So, you’re ready. Let’s go, good! So, what we’re going to do in the first place, when you could turn the oven and look at that, very simple.
And what we’re going to do first is we’re going to put a little bit of butter in it so we’re going to bring out the butter. We’re going to warm the pot and then we’re going to sweat some onions. Sweating is just a simple technique. You’re going to have a low heat, a little bit of fat, and we’re going to cover it. So, what we’re going to do, we’re going to add about four tablespoons of butter, about four cubes. And then we’re going to let it melt. We’re going to add about a half of sweet onion because I don’t like to have a lot of onion flavor in the soup. So, at this point, we’re going to let that sit and we’re going to sweat. Now, a typical sweating is low heat and something covered because think about what happen if we took us and put in some of the pot, low heat, we’re going to be fat in covers, naturally we’re going to sweat so the same thing in here. So, we’re going to release some of the sugars, some of the flavors in the onion marry with the butter and then at the end no color, because you want to caramelize. You just want to extract the flavor at the small amount.
Now, after we sweat the onions, we’re going to take the diced ham. Diced ham is great because it has great flavor. It’s slightly smoked. We actually made it yesterday for today. So, I’m just going to gently move around the onions and butter for a moment. It’s very simple. You’re going to sweat them, add the ham. I have chicken stock that we made yesterday for today. Fresh chicken bones, a little bit of vegetables, carrots, onions, celery, a little bit of herbs in there. Let it go overnight, just want them to get stranded and that’s what we’re going to enjoy. So, very clean natural flavors that we’re going to use.
Now, let’s talk about peas. Now, peas in French, ”petit-pois”. You have English peas. You have frozen peas. It’s whatever you prefer. If the peas are in season use them. Take the time, buy them in the pad. Peel them out, discard the pad, and that’s what you’re going to be left with. And what we’ve done already, we’ve quickly blanch them. Now, you don’t want to overcook them because what you want to have at the end, you want to have a nice, light green soup. You don’t want to have a dark green soup, all right. Look at inside the pot. The onions are sweated. They’re almost translucent. But it’s all melting, extracting some of the natural sugars.
At this point, we’re going to add two tablespoons of diced ham. Now, we’re going to put ham in the beginning and ham at the end for two reasons. We want some of the flavor of the ham in its smoke to be absorbed into the soup when we puree. We also want it to leave it as a garnish at the end on top. Well that’s it, for a little minute. We’re going to add a little bit of the stock.
Now in cooking, it’s a great thing to know you’re always going to add but you’re never going to take out, all right. So, take the chicken stock, just ladle it in. That’s two, that’s four, six, eight, about 12 ounces. That’s 12 ounces, two ounce ladle. So, we’re going to let this boil now, turn up the temperature. And at this point, we’re going to take a little bit of salt. I want some of this salt to help break down the moisture in the vegetables. Think about this, if you’ve taken onion that had salt that’s what’s naturally going to happen. It’s going to release the water from the cells of the onion outward. That’s what we’re going to do now.
Now next step, it’s just very simple. We’re going to take the peas and we’re going to put them in. And remember, these are blanched all right. And that’s about a pound and a half, that’s in there right now. Now, we’re scaling everything down so you can enjoy and I’m going to taste a little bit at the end with Madeline too so, very good. Now, black pepper, do you like black pepper at home? You use a pepper? Good job! Because think about this, if you go to the grocery store and you buy a ground black pepper or of course ground pepper, you don’t know when it was ground. It could be 10 years ago. It could be yesterday. At this point, you have great flavor because you’re releasing the oils and they are aromatic. That’s probably about a quarter of a teaspoon that’s inside, just add a little bit more flavor.
Now at this point, we added the peas. Don’t cover it because there’s a natural gas in the pea that as it boils, if you don’t let it release, it actually will go back into the soup and change its color to olive green. Okay, pretty interesting. So, I’m just going to bring this to a boil. And as soon as it comes to a boil, we’re going to puree it. Now, it’s a great little toy. Everybody should have one. This is very simple. It’s a little handheld immersion blender, blade at the bottom, and very sharp. This one just happen to have two speeds, high and low. Okay so, that’s almost done. And Madeline is going to puree that.
Now, you’re going to put the blender in all the way down to the bottom and then turn it on. But if you’ve turned it on as you’re going in, as it hits the surface, we’re going to be like Saint Paddy’s Day. And we can get some beer going and have a great day. Now, you’re going to notice at a certain point, we’re going to actually tilt the pot. You put the blade at the bottom because there’s an air that’s developing so just move it to the bottom and then you just keep moving the immersion blender in circles. It will puree. Now, this is so important because there are really some blades that are inside and then we’re going to simmer it for about another five minutes. And eventually the product that’s inside it will puree, and just a great color. I have to re-puree it and just strain it to get all the natural color, to make it a smooth soup.
Now at this point, we’re going to just turn it back on, and just keep it on low. We have to add a little bit more stock because you have the fiber of the pea that’s in there right now. That’s two, four, now that’s six ounces. So, it’s a total of 18 ounces that we have right now of stock that’s inside. We’re just going to gently stir it around and we’re going to let that simmer. It’s easy. It’s very simple. Do you like pepper? Okay good, we’re in the same boat. It’s a great flavor, a little bit more salt. Now, do you like Kosher salt or iodized salt? Now, what’s great about Kosher salt, it’s a lesser fine products so you actually going to add more seasoning without it tasting salty. It actually enhances the flavor better.
I’m going to cook it a little bit more because the pea hasn’t actually cooked a hundred percent. So, we’re going to let it sit for about another five minutes. We’re going to puree it again and we’re going to pour it on a china cup which is just a big sift. So, we’re going to take out most of the pulp. Some would be left. If you want to serve a smooth soup, you pass it to that twice to remove all the pulp and then serve it like that. So, we’re going to have a little bit of pulp inside so it has some body in it, very good. Turn the heat up a little bit. Do you like extra virgin olive oil? Do you? We’re going to finish with a little bit. Give it another layer of flavor. Now, what’s important about cooking, the flavor layers. Now at the very end, we’re going to add a little bit of butter. But I’m just going to do one more layer. I’m using sweetness in flavor. But it’s also going to give the soup a shin which is the natural shine or is working in layers of flavors. That’s about another half a teaspoon of lime oil.
Now, this is why I put the spoon, it’s to help me get all the fiber out and all the beautiful juice into the pot. So, you notice the liquid that’s coming out is very fine because all the pulp is left behind here. Always press out all the excess flavor. You want to leave anything behind and what you want to leave behind is the fiber. Put it back on the stove. Turn the fire back on. We bring it to a boil. I’m going to add a little bit more of the ham. So here, we’re going to add another four tablespoons actually six now. I love butter. I said it before maybe I’m going to die happy. Now it’s important at this point, when you put the butter in you want it to melt. But you always have to stir it because if you don’t stir it, the butter fat will actually separate and create layer of grease. We don’t want that. Now, if you notice the shine or the shin of the soup is growing right now. A little bit more salt, more pepper. Each portion is going to be about six ounces. Add a little bit of this. I’m just going to put a little bit of extra virgin olive oil above that. Again, all the different layers of flavor are coming out, just put a couple of drops.
Transcription by:
Scribe4you Transcription Services