Cold Snap

We are in for a cold snap for the next four days. Tonight we are supposed to be in the negatives and tomorrow the high will be 10 degrees (if we are lucky)! So I decided to make some Pea Soup to enjoy over the next few days. Whenever I make Pea Soup I think of my Pepere who used to make this soup when I was a child. Unfortunately I never got his recipe before he died, so I usually make the recipe off a local bean company's bag. Tonight I couldn't find the recipe I usually use, so I combined a couple recipes to make this delicious soup!

Green Split Pea Soup with Ham

1 lb dry Green split peas
1 Chicken Bouillon Cube
6 cups water
Ham Bone or 1/4 lb smoked ham, diced
1 cup chopped celery
1 medium carrot, diced
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Sort and rinse peas. In a 6 to 8 quart pot, add peas, bouillon cube and water. Bring to boiling; simmer 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover and let stand 1 hour. Add ham bone, celery, carrot, onion, garlic, bay leaf and thyme; heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until peas are soft. Remove bone; cut off meat and dice. If desired, remove bay leaf then put vegetable mixture through food mill, blender** or sieve. Return meat to soup; season to taste with salt and pepper.

Note: I usually use a hand held immersion blender.

Buttermilk Biscuits

With the house to myself this morning I decided to make biscuits to go along with the Red Lentil Soup I made yesterday. The biscuits came out so fluffy and tasted amazing with my soup. I was good though I only ate two. My family has been snacking on them all afternoon. Warm biscuits are great on a cold Winter day!

Buttermilk Biscuits

(from The Best Marjorie Standish: Chowders, Soups & Stews- Down East Recipes)

2 cups sifted flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp soda

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 rounded tblsp shortening

1 cup buttermilk

Sift flour, measure and sift together with salt, soda, cream of tartar and baking powder.

Cut in the shortening, using a pastry blender or 2 knives. Add the buttermilk quickly, using a fork for stirring into dry ingredients. Knead lightly on a floured board.
Cut in size biscuits desired, place on a greased pan and bake at 475 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
Makes about 12 biscuits.

** I like to add 1 tbsp of sugar to the dry ingredients.
** If you do not have buttermilk you can use milk and lemon juice.

Winter Cooking

Earlier today I went to the wholesale club and restocked our fridge, freezer and pantry. Since we had a lot of bulk meats and other items I decided to do some cooking this afternoon. I prepared hamburger patties, Italian meatballs, BBQ meatloaf, cheesy scalloped potatoes, red lentil soup, and glazed carrots. We ate the meatloaf, the potatoes and the carrots for dinner. It was yummy!

Hamburger Patties
Ground Beef
Montreal Steak Seasoning
Lea & Perron's
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder

Mix together with your hands and shape into patties.

Italian Meatballs
2 lbs Ground Beef
2 Sweet Italian Sausages
1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 Egg
1 cup 4-C Italian Breadcrumbs
A few dashes oregano and Basil

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Lay out two baking trays. Slice open the sausages, remove the meat, tear apart and put in a large bowl with the ground beef. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix with your hands. Roll into small balls and space out meatballs on the trays. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

If using immediately, put the meatballs in a tomato sauce and simmer until ready to eat. The longer the better.

For later use: Once the trays and the meatballs are cool, put the baking trays in the freezer. When the meatballs are frozen remove the meatballs and place in a plastic storage bag. By freezing the meatballs first they will not stick together and then you can remove however many you need at a time.

BBQ Meat Loaf
1 1/2-2 lbs ground beef
2 beaten eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup 4C Italian Seasoned breadcrumbs
Few dashes onion Powder
Few dashes Garlic Powder
Few Dashes Ground Mustard
Few dashes Pepper
1 tsp Salt
A few shakes of any BBQ rub or seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Layout a baking tray. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Shape into a loaf by hand on the baking tray. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes. Remove any grease, brush BBQ sauce (I use Sweet Baby Ray's) onto the loaf and put bake in the oven for another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and eat right away or eat the next day.

Glazed Carrots
Carrots-dice into small slices
Honey
Water
Orange juice (optional)

Put the diced carrots, a little bit of honey and a little bit of water in a baking dish and bake until cooked (when you can poke a fork through easily) or cook in a saucepan on a stove top adding the honey towards the end of the cooking.