Had to share this great frugal recipe- Ham, Ham and pea soup

Yesterday for the price of $10 of groceries i made 3kg of ham and 13 pints of pea and ham soup. I just wanted to share it with you guys.


One of my biggest annoyances when doing groceries is the price of sliced ham, for sandwiches and salads during the week. Here you can buy a pack of ham 4-500g for about $4-5 thin sliced that might last the week. Or a bone in ham joint for $8 and 3+kg.

So i decided i wanted to cook my own ham then have it for the following weeks. Even with the price of the bone its a no brainer.


The second thing i really like here in Montreal is their Pea and Ham soups. especially this time of year when it gets cold. So i have tried to combine the two.


Its very simple i cook a bone in ham with a few carrots, celery, onions. a herb bag of bay, cloves mace and sage. cover the ham with water i use my pressure cooker for it. Then pour in a kg of dried whole peas. Give it a stir and cook for 2-3hrs.

Remove the ham but keep the liquid cooking with the lid off you want to reduce it down. Cut the ham into three chunks leaving some meat on the bone. Any fat that comes off put into the liquid.

i put the three chunks onto a baking tray with any scraps that fell off. cover with mustard and brown sugar. Also put the bone in the oven (without mustard/sugar) and bake in the oven for 25mins at 350f until the sugar has browned on the ham.

take out and cool and the Ham is ready for eating. Tastes better than any store bought.


Take the roasted bone and put into the pea liquid thats still cooking. I normally cook it down for a further 2 hours. (i like my peas mushy and think it adds to the flavour of the ham which is why i add it at the start but you can add the peas before this reduction stage if you want a bit more texture)

I remove the bone and the meat carefully (by this stage it should fall off the bone) put it to one side and blitz the soup down to a smooth mix. Shred the ham off the bone and put back into the soup.

You now have a huge pot of pea and ham soup for freezing or canning and certainly for eating.


Looking at the post it seems a lot of effort but it takes about 20min kitchen time, the rest of the time you can leave things in the oven or on the stove.

anyway was so impressed with how well it went yesterday just wanted to share what i'm sure is an old frugal method of cooking.

 

We love ham, we love soup, and we especially love frugal. This is a winning recipe--thank you for sharing it!

 

Hmmmm….now the computer smells like ham and pea soup…..doesn't it? Or is that my imagination? Great recipe. Now I can use Frank's new save feature.

Jerry

 

Mmmm, I agree with marlingardener and Jerry Sullivan. That sounds good, *"nose images" run through my head smelling what I remember in the past when eating pea soup.* OH OH YUM.

Only one people likes it in my house so what Isay is, THAT'S MORE FOR MEEEE.....*Runs to pantry to have some for lunch.*

 

I have never had ham and pea soup. Maybe I should make some. I like potato soup with ham and bean soup with ham, so I suppose I should like pea soup with ham, too.

 

carolyn keiper, You have never had split pea soup??? I can't believe it. Carolyn if you want to come over I will serve you some.....

 

Glad to hear all your computers smell of pea soup now :-D

I had it for the first time three years ago at the maple syrup shack cant beat it on a cold day.

I highly recommend the ham as well, i think it must be the protein in the peas or something. But its the best tasting ham i've had.

now if anyone can suggest a way to stop me from nibbling a little bit of ham every time i go past the fridge the wife would be most happy

 

Oh Boy, My mom make split pea soup with ham ever since I was a baby....that was some 60 years ago. When I was a child and I came into the house and smelled that, I can remember driving her nutz, asking her "is it time to eat yet???????" She is gone now but I still remember how good it tasted in that old kitchen with my mom, dad and sister.

 

Slurp!!! Slurp!! Can I have some Danjensen, it sounds real yummie!!! Can I know the ham is cured ham or just raw fresh ham. I want to try to make it. Yummie!!!

 

Sounds excellent. I wonder if many people who think dinner is a stop at Jack-in-the-Box have ever put a pencil to the cost involved rather than the cost of a meal like this? $10. for several meals as opposed to one. Just curious since the economy is so bad now why people don`t just cook? I have noticed the long lines at Mc D`d and Burger King. Doesn`t make much sense to me. Thanks for putting the price of this in your post Danjensen.

 

KK, the ham i get is pre cooked, which means its not that salty. If your doing raw ham, I find the liquid gets very salty and ruins the soup. Best solution is to soak it overnight in water to draw out the salt.

Thanks Mart, I totally agree.

 

Thanks Danjensen