The season for soup

Miss Eagle walked in to Her Upper Gully Woolies yesterday afternoon and, on entering, the fruit & veg department came up against a display which said (without being written in large letters) PEA SOUP. There were ham hocks and packs of soup veges and packs of peas and lentils. Miss Eagle could not resist and Pea Soup was, before too long, on the menu and in the tummy. Here's how.

PEA SOUP

Ingredients: 2 Ham Hocks, 2 large onions, garlic to taste (Miss E. loves heaps), 1 large carrot, 2 cups of dried green peas, 2 cups of diced celery, 12 cups of water.

Method: Put the Ham Hocks, onions, garlic, and water in a big pot and bring to a simmer. Leave to simmer for about an hour. Remove hocks and remove the skin/rind and dispose. Remove the meat from the bone and cut into bite sized pieces. Return to the water. Miss E. also puts the bare bones back to get the most out of them, but you don't have to. Add the remaining vegetables. Cook for another 45 minutes. Peas should be a little mushy but with whole cooked peas still visible and in shape.

Miss Eagle serves her soup, as you can see from the photograph, over a slice of Phillipa's bread. In this case, her Campagnard Bloomer. Phillipa's bread is arguably the best bread in the whole of Melbourne and here, in the outer south-east, we are privileged to be able to purchase Phillipa's product off the shelf at the local Maxi supermarket here in Upper Gully.