The two most important things are the quality of the smoked ham and the richness of the chicken stock.
No homemade stock on hand? Don’t worry. While there may not be any perfect replacements from the store, you don’t have to settle for just water. Use the best boxed or canned chicken stock you can find and consider adding a spoonful of “Better than Bouillon” chicken base. Then, to enhance the texture, stir in some unflavored powdered gelatin—about 1 teaspoon per cup of stock (4 tsp per quart). It’s affordable, easy, and really works wonders.
SIZE MATTERS: A single “batch” needs a cooker with at least a 5 qt capacity – 4 qt won’t cut it. Think 7 to 7 1/2 for a 1.5 batch. 10qt fits a double batch with room to spare. If you want to fill it up, try “2.667” in the “batch” field. That will call for exactly 16q of liquid.
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Slowcooker Split Pea Soup
Split pea soup used to be a hearty classic, but it seems to have drifted away from our collective memory. You hardly see it much in restaurants or home kitchens anymore. But I want to bring it back, and I think this recipe migth do the trick.
The two most important things are the quality of the smoked ham and the richness of the chicken stock. No homemade stock on hand? Don’t worry. While there may not be any perfect replacements from the store, you don’t have to settle for just water. Use the best boxed or canned chicken stock you can find and consider adding a spoonful of “Better than Bouillon” chicken base. Then, to enhance the texture, stir in some unflavored powdered gelatin—about 1 teaspoon per cup of stock (4 tsp per quart). It’s affordable, easy, and really works wonders. SIZE MATTERS: A single “batch” needs a cooker with at least a 5 qt capacity – 4 qt won’t cut it. Think 7 to 7 1/2 for a 1.5 batch. 10qt fits a double batch with room to spare. If you want to fill it up, try “2.667” in the “batch” field. That will call for exactly 16q of liquid. |
| Servings |
| 2batch |
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- 2 Smoked Ham Hocks — Readily available in the grocery store, but extra points if you smoke your own!
- 2 bay leaves
- 16ounces dried green split peas — Normally come in a 16oz bag. *See “recipe notes” below if substituting dried beans.
- 2cups diced smoked ham — Farmland brand “Smoked Spiral Ham Slices & Pieces” are PERFECT. (diced meat is just under 1/2 lb per cup)
- 1tsp Black peppercorns (coarse ground or lightly crushed) — More if you know your audience will enjoy it – but DEFINITELY not more than double. I prefer them whole, but most folks don’t enjoy that.
- 1/2cup chopped onion * note: no need to add the sliced veggies (onion, carrots, celery & garlic) in order. Together is fine.
- 1cup sliced carrots
- 2ea sliced ribs of celery — ok to include leaves
- 2cloves minced garlic — Feel free to double this if your audience will not object.
- 2tsp Lawry’s seasoned salt (or your favorite) * note: dissolve the seasoning into liquid below then add to the pot.
- 6cups unsalted chicken stock — or water if you must. But chicken stock really makes this “pop”.
- 1/4cup fresh chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley
- to taste salt — best to wait until after the cook. It’s very possible it won’t need any.
- Optional flavored croutons — serve on the side, or toss a few on top just before serving.
- Rinse the peas thoroughly in a colander. Check carefully for foreign objects (rare but unpleasant).
- Dice the meat (except the hocks) to your preference ( I like about half an inch)
- Dissolve the seasoned salt into the stock and set aside. You can speed your cook up about an hour by heating the stock to a simmer before adding. But to be sure your peas get to the right texture, don’t cook less than 4 hours.
- After reading the “WARNING ABOUT HOCKS” in the recipe notes below, optionally follow the instructions there to keep your hocks from coming apart during the cook.
- Layer ingredients (except parsley, salt, and croutons) in slow cooker IN THE ORDER LISTED in the ingredient list.
- Pour stock over the whole thing. If the hocks are not fully submerged, add more liquid.
