Eric's Kitchen in Jersey City: Split Pea Soup

Both my girlfriend Jenn and I love good soups and since it's freezing outside I decided it was time to make a good, stick to your ribs, split pea soup. My mom recently made one with turkey kielbasa and said it was delicious and so I decided this would be my approach as well.

My ingredients:
1 lb. dry split peas
1 package turkey kielbasa
1/2 lb. bacon
one bunch of leeks (3 stalks)
one medium Vidalia onion
2 tablespoons minced garlic
black pepper
parlsey
oregano
a little old bay seasoning
1lb carrots
4 small potatoes


I chopped all the veggies and the bacon. First I cooked the bacon in a soup pot. You should cook it until it's crispy and all the fat is rendered. Then you need to add your leeks, onions, garlic and spices. This time I got impatient and added all the leeks and onions to the bacon too early and ended up picking out the bits of un-rendered bacon fat the rest of the process.

Once the leeks and onions are soft and cooked, you can add the peas and the water (it should say how much on the package). The first time I tried doing this I just added everything to my corck pot and it took DAYS and the peas never got quite soft enough. This time I cooked it in the pot until they boiled and then simmered it for about 35-45 minutes, covered and the peas were perfect.

Then I added the mixture to the crock pot with the potatoes, carrots & kielbasa and let it slow-cook for 3-4 hours until the potatoes were soft.

The end result was very satisfying and exactly what we were hoping for. Next time I just need to get the bacon more crispy! I also wish I knew a way to make split-pea soup more photogenic!