Ingredients:
1 ham hock or approx. or 1 cup of dice ham or bacon
2 quarts Chicken, beef or ham stock (8 cups)
You can make a stock with the ham hock
2 cups chopped Leeks
2 cups chopped celery root
2 cups chopped carrots (3 large)
1 lb (1 bag) Split Peas
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon Marjoram leaves or ground (May substitute thyme)
2 bay leaves
a dash of nutmeg
6 Frankfurters with natural casing
Directions:
The German soup kitchen starts with the "Deutche Holy Trinity" called Supengruen.
This is a centuries old combination or basic flavoring fo soup.
Leeks, would stay nicely in the garden, even if the ground was covered by snow.
and carrots and celery root wintered over in a basic root cellar.
The ham hock while doesn't have much meat on it, but still has a lot of flavor locked up between
the bones and sinew. that can flavor a whole pot of water into a flavorful broth.
While we don't have the gardens of yester-year or century, so if you can't find or afford celery root, celery works very well. It wasn't available in the garden in the middle of winter, and there were no supermarkets.
1. Chop everything to a medium dice, and be sure and give the leeks a wash, as soil gets into the leaves.
2. Meat was scarce when our relatives were getting through winter.
instead of 6 oz of meat per meal, a little bacon was used to flavor vegetables and dried peas.
3. Sweating the bacon and then saute the vegetables, herbs and spices, brings out more flavor. the bubbling fats and oils is a higher heat and unlock flavors and aromas that you don't get when you just boil the vegetables.
This is a culinary phenomenan called the Maillard reaction.
4. Next add your stock and bring to a simmer. add the split peas.
Simmer for about 60- 90 minutes and the split peas will dissolve and the soup will be creamy.
You can leave it like this with the vegtables and meat in tact.
You can puree the soup so it is creamier. It is fun to float a Frankfurter or smoked sausage on top, for a nice contrast. If you do it is nice to use a large shallow bowl, that it will be easier to cut the sausage.
You can add large chunks of potato, and other vegetables and make a full meal out of it.
This is what Germans would call Erbseneintopf.
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