Green Pea Soup

This is not quite the easiest soup I could post, but OH MY GOSH is it good. Split pea soup is my absolute favorite Dutch food- even more than cheese and baked goods. There is something just so brilliant about the blend of peas and pork. Plus its nickname is 'Snert' and what could be better and more appealing than a green blob called Snert?

Dutch split pea soup-- its full Dutch name being Erwtensoep --is a slightly tricky little delicacy to make. It involves boiling split peas with various cuts of pork (namely a big piece of bone-in ham or pork shoulder), taking out the pork, putting in vegetables, possibly pureeing and then putting the meat back in again. Certainly worth it, but I've simplified the process a bit and was very, very happy with the results. Unfortunately, though, I've just ruined Snert out-of-a-can (quite decent as it is) for myself probably for life now.

Anyway, the biggest change I've made is substituting real peas for split peas. I've researched this quite intently and while dried split peas are by far the most popular way to make soup, there's really just a few simple pros and cons to each...and for me real peas seemed easiest.

The biggest advantage to dried split peas is texture. Apparently they don't have skins and are a bit more starchy, and so more easily cook down into the appealing consistency of the soup. However, split peas should be soaked for a few hours (not necessary, but helps) and give off a frothy 'scum' in the soup that needs to be skimmed off early on in the boiling process. I'm also uncertain as to their availability outside of Holland.

Canned/frozen peas are just a bit more speedy and I didn't see any scum that needed skimming. The biggest issue is their shells which don't break off or let the peas break down easily during cooking. There are a couple ways to combat this (which I'll discuss later), but mine tasted just fine lumpy, ugly shells and all.

[Prep: 20min / Cook: 1.5 - 2hrs]

Ingredients

- 15oz can of green peas (400 grams)

- 2 1/2 cups / 500mL water

- 1/4 lb (125 grams) thick-cut bacon

- 1 pork chop [optional]

- 1/4 of a celeriac (celery root)

- 1 leek

- 1/2 white onion

- 2-3 carrots

- 2 small/medium white or yellow potatoes

- smoked country sausage (kielbasa, rookworst, etc)

Steps

1. Briefly strain the peas and bring them to a boil in the water.
2. Meanwhile, chop up the bacon and pork chop and throw it in with the peas.
3. Chop up about 1/4 of a celery root. It'll be about a cup's worth once chopped. Slice the leek all the way down to the white base and slice half an onion. Add all to the soup.
4. Let the soup cook for about an hour, stirring fairly frequently (about every 10 min). Crush the peas a bit with the spoon if you'd like.
5. Slice the carrots, cube the potatoes and slice as much smoked sausage as you'd please. Add all to the pot and cook for about 30min - 1hr more, stirring every 10 min until the soup reaches your desired thickness/consistency.
6. Ready to eat!

[Serves 2 for dinner or 2 twice as a side]

Notes

Celeriac

• All the ingredients-- including dried split peas if I had been interested --are quite easy for me to find this time of year in Holland but may or may not be difficult elsewhere. If you can't find a celery root, you can use celery shoots, the flavor just won't be as strong. Make an effort to look for the root, though. Not only is it awesomely big, but it smells lovely.
• Traditional split pea soup gets its great flavor from ham/pork with the bone in. Using bacon instead really helps with the flavor, but its worth trying with a bone. Since it's a winter soup, keep an eye out for the big family ham around the Holidays and instead of letting anyone throw the bone away, package it up and freeze it. Later you can throw it in this soup and just discard the bone when you're read to eat!
• As mentioned, the biggest issue with using real peas and not dried split peas is that they don't break down as well in the soup. It tastes just fine but maybe doesn't look as appealing (b/c green goo looks appealing to begin with...). If you really want your real pea soup smoother, you can try one of these methods


• Puree the peas in a blender/food processor either before you start, or after that first hour of cooking, before you add in the veggies & sausage (the meats, celeriac and leek will have cooked down quite a bit). 
• OR you could pan-fry the peas and bacon first. Peas really squish down when you pan-fry them and it could actually cut down on your cooking time as well. Because the meat & pea flavors will have already melded, you can cut straight to the veggie & sausage hour after pan-frying.

