Pea Soup

After smoking such a large ham for Christmas we had a little bit of leftovers. The best leftover recipe I know of for smoked ham is pea soup (but cassoulet isn't too shabby either). I only just started eating pea soup recently and with a nice large ham bone left over and a hankering to use my Christmas present (a Cuisinart hand blender) I decided it was just the thing to do with my leftovers.

Pretty isn't it!

1 stalk celery

1 carrot

1 potato (peeled)

1/2 yellow onion

3 green onions

1 clove garlic

1 ham bone with some meat on it

1/2 package of dry split peas

3 chicken bullion cubes

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 teaspoon of curry, black pepper, and smoked paprika

4 cups water

In a sauce pan add the peas and just enough water to cover them a bit and bring to a simmer. Let simmer for 5 minutes.

Then take off the heat and cover for a half hour. Drain the remaining water and add to the crock pot

Along with the chopped veggies, spices and the ham bone

Then add the water and the wine

Cover and let cook 6 or more hours

Then take your hand stick blender and puree til smooth.

(Please excuess the amount of blender pics, I got a little excited)

Served with popovers it is a delicious way to enjoy the smokey ham another day.

Potato Dumplings

I love carbs! They are so caloric, but so good! Dumplings of any sort are one of my favorites. Usually I make quicky Bisquick dough dumplings but when my mother-in-law was in town visiting she mentioned really liking potato dumplings and said they were quite easy to make. And she was right! Mashed potatoes, egg and a little flour. The trickiest part is making the dough into balls, but if your wet you hands with cold water first it's a cinch. I decided to serve the dumplings with a chicken stroganoff, which is essentially my crock pot beef stroganoff with chicken instead and the egg noodles are omitted.

2 cups mashed potatoes

2 eggs

1 cup of flour

Mix together all of the ingredients

Wet hands with cold water and form the dough into two inch balls

Boil in salted water for ten minutes or until they start to float

Almost ready...

There. All floating at nine minutes and fifty-five seconds.

Scoop them out and keep in a covered bowl til ready to serve

Bubba and Ivor decided to do their own cooking project

Yum! Bubba still won't try them, but maybe someday.