If you think it looks inviting tonight, wait until it solidifies in the fridge overnight...then I can bread, and fry it for breakfast. I probably won't serve it between a couple slices of bread, but I've seen it done.
Right, so obviously I skipped the ham hock. I used a tablespoon of imitation bacon bits in the cooking water, and that seemed to do the trick. This is so far removed from traditional peas pudding, I really hesitated to post it as such. Traditionally, people stuck the peas in a cheesecloth bundle, and cooked it in the water with the ham hock. You can cook it slowly in a casserole in the oven to absorb the liquid, boil the hell out of it, or do as I did, which is a combination of both. You get the idea.
The dish received praise from the boys, and there's hardly enough left for frying in the morning (don't despair, I'll turn it into a proper breakfast).
You can make as much, or as little as you like-adjusting accordingly with the amount of sauce. The recipe makes more than you need anyway, so it would be safe to double the amount of peas leaving all else the same.
You Will Need:
3 cups dried, split green peas (you can also use yellow) soaked at least overnight, but better 12-15 hours with a change of water.
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic
1 carrot
2 large sprigs parsley
1 large bay leaf
1-2 tablespoons imitation bacon bits
Water to cover
For the sauce:
2 cups reserved cooking water from peas
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons AP flour
Rinse the peas very well, then soak several hours changing water at least once. Drain, and place in a large stockpot. Add everything else (except sauce ingredients) and bring to a boil. Skim any foam that accumulates. Cover, leaving room for steam to escape and simmer 1-2 hours, or until peas are quite soft. With a slotted spoon, remove the onion, garlic, carrot, parsley, bay leaf. Strain out the peas through a sieve over a bowl, reserving cooking liquid.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place peas in a casserole dish. Prepare the sauce.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture begins to brown and foam (about three minutes. Slowly whisk in the two cups of reserved cooking liquid. Whisk until thickened. Mix as much as needed into peas (this will largely be a matter of taste-use less if you like them thicker, keeping in mind it will firm up as it cooks). Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 200 degrees F. and continue cooking until you get the texture and dryness you like. Serve hot, or cold.
3 comments:
So is this the peas pudding mentioned in that child's song "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot three days old." (..I had forgotten the last part of it, after "..cold.." until I just typed it out). ??
Hm.. I *LOVE* pea soup, so this might be tried in my kitchen. And why would it be left in the pot three days?
Or as Danny likes to sing it:
Peas porridge hot
Peas porridge cold
Peas Porridge IN MY PANTS!
NINE DAYS OLD!
Then, he falls apart laughing.
I suppose it might still be in the pot after a number of days, as you tend to make it in quantity.
If you wanted something meaty/smoked tasting without doing the ham hock, you could cheat, and use some cut-up salami. My mother used to toss that into pea soup and honestly, it was pretty good.
Then, there's mushy-peas, but that's an entirely different dish (which I like, but some people really insist are the Devil's work).
In my pants
Nine days old!
HAHAHA!!! Made me laff too!
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