Sunday's Soups

I didn't wake up until 7:30 on Sunday. I had another bagel for breakfast and reheated the coffee. I ate it on the couch, admiring the sunlight on yesterdays' snow. It is still very cold with a predicted high of only 23 degrees F. (-5 degrees C.)

I forgot to mention yesterday that I had filled the bird feeder in the snow storm. Well, today, the bird feeder was mobbed with all manner of birds and squirrels.

So, no shower or shave this morning. I just put on my dirty tiling clothes and got back to work. By 12:30 PM, I had all the whole tiles on the north and south walls. No, I'm not getting any faster, by the way. There are 72 tiles up on the west wall and only 24 each on the north and south walls.

Two things were troublesome. One box of tile (I think there are 36 tiles per box) looked different as I was about to put it up. So, I checked and instead of "biscuit - matte," it was "biscuit - bright." Thank God I caught it! So, that will have to go back and get exchanged.

The other thing is I am almost out of mortar and nowhere near done. So, I will have to pick some of that up, too.

I cleaned up the tools, covered the small amount of remaining mortar and then threw my "tiling" clothes in the washer. I went and shaved, showered and changed into clean clothes. By 2:00 PM, I had made a sandwich for lunch and was watching some taped cooking shows, hoping to catch a nap. My back is hurting, again (it's those damn tiles on the very bottom, I decided).

I did doze off and woke up at 3:30 PM. I started on making my Mom's soups. Soup number one will be beef, mushroom and barley. Soup number two will be split pea and ham.

For soup number one, I took three pounds of short ribs and, in my large skillet, browned them in canola oil on all six sides. Then I put them in the medium stock pot with 12 cups of water and brought it to a boil, then turned it down to a nice simmer for 1 1/2 hours. I added two bay leaves. Since I can't use any salt, I will have to rely on herbs and pepper to season both soups.

Meanwhile, I diced a medium sweet onion and saut�ed that in the same pan. When they were a nice color, I added six cloves of minced garlic for a minute or so, and then added the onions and garlic to the stock pot.

For soup number two (since I didn't soak them overnight), I sorted through the split peas, put them in 8 cups of water in the small stock pot and brought them to a boil. I let them simmer for two more minutes and then let them soak without heat for an hour.

When soup number one was done simmering, I added a handful of thyme, fresh ground black pepper and the barley and let it simmer for another 45 minutes.

For soup number two, I took two hickory smoked ham hocks and scored them. Then, I browned them in my trusty skillet, but using bacon grease this time (pork fat rules!) As Chef Anne Burrell likes to point out, brown meat just tastes better.

Next, I saut�ed one cup of diced onion, once cup of diced celery and 1/2 cup of diced carrots in the same bacon grease. When they were just about soft, I added 2 minced cloves of garlic and cooked it about a minute more. I drained the peas and then put everything on the small stock pot: the two ham hocks, the peas, the saut�ed onions, carrots, celery and garlic, half a pound of diced ham and two diced Yukon gold potatoes (skin on). I added four cups of homemade chicken stock and six cups of water, a handful of thyme, some red pepper flakes, some fresh ground pepper and a bay leaf. I brought it up to a boil and then let it simmer. I set the timer for one hour.

Back to soup number one (are you getting as confused as I was?) I cleaned the skillet and then saut�ed some diced carrots and some celery in canola oil and butter. I took a pound of Cremini mushrooms and quartered them (well, the bigger ones I cut into six pieces). When the carrots and celery were soft, I added the mushrooms. When they were golden brown, it all went into the stock pot with the short ribs, onions, garlic and barley. I let that cook for about 20 more minutes, while I started to clean up the kitchen.

When the timer went off for soup number one, I pulled out the short ribs (they were falling apart at this point) and put them on a plate to cool. I also removed the bay leaves. I finished cleaning up the kitchen and went to catch the Blog up.

When the timer went of for soup number two, I removed the two ham hocks and the bay leaf, got out my immersion blender and pureed it.

When the short ribs were cool, I cut out the meat, cubed it and added it back into the soup. The bones, fat and the two ham hock went onto the patio for the possum. I let the soups cool down while I started to watch my Sunday evening shows.

At 11:00 PM, I put both soups in the fridge, but not the freezer. For the beef, mushroom and barley soup, I'll want to remove the layer of fat that will rise to the top and get solid by tomorrow. Then, I will put them in the four-cup freezer containers and the freezer. Next, I went to bed.