Potage Saint Germain

A couple of weeks ago it was raining. Raining raining raining raining. And I was sick and I cooked. All day.

It seems to be a theme for me lately. Cooking all day.

So, I baked a ham. From all good ham comes good soup stock and I made a metric ton of of. I made 2 huge batches of bean and bacon soup and split pea soup. Julia Child split pea soup. I did not find this in her MAFC. But I have it on good authority that it is hers and can be found in one of her cookbooks. One of the cookbooks that I don't own.

Yet.

Not too complicated and pretty darn good.

Julia Child split pea soup

Julia Child's Split Pea

Totally a labor of love - totally worth it:

Ingredients
The Ham Stock
2 well-washed and scrubbed split ham hocks
3 quarts water
1 cup chopped carrot (coarse is fine)
1 cup chopped onion
1 stalk celery, chopped
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon thyme
5 whole cloves or allspice berries

The Soup
3 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup diced celery
2/3 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced carrot
3 tablespoons flour
2 quarts ham stock, heated
1 1/2 cups split peas or yellow split peas

Directions
For the stock, put the ham hocks in a kettle with water to cover by 2 inches.
Make an herb bouquet with washed cheesecloth, using the bay leaves, thyme and cloves or allspice.
Put this in the pot, along with the carrots, onions and celery.
Simmer 3 to 4 hours with the kettle cover slightly open.
Or, simmer in crockpot for 8 hours on low.
Skim occasionally.
Strain and degrease.
Easiest way to degrease is to make ahead and chill, remove fat when cold.
Freeze if you want.

This stock is a great stock that I've made many times. I think I made a couple of gallons of stock. I wanted a more flowery soup base and put in thyme and majoram and just a pinch of herbs de provence. I also used yellow split peas because the 99 store had them. It's a real pretty soup. Serve it up with some minced parsley, a little sour cream or a splash of Vermouth.

Navy bean soup

Ingredients:

• 2-1/2 cups dried navy beans
• 3 quarts water
• 8 slices bacon
• 3 onions, chopped
• 2 cups diced, peeled potatoes
• 1 cup sliced carrots
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1 bay leaf

Preparation:

Combine beans and 3 quarts water in large pot. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Cover and let stand for 1 hour. Meanwhile, cook bacon until crisp in large stock pot. Remove bacon to paper towels to drain and crumble. Add chopped onions to bacon drippings. Cook and stir until onions are tender. Add partially cooked beans and cooking liquid. Cover and cook over low heat for 1 hour.

Add remaining ingredients including reserved bacon pieces. Cover and simmer for 50-55 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender and soup is slightly thickened. Remove bay leaf before serving.

This is a very hearty soup. You can blend it a bit if you like. I used diced ham instead of the bacon because that's what I had. This recipe calls for tomato sauce or tomato juice just at the end. I didn't have either and left it out.