Comfort Food

No matter where you live, the past days, weeks (months) have been like none other the majority of us have lived through. Although all three of us are in the “at-risk” categories due to age or health, we are doing ok.

Whenever there is a lot of worry or stress, it is nice to have some Comfort Food. What you call Comfort Food, I guess, depends on where you call home. For us yesterday, it was Split Pea Soup and Cornbread.

Dry Green Split Peas

Dry beans/peas are a staple in my pantry. I often make them in my slow pot, but yesterday I used my electric pressure pot. I’ve got two electric pressure pots – you know, like the popular Instant Pot. One belonged to my mother. It is just a basic pressure pot with a variable temperature controller – no timer, no auto cut-off. The other is a Power Pressure Cooker XL I bought a few years ago at BJ’s Warehouse Club. Pressure Pot recipes are all mostly the same. The key is to know your equipment.

Since the weather is a bit cooler for the next few days, I decided we were in need of some Comfort Food – Split Pea Soup & Cornbread. There are lots of recipes on the Internet for this soup. I really don’t like it when the recipe says it only takes 15 minutes, when actually with prep, bringing the pot to pressure, actually cooking at pressure and, in this case, a natural release of pressure it takes a lot longer. I will admit this took a little over an hour from start to finish.

Split Pea Soup

Prep – Dice Veggies in to small pieces: 1 medium Onion, 2 medium Carrots, 2 Stalks Celery

Sauté – Using the Sauté feature, Add 1 Tbsp Olive Oil (or oil of your choice) & heat for 5 minutes. Add diced Veggies and stir for 4-5 minutes. The last minute, add 1 tsp of diced Garlic Paste (or 1 clove garlic, diced). Some electric pressure pots don’t have a Sauté Button. I understand that you may be able to use any button to heat the pot with the lid off and choosing a time setting of about 10 minutes.

Saute the Veggies (yes, this also has the diced ham added)

Ham – I usually use a ham bone, but didn’t have one. I did have a half a package of diced ham in the freezer. I thawed it and then warmed it a bit after sautéing the Veggies.

Rinse 1# bag of Dry Green Split Peas under cold water. Add Dry Peas, 32 oz of Chicken Broth, 2 cups Water, Salt (I used 1/2 tsp) & Pepper to taste & 1-2 Bay Leaves. If you don’t have Chicken broth, you could use an equal amount of water & bouillon. Don’t have Bay Leaves, you can leave them out.

Everything in the Pot, ready to go!

Lock the lid in place and close the steam knob. Select whichever button that gives you 15 minutes of pressure cooking time. It took mine about 15 minutes to get up to pressure. After cooking, allow it to release pressure naturally, which was about 15 minutes for me.

Pressure Cook Time Set

After pressure is fully released, open the lid carefully & give the soup a stir. It will thicken a bit while it sits. This will be slightly lumpy, so if you prefer it smooth, use an immersion blender. Or you can CAREFULLY add a few cups at a time to a blender being careful while blending hot liquids.

Steaming good and ready to eat!

Of course, we had to have Cornbread. I use my cast iron skillet (#10) when making Cornbread. It gives it a nice, crisp crust.

Golden Yellow Cornbread

I thought we’d have enough leftovers for dinner tonight, but it was OH! So Good! Well a small cup for lunch along with a half a sandwich with homemade bread will have to do.

I am getting some sewing done, and maybe will get to post some pictures of my progress.

Happy Stitching!

Quilt Mouse