MY FAMILY'S DUTCH PEA SOUP

DUTCH PEA SOUP

Pea soup to me is home and family. Every other Saturday through the fall and winter, we had pea soup for lunch and supper with Grandma’s fresh baked bread. There are many variations to pea soup.  Every Dutch family has its own recipe. My Dutch Grandma made her soup with either Mettwurst sausage or a ham bone or ham hocks. A Dutch neighbor, to thicken her soup, added a half-pound of split peas during the last two hours of cooking. My Mom and Grandma never tried anyone else's ideas and always made our soup exactly the same way every time; with fresh pig hock, not ham hock and whole peas, not split. It was such a ritual and tradition, I still make the soup exactly like they made it except I do add a little parsley; but I would not even think of adding carrots as some people do. That would be going too far from family tradition. As a kid, I loved chewing the meat off the hock bones, and I admit I still do. My Dad loved the skin of the hocks. One time a guest asked Dad, "How can you eat that stuff? My shoes are made out of it as the early Hush Puppies shoes were made of pigskin."

Ingredients.

1 lb. whole dried green peas, soaked
4 to 6 pieces of fresh pig (pork) hock or 2 large whole fresh pig
(pork) hocks
About 2 1/2 to 3 quarts (10 to 12 cups) water
5 to 6 large ribs of celery with leaves, chopped
3 medium onions, chopped
2 to 3 T fresh parsley, chopped, optional
2 large potatoes, sliced
Salt, to taste

Soak peas overnight in about 6 cups of cold water; drain. Or put dried beans in a saucepan, add water until 2 inches above the beans. Bring to a boil, boil 2 to 3 minutes. Cover and remove from heat. Let stand for an hour. Drain. In a large pot, bring to a boil the soaked peas, pig hocks, and water. Reduce heat to a low simmer; add celery, onions and parsley. Cover. Cook, stirring often, on low heat for 3 to 5 hours or until the pig hocks are tender and the meat is separating from the bone. The peas should be soft and starting to split open. During the last hour of cooking, add the potatoes. Salt, to taste, just before serving. To serve, remove the meat from the soup to a platter. Ladle the soup onto bowls and place some meat in each bowl.

I have added an alternative way to make the soup without all the fat from the pig hocks below the picture of the pot of pea soup.

Rinse peas before soaking.

Oops Tom lost some pictures.  Soak peas by preferred method, quick or overnight.
Drain soaking water.  Defatted pig hock method. Add defatted broth from the pig hocks.  Add additional hot water if needed.  Add chopped onions and celery.  Cook until peas are just about tender.

Chop potatoes.  I do not take off the skin as that is where most of the vitamins are.  Add to soup.

Put meat from the pig hocks into the soup.  Salt to taste.  Add chopped parsley if desired.

REDUCED FAT PEA SOUP

I love the meat on a fresh pork shank (pig hock) but there is a great deal of fat under the skin. I have found that if I simmer the pig hocks with celery and onions before I make the soup that I can then chill the resulting broth, remove the fat and use the de-fatted broth for the soup. This method does not change the soup in anyway, just reduces the fat content which makes me contented.

Cook pig hocks in water seasoned with coarsely chopped onions and celery.c

After meat is cook, drain broth through a sieve.  Remove pig hocks from sieve to a plate.

Put ice in broth to chill the fat.

Remove ice and fat from broth with a slotted spoon.

Remove skin and excess fat from the pig hocks and save meat and bones for the soup.  You do not have to save the bones but I do as I like the grizzle on them.