A Taste of Spring

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Frozen peas, while you may not believe me, actually do taste like fresh peas in many cases depending how you use them. Mainly because fuits and vegetables are flash frozen at extreme temperatures, and like in a bad Sci-Fi original movie, they're placed in suspended animation. Once thawed peas are able to retain much of their structure with little breakdown of sugars or complex protien chains. Thus, fresh tasting peas.

That's why this dish is a staple around here during the winter months. It's fresh and sweet, a respite from the bite of winter winds. It's perfect with some slightly toasted, left over bread and a pat of butter. This jade soup is also easily adaptable to whatever you have on hand. Often times I use some diced bacon to salt it. Other times I use basil, cilantro, or mint to put some more spring in its step. This time we went with some sour cream - very yummy, the sour white once swirled into the striking green soup is truly fantastic. Fuck, I love sour cream. It makes food better. (Yeah, I swore on the blog, that's how much I love sour cream.)

Kids, may or may not like this. If you decide to serve it to them, give them the sour cream, bacon, basil, or what have you and let them customize it themselves. Interactive meals have more flavor anyways.

This dish is very quick and easy to prepare. Hope you enjoy! (And look, I avoided using the word pea-ness! Go me!)

Springtime Pea Soup
Serves 2, recipe can easily be doubled

What You'll Need...
16 oz of frozen peas
14 oz of chicken or veggie stock
4-5 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper to taste
sour cream (optional)
4 tablespoons of butter

What You'll Do...
1) Melt butter in a large pot. Saute the garlic for a minute, it shouldn't brown, but it should cook just enough to release some of the garlicy sweetness.
2) Add the peas and stir until slightly defrosted, eyeball it. Add the stock before the garlic burns. Salt and pepper.
3) Bring to a boil then turn heat to low and simmer for 6-8 minutes, until peas are tender.
4) Take off heat and let cool slightly. Use a hand blender or place in a stand blender in batches and puree. Garish with sour cream.

13 comments:

  1. That sounds F***ING good. Look, I almost swore :)

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  2. Dude,
    Linda Blair's birthday was two days ago! That's so rad you made pea soup... ;-O

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  3. I agree sour cream makes everything better... even if it doesnt need to be made better... like pea soup.... mmmmm

    gimme gimme

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  4. You are 100% correct -- I have always said that peas and corn are often better frozen than fresh, unless you live in the fields of Iowa. In summer. I likes me the peas, and this looks to die for.

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  5. My kids actually love what we call "peacicles", which is just frozen peas!

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  6. I could actually make this! I'm running low on supplies but am going shopping next week, but I have frozen peas in my freezer and most of the ingredients! We keep frozen peas on hand because we give em to our goldfish for treats! :)

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  7. Totally agree - frozen peas are as good as fresh peas... in some ways better because they are ALWAYS in stock.

    Mmmm...that's a great looking soup...I like the idea of bacon and sour cream... hey I have everything for this recipe apart from frozen peas! I think thats a sign I'm supposed to go get some.

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  8. I am making this, it is so simple! and I love the color!

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  9. That is just gorgeous!

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  10. Im saving this pea soup recipe for when Freddie and I hit P for Pea on the Great Big Veg Challenge.

    Just wanted to say that if you like baking as you clearly do and appreciate the beauty of creating a cake - just log on to this blog by a fellow Brit. http://www.bakingforbritain.blogspot.com

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  11. I have to say, that soup looks luscious, but the Food Network chefs absolutely cannot open a box of peas without telling us that they taste about as good as fresh peas because they are flash frozen. Every single time.

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  12. You should try another version of this but displace the peas and replace with broad beans. Its delightful.
    http://www.greatbigvegchallenge.blogspot.com

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  13. I made this recipe tonight. The soup was a beautiful green color, and the taste was light and fresh. Übersimple. I'll make it again.

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~Garrett

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