Month: October 2017

It’s beginning to be fall and that means soup! I love how warm and cozy a bowl of hearty soup makes me feel. Sometimes I don’t have the exact ingredients a recipe calls for, though, so I’ve made a recipe of my own based on what I had on hand. It can’t be that hard, right?

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 c dried black eyed peas

1/2 yellow onion, diced

4 Tbsp bacon grease

1/4 c all purpose flour

2 chicken breasts

3 c mixed vegetables

4 c chicken broth

1-2 c milk or half and half

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions: 

The night before you make your soup (or the morning of), place your dried peas in a pan and cover them with 2″ of water. Bring to a boil and let boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, add more water, and let sit overnight.

Trim the chicken of any excess fat and cut into 1″ cubes. Place in a pot of boiling water, and boil for a few minutes until cooked. Meanwhile, add diced onion and bacon fat to a large stock pot and cook over medium heat until the onions are translucent – about 5 minutes. Add the flour and whisk to make a roux. Add chicken broth, milk, mixed vegetables, drained peas, and chicken. Season to taste. Cook the soup until broth is hot and vegetables are soft – about 20-30 minutes.

Serve as is or with some hot crusty bread.

Thoughts:

• You could easily substitute pinto beans or a bag of mixed beans in this recipe. If you are in a time crunch, canned beans work well also.
• I used a mixed bag of frozen carrots, potatoes, celery, and onion from the store because I didn’t want to spend my whole life peeling carrots. This soup would be even better with fresh vegetables, and you can use just about anything you have laying around.
• If you don’t have bacon fat you can substitute lard or butter, but the flavor will be slightly different.
• Canned chicken would work in a pinch, and a rotisserie chicken would be easy and add a lot of good flavor.