Yellow Split Pea Soup

My Tuesday recipe for today is one that I found in my recipe box and then improvised a little.  A few days ago I wrote a blog about making homemade Christmas ornaments.

http://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/12/homemade-christmas-ornaments-are-best.html

I used dried yellow split peas for the ornament.  As I was putting the bag of peas back into the cupboard, I thought that I should use some of the peas to make some soup.  I bought the yellow split peas because I thought the soup might look more appetizing than the green.  There is something about green pea soup that those from my generation find a little distasteful.  I think it stems from seeing the movie "The Exorcist" many years ago.

The original recipe called for chicken broth but I had a big ham bone in the freezer since last Christmas.  We were given a huge ham last year.  It was delicious, but when we had enough, I froze the big bone with some meat attached.  I had intended to make something from it sooner, but I actually forgot about it.  I took it out of the freezer and put it in a big pot of water.  I simmered it for a while get the flavor into the stock.  Then I followed the recipe substituting the ham broth for the chicken broth.  I also cooked it in the pressure cooker for only 15 minutes instead of cooking on the stove for an hour.

Yellow Split Pea Soup

2 Tablespoons butter
1 onion, diced
3 stalks of celery, diced
2 carrots, diced

Melt the butter in a large stock pot.  Cook the onion, celery and carrots until they are soft.

Then add:
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
some salt and pepper to taste
8 cups of chicken stock (I used the ham stock)
2 cups of dried yellow split peas
2 potatoes, diced
Add some cubed ham if you like, but it isn't necessary. (I used the excess that was still attached to the
 ham bone)

Then simmer for an hour in the stock pot or 15 minutes on high in the pressure cooker.
The recipe says you should blend everything together after it is cooked but I just left it as is.  The split peas cook until they are smooth, and I like the other vegetables in the soup still in tact. 

In case you don't remember my pressure cooker, it is digital and I use it whenever I can.

http://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/01/my-favorite-small-appliance.html