- Cover and cook on high 4 to 5 hours, or on low 8 to 10 hours. Do not disturb for the first 2 hours.
- At about 2 hours (and then once an hour until done), lift out the hocks and set them aside, stir the soup, then return the hocks, nestling them back deep in the soup. As the cook progresses the hocks become more and more fragile, becoming prone to fall apart by the end. Try to keep them in one piece. I use tongs in one hand to hold the sides of the hock, and a big kitchen spoon or something similar underneath to support the weight and hold the hock together. If inconvenient to stir hourly no big deal — but if possible don’t skip the first mix around the 2-hour mark. And definitely don’t skip final mix after the parsley is added. Before stirring, carefully remove the hocks. After stirring, gently nestle them back deeply into the soup.
- If cooking on “high” setting, every time you check it, pay attention to how well it’s simmering. Once it’s got a solid simmer going, drop the temperature setting to “low” (not “warm”). For the rest of the cook it will still simmer, but a bit slower – preserving more moisture. If at any point enough moisture is lost that the hocks are no longer fully submerged, add enough hot liquid (stock or water) to cover them.
- When you call it done, leave on heat but gently remove the hocks and set aside to cool. Careful, they will be fall-apart loose.
- From now on, pluck out and discard any bay leaves you happen to spot. They’ve already done their job.
- Stir in the parsley, wait ≈ 10-15 minutes then stir it again. Then unplug the cooker, or leave it on set to “Warm” if you plan to serve it soon.
- When the hocks have cooled enough to handle, hand-pull them to separate the meat. Dice or shred the meat and mix it back into the pot. This is the last chance to check for bone fragments. Discard the bones, fat & skin*.
- The soup looks a little thin at first, but have faith. It thickens A LOT as it cools, and has great body.
- Make a final patrol for hidden bay leaves if you think you may have missed any.
- Serve garnished with croutons, or maybe some hearty tearing-bread on the side. Store-bought croutons can be pretty good, but making your own is always an option: ourbestbites.com/sourdough-garlic-herb-croutons .
- *Future experiment: instead of discarding the hock skin, fry it under a press (kind of like cooking a smash burger) until crispy , dice, and add to soup. I haven’t tried this yet. If you try it, let me know what you think (Steve at KillerNoms dot com).
- This soup keeps frozen very well. I can’t tell the difference from fresh.
WARNING ABOUT HOCKS: Commercial hocks are normally cut on a meat saw, which can leave behind small sharp bone bits which are unpleasant to encounter at the dinner table. As the hocks get more fragile during the cook, they can “shed” these bone bits when disturbed. You can reduce that risk by a) carefully probing and inspecting the hock before cooking – cutting out any loose bone you spot and b) be super gentle and careful when removing and returning the hock to the soup.
But you can mostly eliminate the risk by placing each hock in a muslin drawstring bag. I’d buy them from someplace that intends they be used in the kitchen (e.g. SFHerb.com [no, it’s not a pot dispensary]). You might be able to squeak by with 5″x7″, but I’d go with 6″x8″. Warning, the bags can hold the naturally produced gas during the cook and tend to bob to the top, when you’d prefer them to remain submerged. Poking a few holes helps. Or you could wrap each hock well in layers of cheese cloth well-secured by butcher’s twine.
Or you could just replace the hocks with more diced pork – and maybe add a little liquid smoke.
If you can’t do the mix at the 2 hour mark (like if you are setting this up before going to work to have it ready when you get home), go ahead and stir everything but the parsley together at the start, set the cooker to “low” and go to work. It will still be excellent.
A batch using dried beans instead of split-peas turned out different, but just as great. It seemed that the beans absorbed more of the liquid, resulting in more of a “chili” texture than soup. If you prefer the “soup” texture, increase the liquid about 25%.
Freezes great, either in ziplock bags with the air expelled, or in “freezer safe” canning jars. Leave an inch of headspace for expansion.