feed a crowd – Stephanie Richey Art

Yesterday on my YouTube channel I shared a recipe for Split Pea Soup, so today I am going to share it here in print form. This is my kids’ favorite soup, and they are always excited when we have ham because they know that we will have split pea soup sometime in the near future. I love it because it is an easy, quick recipe that can then just cook all day and be ready when we are in the evening. This recipe is exactly what I used yesterday in the video. It makes a really large batch of soup. You can cut everything in half if you don’t want so much soup.

Split Pea Soup

2 – 16 oz packages dry Split Peas

1 leftover Ham Bone

12-16 cups Water (this will vary depending on how thick you prefer your soup. I used 14 cups)

1 large Onion chopped

3-4 Carrots chopped

3-4 Celery Stalks chopped

1/2 to 1 Bell Pepper chopped

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Begin by placing the ham bone in your crock pot along with the split peas and the water, reserving 2 cups for later. Remember that a total of 12 cups will make the soup really thick when it has a chance to cool a little bit, and a total of 16 cups makes it pretty thin even after it’s cooled off. Turn your crockpot to low and cover to allow it to begin heating while you cook your vegetables.

Pour the Olive Oil into a large skillet and begin heating on low while you chop the vegetables. Chop the vegetables and add to the pan. At this point I like to salt the vegetables so they cook a little bit quicker, but if you’re using dry beans instead of peas, I wouldn’t recommend salting anything at this stage. Cook the vegetables until somewhat tender and they start to brown a little bit, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once the vegetables are cooked, add your reserved 2 cups of water to the pan to deglaze the pan. Heat the liquid and scrap the sides and bottom of the pan to get all the bits and flavor. Add the vegetables to the crockpot and stir to incorporate.

Continue cooking the soup for approximately 6 hours, stirring occasionally, until the peas have broken down and the leftover ham on the bone is falling off and tender. Before serving, remove the bone and any other pieces of ham that aren’t edible. Add salt and pepper to the soup to taste, if you did a big batch like I did, it takes about 1 Tbsp of salt. My kids love eating this soup (well, any soup) in a bread bowl, but it’s great with a grilled cheese sandwich as well.

Bones have a lot of good stuff in them and using them in soups is a great way to get at all that goodness. They also add a lot of flavor. I hope you have a chance to try this recipe. If you do, I would love to hear any feedback you might have.

Yesterday I completed a YouTube video tutorial about using a large pork roast, often called a picnic pork roast. You can view the tutorial here called Pulled Pork. These pieces of meat are usually about 6-10 pounds, have a large bone in the middle, and are really fatty. But they make some of the best pulled pork, but they can be used in so many different ways. So today I thought I would write down the instructions for those who would like to print them, as well as offer several suggestions for use of the pork.

You will need a large picnic pork roast, a roasting pan, or pan big enough for the pork as well as juice accumulation. You will also need a dry rub for pork, you will need approximately 1/2 cup. I most often scour the internet for a dry rub recipe, as I can customize that recipe to my family’s tastes. In this video I decided to try a purchased rub, which work well. At any rate, I will not include any kind of rub recipe here. If you don’t want to use a rub, I would recommend using a salt and pepper “rub” just to season the meat.

Instructions – Remove the roast from the packaging. Rinse the roast and then pat it dry with paper towels. Place in the roasting pan of your choice and then rub the roast with your chosen seasonings. Cover with the lid of the pan or cover tightly with aluminum foil. Place in a 250-degree oven (yes, 250, that’s not a typo). Cook for approximately 8-12 hours. This will depend greatly on the size of the roast, however. The one I did in the YouTube video I only cooked for 6 1/2 hours, and it was done, so check it once in a while, you want it to be tender and easily shred able. If cooking it overnight, it is usually done 8 hours later, even if it’s a bit smaller like the one I did it will be fine. Once you feel like it’s done, pull it out of the oven and let it sit in the pan to cool off. I usually let mine sit for several hours, this way it is cooled off enough to handle. The one on the YouTube video sat for 3 hours and the center was still almost too hot to pull apart. Shred and then either continue to the next step or package for use later.

If you are cooking this to make pulled pork for a party, you could now transfer to a pot or crock pot, pour barbeque sauce on, and heat through to make the sandwich filling. I usually use a store-bought barbeque sauce, I really like Sweet Baby Ray’s, but you could make your own as well. If you package the meat, it works great in a lot of different recipes. Some of the things we use it for are quesadillas – just the cheese and meat with some salsa for dipping when it’s cooked, my kids also like sour cream to dip them in. Fajitas – onions, peppers, all sautéed together, tortillas to put them in, and whatever toppings your family likes, we like cheese, lettuce and salsa. Sandwich fillings – I did a YouTube tutorial a few weeks ago for a chicken salad filling, this pork would also work great as a substitute for the chicken. Red Beans and Rice – this would be a great substitute for the sausage in Red Beans and rice depending on how you seasoned the meat in the beginning. There are so many possibilities once it is cooked and packaged. If you have a recipe you want to try it with, make sure you package it accordingly, so you have the right amount for the recipe. I was able to get 4 packages of meat, approximately 1 1/2 pounds per package, but this will greatly depend upon the size of roast.