

The discovery of a bag of yellow split peas on the bottom shelf in the grocery store brought about  simultaneous feelings of curiosity and  rebellion.  Yellow peas!  Who knew?!  I was on my own now, a thousand miles from home and ready to explore.  Ever since then, I have been making both green and yellow split pea soup;  but with the exception of color they did not veer much from the traditional soup I had growing up.

" It's spring fever...you don't know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you do want it so!"    ~ Mark Twain


 

The city is looking great! Soaring birds and dancing flowers.

" The world's favorite season is the spring.  All things seem possible in May."  ~ Edwin Way Teale

I wanted to make a soup that celebrated the lighter side of spring.  Clean and crisp.  The yellow peas made me think of lemon and the lemon made me think of cardamon.  I have whole cardamon pods in the cupboard.  I have never used whole pods before and bought a small amount on a whim.  I remembered that they had an astringent lemony fragrance.  The shape and color of the cardamon made me think of pistachios of which I had a very small amount.  My favorite part came next; a trip to my small garden to choose an herb.  Mint? In my mind I could hear Bean saying  "please no mint!". Thyme or lemon thyme?  Maybe.  Oregano? Just not feeling it.  Sage? Not a light enough flavor.  Dill or cilantro? No, the plants were too small.  Chives and parsley?  Bingo!  There were already more chives than I would use all year and they have a nice clean flavor.

    Yellow Split Pea Soup            (about 4 servings)
                                    

•   1/2 pound of dried yellow split peas
•   2 cups of chicken stock
•   2 cardamon pods
•   1 garlic clove
•   1 bay leaf    

     Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.  Add -

•    1 cup of water
•    2 chopped parsnips
•    1/2 chopped onion
•    Salt and pepper   

     Simmer for 1 hour.  I removed the cardamon just as they started to crack open, so I          would not have the small black seeds in the soup.  I also removed and bay leaf and 
     placed the soup in the blender and pureed until smooth.  Add stock or water to get the 
     consistency that you like.  I did not want it to be too thick.


    Chive and parsley pesto garnish 

•      2 Tablespoons of pistachios
•        Handful of chives and parsley
•        Juice of 1/2 a lemon
•        Zest of 1/2 a lemon
•        Small clove of garlic
•        Salt
•        Splash of olive oil

     I chopped everything in a small food processor.  

 

Cold Parsley Soup or Witchs's Brew?

'Twas a cold and blustery evening when I left the house.  The wind whipped my long black coat around my legs.  The city street's litter swirled in the air.  The wind carried sounds from down the street behind me and I became aware of snippets of conversation.

"See that girl there, the one in the long black coat?  I see her walking every night, always about the same time.  Always alone.  I don't know where she goes.  She lives in the house with all the black cats and the witch's garden.  Yeah I think she's a witch."

??What the Hell??!!

My neighbors thought I was a witch?!  Even though this happened a long time ago, in the early 90's, I would like to set the record straight.

1. I did not own any cats.  Can anyone own cats? Fact is, I was deathly allergic to cats and could tell if they were anywhere near me, even if I were outside. My allergy has subsided a bit and I am now only severely and not deathly allergic.  The cats shared their space with the guy who lived upstairs from me.  For health reasons I tried ignoring the cats as much as possible.  Cats definitely have a mind of their own!  The more I ignored them, the more they wanted to be around me! Gifts of mice and birds appeared on my doorstep.
2. My nightly haunt? No mystery there.  I worked the graveyard shift at a local cafe baking breads and desserts!  Although I must admit I rather enjoyed the notion of plain old me transformed into a woman of mystery, even if it was for just a moment in time.  It brings to mind The French Lieutenant's Woman.  
3.   Long black coat. Give me a break. It was the 90's in a major city - who did not wear a long black coat in the winter?
4. Witch's garden. Okay, I must admit that this was not the first or only time that one of my gardens was referred to as a witch's garden.  My gardens tend to be wild and weedy: herbal gardens sprinkled with unusual flowers.  Culinary gardens.  The closest to potion making I did would be a sage tea for a runny nose.

The snow cover finally melted about a month ago and I was excited to see signs of life in my garden.  Thyme, parsley, oregano, mint and chives were already growing under the blanket  of snow.  The oregano plants were in fact so big that I needed to cut them back. The sage had no signs of life, but I knew that it would begin to leaf out when it was ready.
It was time to start my first round of seeds:  lettuce, arugula, boy choy, tomatoes, basil,peas and cucumbers. Spring was in the air.  I wanted to make a soup to celebrate the spring: an herbal tonic.

 

Slim pickings in the refrigerator: a couple of lonely ribs of fennel and some Italian parsley. I sweated sliced fennel in butter for about ten minutes and added some broth, salt, pepper and a splash of white wine and simmered for about 30 minutes.  I then added chopped parsley and simmered for 5 more minutes.  The mixture was pureed in a blender for a couple of minutes and smoothed out with a little cream.  You could also use yoghurt or buttermilk for a more tangy flavor.  Pop the mixture into the refrigerator until cold.

C

Cold parsley soup- a little something to whet the appetite. Cheers to my witch's garden!