Shopping Around the World

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cute-kitten-sitting-shopping-cart

This month Shopping Around the World Presents making a hearty winter soup.  Bacon of Piglove introduced us to Shopping Around the World.

Cat in pot

Shoko has decided to be my assistant on this cooking project.
chef Shoko
Just think of me as the Canadian Chef. Today we will be making pea soup from scratch.

This process takes us two days because mom is picky as hell-o.
Here is a list of the ingredients:

1 smoked pork hock
1 onion, chopped
celery, chopped
1 bay leaf
3/4 cup dried split peas
1/2 cup whole dried peas
1/4 cup of green lentils
1 potato, peeled, cut up

Mom used a big crock pot and threw in the smoked pork hock. What’s a pork hock mom? I never heard of one. The hock is the lower, meaty portion of the front leg of the animal. Eww…the lower leg of the pig…shhh we don’t want Bacon to hear! You mean like the ankle? There’s not much meat on an ankle but the hock might include an ankle also Shoks. Sounds like peeps don’t have enough to do if they’re going to smoke an ankle. The hocks are so tasty though Shoks and when they’re smoked they get a special flavour. You mean like ham, mom? Well, yes, very similar to ham Shoks. Why not just use the ham then? Mainly because the hock has such a lovely flavour…stop asking questions Shoko and let’s get busy. OK mom, how long do we simmer the smoked pork hock mom? I put the smoked pork hock on for about 10 hours on simmer in the crock pot. Then we throw away all the fat on the meat and the bay leaf. We peel back the fat to see the meat. Transferring the juice into our bowl, we then put the bowl into the fridge to make the juice gel up and all the fat to rise to the top. The meat we keep in another separate bowl. We can put it in the fridge overnight or in our case, stick the bowl on the deck for an hour or so and the juices will solidify quickly. It shows just how fast us kitties can get frozen at these temperatures. It’s quite dangerous to have animals out for very long in this weather Shoko.

After the juices have cooled overnight we take a slotted spoon and remove much of the fat solidified on top of the bowl. We keep some of the fat as this is where much of the flavour resides. Now. is the time to add all the dried ingredients and the onion and celery. There is no need to sauté the veggies as they will cook nicely in the crock pot and retain all their flavour. Any questions Shoko? Yes, when do we pee on the juices? What??!! Oh my Shoko we never pee on the soup. It’s called pea soup because we use peas. Why would you think we would pee on it? I’ve heard of yellow pea soup and green pea soup and I figured one had to pea on both but you couldn’t really see the pee in the green soup. What’s the difference between yellow and green pea soup mom? Green and yellow split peas are different varieties of the seeds of the Pisum sativum L., or field pea, plant. Also if peas dry to hardness on the vine, they retain a yellow appearance as opposed to dried up picked peas. How do you know mother? I know from the peas in our garden Shoko. I have never dried enough to make yellow pea soup but maybe I should and see if it works. That’ll be our goal this year mom.
After the dried ingredients have been added, add the chopped onion, That’s not much potato in a big crock pot like that mom. I know Shoks but we freeze our pea soup and the potato seems to go grainy when frozen so I only put in enough for that meal.
While the ingredients are cooking bring out the pork hock meat. I am rather particular about not including any gristle or chunks of fat. So I pull the meat apart by hand so I can feel the meat that goes into the soup. MOL…no wonder you need glasses mom! About 2 hours before meal time add the chopped and peeled potato. If you add the potato too soon, it will become mush.  I add the meat just before eating the soup.  Many times I have had a delicious soup but the meat tasted boiled so I add the cooked meat last.  Although I can’t see where adding the meat earlier would make a huge difference. Today you will have the crock pot on for about 8 hours or maybe a wee bit less.
Your soup is now ready to enjoy. Any last words about the soup Shoko? Yes, remember don’t cool the soup down by peeing in it….mom says it really doesn’t taste good afterwards…psst..guess she found out the hard way. MOL

peasoupzmsm

Note the orange thingies in the soup, well, mom told me she added shredded carrot and a bit of chopped carrot but no pee.  Got i?!  Good.

Kali and Shoks

 

 

35 thoughts on “Shopping Around the World”

  5. Piglove

    Squeals!! Now the ham hock scared me for a second my friends but mom sat me down and explained everything. I’m not that kind of pig – snorts and thank goodness for that. But mom is getting all glazed looking at that bowl. She says it looks fantastic and is licking her lips. You think she is hungry? XOXO – Bacon

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    1. The Canadian Cats Post author

      hehe…To tell the honest truth when I asked mom about adding the pee I was rather disappointed she’d make soup with pee in it but you never can tell what these humans like…go figure.

      Shoko

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    1. The Canadian Cats Post author

      Hi Ernie, Wally and Zoey,
      I’ll bet your mom is thinking, I’m way too busy for this method of making soup. I think your mom would be right. Even though we threw the pork hock in the crockpot…there are lots of things to add afterward. If I was you, Wally’s mom, I would cook the pork hock one day…just let er go and the next morning I’d throw all the other ingredients in crockpot before I left for work.

      Shoko

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    1. The Canadian Cats Post author

      Mom has never made lentil soup but I don’t know why. She buys lentil soup. As long as there’s meat in it, dad would like it. I must drop hints for her to make lentil soup…another Canadian Chef special.

      Shoko

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  9. lexitheschnauzer

    That soup looks great! I would like some on my kibble. Every week this winter Mom has made two different soups to last the week and she and Dad eat them for supper every night. Sometimes she makes more midweek. Mom also uses some as topping on my food. Mmmmm. What’s better than warm soup on a cold night?

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  17. Einstein

    Dad loves cooking but it is tough for one. We keep saying he is cooking for us too but he says we would not like a lot of what he makes. This soup really looks tasty and I hope Dad gives it a go. Without Pee of course
    Purrs my dear
    Hope you come by for Buddys 16th Birthday
    Buddy sends Kali head bumps

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    1. The Canadian Cats Post author

      Mom understands Einstein. Dad worked out of town for years and there was only her and us. She made the pea soup but used far less ingredients. The smoked pork hock is delish in it though and probably just the right amount of meat for one man sized appetite. You would be able to freeze some for those nights you don’t feel like cooking.

      Kali is watching the snow fall and thinking of Buddy Bud. She always sends hugs and cuddles.

      Kissy kissy,

      Shoko

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We love mewing with you my friend so pull up a cushion and let's chatter like the squirrels.

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