Split Pea Soup with Buttermilk Chive Popovers

Split Pea Soup with Buttermilk Chive Popovers

As the weather gets colder, hearty soups remain a staple in our home. A big pot of split pea soup will serve you well over the winter months.  This German style is the traditional one that my family likes the best. It uses a bottle of beer to flavor the broth and a boneless cut of ham that simmers for several hours until it falls apart.  Because the ham has been brined in a salt bath and the chicken broth which has some salt in it, do not salt this soup prior to a taste test. This soup takes about 2 ½ hours to cook so plan accordingly. After it has cooled, I then freeze the leftover soup in 1 quart containers. This soup will need to be thinned with chicken broth after it has been thawed. It thickens very quickly. Instead of crusty bread, we like to serve buttermilk chive popovers for this soup. The billowy dough that simmers in bacon fat delivers just the right amount of smoky tanginess to compliment this soup.

German Style Split Pea Soup

2 T butter, unsalted

1 lg. onion, diced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 (12 oz) bottle of beer

6 c water

2 bay leaves

1 T thyme, dried

1 (24 oz) piece of ham, boneless, fully cooked

1 lb. split peas

3 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

2 lg. celery stalks, thinly sliced

1 c potato, diced

2 c chicken broth, less sodium

3 T cider vinegar

3 T chives, chopped

3 T parsley, minced

Black pepper to taste

Peeled both layers of wrapping off the ham and cut it into 6 pieces. Soak the ham pieces in water for about 10 minutes to remove any residue of salt. In a large stock pot, heat the butter on medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until translucent about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add the beer, water, ham pieces, bay leaves and thyme. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer, cover and simmer for 1 hour. Add the peas and simmer covered for I more hour. Take out the ham pieces one at a time, remove the skin and discard, shred the ham with 2 forks and put back into the pot. Add the carrots, celery, potato and chicken broth and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pot. Remove cover and turn off heat. Remove bay leaves and stir in the cider vinegar, parsley, chives and black pepper and serve.

Buttermilk Chive Popovers

1 c all-purpose flour

1 t salt

2 lg. eggs

1 c buttermilk

3 T chives, chopped

4 T bacon fat

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

After the split peas have been added to the soup, make the popover batter. Using a hand mixer, blend the flour, salt, eggs, buttermilk and chives in a medium bowl until fully incorporated and refrigerator for 30 minutes. Spoon 1 t of bacon grease in each regular size muffin cup in a muffin pan. Heat the muffin pan for 5 minutes in the oven to get the bacon fat hot. Ladle ½ c of the cold batter over the hot bacon fat in each muffin cup. Set a rimmed baking sheet on the rack below the muffin pan to catch any grease that might over flow from the pan. Bake for 18 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven carefully (hot grease). Do not let them cool in the pan or they will stick so gently lift them out with a pair of tongs and serve.

Serves 10-12