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Green Pea Soup
1 qt. shelled peas 3 pts. water 1 onion, sliced 2 tablespoons shortening 1 tablespoon flour 3 level teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1 qt. milk Put the peas in stewpan with the boiling water and onion and cook until tender. Pour off the liquid, saving for use later. Mash the peas fine, then add the liquid in which they were boiled, and rub through a puree sieve. Return to the saucepan, add flour and shortening, beaten together, and the salt and pepper. Now gradually add the milk, which must be boiling hot. Beat well and cook 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Serves eight.
A plain milk-thickened pea soup of the sort dietary cookbooks leaned on for calories that go down easily. Nothing here is difficult; the points that matter are quantities and the order in which the milk goes in.
- A quart of shelled peasThat is about 4 cups, roughly 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 lb shelled, which takes somewhere in the region of 3 to 4 lb of peas in the pod. About 1 1/2 lb of frozen peas is the practical substitute and needs only 5-8 minutes of simmering rather than the longer cooking fresh garden peas wanted.
- ShorteningIn this period that means lard or a vegetable shortening such as Crisco. Butter works and tastes better; the fat is here partly for the enrichment.
- Rub through a puree sieveA food mill fitted with the fine plate does the same job and also strips out the skins, which is the real purpose. A blender or stick blender is faster but leaves the hulls in, so pass it through a sieve afterward if you want the smooth texture the recipe intends.
- Flour and shortening beaten togetherThis is a beurre manié — raw fat and flour worked to a paste and stirred into hot liquid, rather than a cooked roux. Add it in small pieces to the simmering puree and whisk, or it will sit in lumps.
- The milk must be boiling hotCold milk poured in would drop the whole pan well below a simmer; scald it separately and add it in a slow stream, beating.
- SaltThree level teaspoons across roughly three quarts of soup is ordinary seasoning strength rather than heavy, though it is still worth starting with half and correcting at the end, and it is not a dish for anyone watching sodium.
- The final ten minutesTen minutes at a bare simmer is enough to cook out the raw flour. Keep it below a hard boil and stir the bottom — a starch-thickened milk soup scorches quickly.
- YieldEight generous bowls, near enough three quarts. It thickens noticeably as it cools; thin with hot milk when reheating.