fresh baked bread, blue cheese, candied walnut and pear salad, baked stuffed apples – Serves 4 generously

Pea soup

1 pound split peas

Pick over the peas to be sure there are no pebbles or other foreign items. Cover with water and let sit overnight, refrigerated. The other option is to cover the peas with boiling water and let them sit for 1 hour. Drain the peas well.

1 ham hock, approximately 900 gm
1 small onion roughly chopped
1 small carrot roughly chopped

2 ribs celery, roughly chopped
8 cups water or enough to cover all of the ingredients
2 bay leaves

Place all of the above in a large pot then add the drained peas. Cover the pan and bring to the boil then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer just until the peas are tender and the meat is falling off the bones, approximately 2 – 3 hours. Skim the foam off the top of the soup several times during cooking.

Remove the ham hock and the bay leaves. Discard the bay leaves and reserve the ham hock. Process until the soup is as smooth as you like. Add more water if the soup is too thick.

Pick the ham off the bone, dice it up and stir through the soup. Garnish with croutons just before serving.

Croutons

½ loaf of day old French bread cut into ½” cubes
Olive oil as required (I used a scant tablespoon)
Salt and pepper as required

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Toss the bread cubes with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Don’t use too much olive oil or the croutons will be greasy.

Spread the cubes out as evenly as possible on a sheet tray and place in the preheated oven. Bake just until the croutons are golden brown, approximately 15 minutes.

Flatbread

1 cup lukewarm water
1 tsp active dry yeast

Dissolve the yeast in the water and set aside some place warm, Let the yeast sit for 10 minutes or just until it bubbles and rises to the surface. If the yeast does not bubble and rise to the surface your yeast may no longer be active and you will need to start with new yeast.

2 cups standard flour, plus extra for handling the dough
1 tsp salt

Add all of the dry ingredients together in the bowl of a food processor. With the machine running, add the water and process just until the water is fully incorporated into the dry ingredients.

1 Tablespoon olive oil

As soon as the water/yeast mixture has been fully incorporated, drizzle in the olive oil and continue to process just until the dough is smooth. This can also be done by hand or with a stand mixer.

Olive oil as required

Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and cover with a dry cloth. Allow the dough to rise until double, approximately 1 hour. Deflate the dough gently then shape into a round.

Place the dough on a parchment paper lined sheet tray and press the dough out into a circle approximately 10” wide. Cover with the same cloth and let the dough rise until it has doubled in size.

Preheat your oven to 400°F.

Using your fingers make indentations all over the top of the bread. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Place on a low rack in the oven and bake just until the bread sounds hollow when tapped on the back side.

Let the bread sit for 10 minutes before cutting it up into wedges. Serve hot with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping.

Salad with pears, candied walnuts and blue cheese

½ cup shelled walnuts
¼ cup sugar 

Put the nuts in a dry pan over high heat. Note: Do not use a Teflon coated pan for this as the high heat may damage coating. Sprinkle the sugar over the nut and allow the sugar to start to melt and to coat the nuts. Do not walk away! As soon as the sugar starts to melt, toss the nuts to ensure that the sugar evenly coats all of the nuts. As soon as all of the sugar is melted and the nuts are coated in the caramel, transfer the nuts immediately to a cool plate to stop the cooking. Set aside until later. This can be done up to 24 hours before hand as long as the nuts are stored in a sealed air tight container. 

Wash the lettuce and spin it dry.

1 tsp fresh lemon juice
¼ tsp salt
6 grinds fresh pepper or to taste
2 T white balsamic vinegar
5 T oil
½ tsp sugar

Place the above in the bottom of the salad bowl and whisk together well until combined.

1 ripe pear, peeled and sliced into thin slices

Peel and slice the pear over the salad bowl letting the juices fall into the dressing. Add the slices to the dressing and toss together well. Note: This can be done up to 2 hours before serving as the dressing will keep the pear from darkening. Put the lettuce in the bowl on top of the pears. Do not toss the salad until just before you are ready to serve.

¼ cup blue cheese, crumbled (If you don’t like blue cheese substitute another cheese. Feta works well.)

Just before serving, sprinkle the salad with the blue cheese crumbles and the candied walnuts and toss together well. Only toss once you are ready to serve the salad. Note: you can substitute any other cheese for the blue cheese if you don’t care for blue cheese.

If you are doing plated service, toss the salad with the dressing and the pears. Mound some of the lettuce on each plate and top with some of the sliced pears. Sprinkle the cheese and the walnuts over the top of the salad and serve immediately.

Baked Apples

4 baking apples (use Jonagold, Granny Smith, Braemar, Rome beauty)
Remove the core from the apples. Do not cut all the way through to the bottom.
½ cup brown sugar, packed
½ tsp cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter
¼ cup raisins or currents

Mix the above ingredients together well and divide into 4 even amounts. Press the mixture into the holes in the apples.

Boiling water as required

Place the apples in a baking dish and pour in enough boiling water to just cover the bottom of the pan. Place in a preheated 400°F oven, uncovered and bake until the apples are fork tender approximately 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Serve warm with sweetened cinnamon whipped cream and ice cream.

To get this meal to the table easily:

• Up to 3 days in advance:
  • Make the soup and store refrigerated
  • Make the croutons and store at room temperature in an air tight container
  • Candy the walnuts and store at room temperature in an air tight container
• Earlier in the day but no more than 3 hours
  • Crumble the blue cheese
  • Make the bread dough
  • Wash the lettuce and store refrigerated
  • Prep the apples
  • Make the dressing for the salad and put the pears in the dressing. Store at room temperature being sure the pears are well covered in the dressing.

Cathie Hamilton
Certified Culinary Scientist
E-mail Cathie Hamilton

See all articles by Cathie Hamilton