• They say this soup tastes better after sitting overnight in the fridge. Apparently it thickens and the flavors meld more. I can't know for sure-- my entire batch seemed to miraculously disappear last night --but I'd believe the Dutch!

Breakfast Tacos

So, breakfast tacos may not be the most innovative or exciting dish on the planet, but this recipe is very dear to me.  Not only is it the first meal I ever created, but it also contains a super secret ingredient that will finally be revealed to the world [wide web] ...

As for the wonderful things about breakfast tacos, like most of the recipes this month, you can mix-n-match and load it up any way you please-- it can be a great way to work veggies into your morning!  And for those looking for quick fixes before jetting off to work, this taco filling keeps quite well, so be sure to try out making a big batch on Sunday and then reheating the next morning or two.

Now that I've digressed, let's get back to the big secret.  This is obviously a tex-mex dish, which opens the door for any number of special sauces.  Lots of people plop their favorite salsa on top before wrapping it up and some adventurous types will mix in tomatillos or green chili sauce, but twelve-year-old me had a whole different idea...

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Yup, that's it.  Taco Bell sauce.  And for those of you wondering how I manage to cook with this wonderful sauce while living oceans away from any sign of a Taco Bell, it's time for another confession: I horde it.  About once a year, somewhere in a video surveillance room back at my neighborhood Taco Bell in Texas, there is a security guard cursing, "There's that blonde girl emptying the mild sauce bucket again!"  I've left books and shoes and sweaters behind when my luggage gets too heavy, but I will always make room for a pound of sauce packets.  I know I probably shouldn't be confessing to pseudo-petty theft online, but with Taco Bell dinners popping up in grocery stores nowadays, common' guys-- SELL THE SAUCE!  Then maybe I wouldn't have to steal it...

[Prep: -- / Cook: 15-20min]

- breakfast sausage of choice (~ 3 small links, 2 patties or 1/3 of a sausage roll)

- 3 large eggs

- 1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend (cheddar and monterrey jack)

- 4 packets of secret sauce

- flour tortillas

- seasoned salt (or just salt)

- black pepper

- dash of milk

1.  In a large skillet, heat the sausage links (cook thoroughly if not pre-cooked).

2.  Meanwhile, beat/whisk the eggs, 2 packets of sauce, salt & pepper and a dash of milk (no more than 1/4 cup) in a bowl.

3.  When the sausage is finished, remove to a bowl or plate, cut-up and mash with a fork to get ground sausage.

4.  In the same skillet, scramble the eggs in the sausage grease.  Just as the eggs are almost fully cooked, mix in the cheese and add the sausage back in.

5.  Divide the mixture as desired across flour tortillas.  Top with remaining sauce and wrap up tight.

6.  Ready to eat!

[Serves 2]

Notes

• Cooking the eggs in the sausage grease is obviously not the healthiest idea, but it does make for better flavored eggs.  Proceed as you wish.
• It's taken years of tweaking to get the sauce "dynamics" perfect.  You get a better kick from the sauce when it goes on last, but some still needs to be mixed in to make the eggs right.  And, of course, more is even better...I just have to ration my supply!
• As a twelve-year-old, I put the heated/cooked sausage in a plastic baggie and then mashed it up with my hands.  It was quite efficient.  Not sure why I stopped doing it that way...

Variations

• I personally like a lot of meat (sorry Vegetarian friends!), so the main way I tweak this is to add potatoes/hash browns and bacon/bacon bits.
• They're also great with veggies-- you can always pile on onions, mushrooms and peppers.  Try a frozen mix to keep the recipe quick and easy.
• Sausage: use your favorite.  Chorizo would be fabulous and oh-so much more Mexicano, but I can't eat pretty much all store-bought chorizo and therefore cannot speak for it.  What I can speak for, though, is the ease of cutting open a simple sausage link from the butcher's/meat section.  Just add some chili powder/pepper/cilantro, etc and the meat's already conveniently ground up.
• I know my secret sauce may not be for everyone.  I just hope that the next time you decide to make breakfast tacos, jazz them up a bit with some taco sauce or salsa before it's finished cooking to give it a bit more punch!