Chickpea and Bean Dahl

Just so you know what to look for in terms of a final result with this dish, the split peas should completely break down and join the cream to make a thick sauce in which are swimming the chickpeas and the beans. If the beans are breaking down a bit, that's not a bad thing. Served as a dal with an Indian meal accompanied by rice or naan and tarkari and saag, this is a lovely buttery, creamy dish.

1 cup yellow split peas (7 oz/200g)

Salt, to taste

1 tsp cumin seeds

3 Tbsps. mild oil

2 Tbsps. fresh ginger, finely grated

2 large garlic cloves, grated (10-12g)

½ tsp red pepper flakes or 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced

½ tsp cayenne pepper

1 small tomato (3oz), chopped

1 Tbsp tomato paste

¾ cup cream (your choice, half and half, table cream or whipping cream)

2 Tbsps. (1oz/28gr) butter

½ cup water

4.5oz dried chickpeas, soaked and cooked or 15oz/425g cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed

4.5oz dried beans, soaked and cooked or 15oz/425g cooked red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper, to taste 

1. Ideally, soak the split peas for at least an hour before boiling them.
2. If using dry beans, cook in a pot separate from the peas.
3. In a medium saucepan, bring plenty of water to a boil. Add the split peas and a generous pinch of salt and boil about 50 minutes.
4. When the peas are well cooked and just starting to break down, retain 1 cup of the cooking water and drain the rest. Liquify in a blender with some of the cooking water. Set aside with the other cooked beans.
5. Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet, heat the oil and toast the cumin seeds until they just start to turn colour and are fragrant.
6. Add the ginger, garlic, jalapeño and cayenne and cook over moderate heat until softened, about 6 minutes. 
7. Add the tomato and tomato paste and cook until the tomato is slightly broken down, about 5 minutes. 
8. Add the cream, butter and water and bring to a boil. 
9. Stir in the cooked yellow split peas, chickpeas and beans and season with salt. 
10. Simmer, covered, over low heat until thickened, about 15 minutes. Cook longer if it seems too liquid or if the peas have not broken down into a sauce.

Split Pea and Greens Bharta

It's challenging finding recipes using split peas - I mostly get hits for different variations of pea soup (which is delicious, no doubt!). Putting on my researcher cap, I looked to the far East for inspiration and found this little gem. Meant to be eaten scooped with flatbread or raw veggie sticks. The challenging detail to get this recipe right is the amount of liquid required to create the right consistency - too liquid and it'll be soupy and difficult to pick up with bread or veggie sticks, too thick and it won't process properly. The end product is well worth figuring out these details. Note that it requires soaking time for the peas, which makes it a perfect candidate to eat with Staffordshire Oatcakes, which require at least an hour proofing time.

TIMING: 2hrs soak + 1hr25mins

For the Split Peas
1½ cup yellow split peas
3½ cup water (or more, if needed)

1. Soak the peas for at least 2 hours before boiling.
2. Bring them to a boil then simmer for 30 to 50 minutes, until the peas are fully cooked and tender (don't rush this step, the longer and softer the better).
3. Save 1 cup of the cooking water and drain away any excess, if there is any.
4. Season with salt and allow to cool while preparing the veg.

For the Veg Mixture
1 onion, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, finely diced (or a pinch of red pepper flakes)
1 tsp salt, to taste
8 to 12oz fresh greens (spinach, chard, kale, turnip greens, nettles, etc) finely chopped.

1. Dry-sauté the onion until translucent and golden, about 10 minutes. No oil is required, but you do need to stir frequently to avoid sticking. The onion will soften and a fond will develop, which will largely come up from the liquid expressed from the greens when you add them. If it's all sticking too much, add a splash of water.
2. Add the garlic and cook another 30 seconds, then the hot pepper, greens and salt. Stir to combine and cook until the greens wilt. 

Final Steps
2 tsps dried mint
Water
½ tsp salt or to taste
zest of 1 lime or lemon
2 tsps black pepper

1. Once the greens are perfectly cooked, purée the split peas until smooth or, if you'd rather do it by hand, press through a fine sieve with a wooden spoon. It will be quite thick so, if you're running it through the blender, add water to help it move in the machine. Ideally it should be able to just make a vortex in the blender - it will look too wet but will stiffen in no time.
2. To the just-blended peas briefly add and purée the greens, just to get a rough chop, or chop very fine by hand and thoroughly stir in. If using a machine, do it just so that the veg has passed through once - a little chunky is fine. use some of the pea cooking water to get things moving - the veg mix is quite dry.
3. Combine the lime or lemon zest, pepper and mint and mix into the paste.
4. Adjust the seasoning to your taste. Both peas and any added water absorb the effect of salt on flavor, so it's important to taste and adjust the salt until the flavors pop to your liking.
5. Reheat and serve.

Split Pea Soup

The chemistry in cooking is always fascinating. While it seems odd, adding oatmeal in the mix makes for a luscious, unctuous, creamy soup, unlike the grainy pea soups I've had. While perfectly good made fresh, like stew, the flavours really come out when re-heated on the second day.

2 slices of thick bacon (approx 20g) (or use the cooking water from boiling a ham or the braising liquid from pork steak stew, maybe with a little ham fat)
2 onions (12oz/340gr), chopped
1 tsp of sugar
½ tsp of pepper
12 cups (3.5 quarts) cold water
2 cups (450g) yellow split peas
1 to 3 tsps. of salt (to taste, depends on broth or hock)

4 oz/114g (about 1 generous cup) of quick cook oats
Optional: 1 sprig thyme, 1 bay leaf and/or 1 large carrot

1. Soak the peas in hot water for 2 to 4 hours before using. This helps avoid the odd overly firm pea being left in the soup.
2. Cut the bacon into lardons.
3. Together, combine the lardons and the onion in a soup pot and cook, rendering the fat at medium heat, for about ten minutes.
4. Season with the sugar and pepper, then add the cold water and the drained peas.
5. If using, also add the aromatic(s) and/or the carrot.
6. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the peas become quite soft, about an hour.
7. Add the salt, and slowly stir in the oatmeal to avoid lumping (I'll sometimes use a whisk which also helps the peas break up) and simmer for another twenty minutes.

Potage Fontange (Mixed Vegetable Soup)

This is a soup which was eaten at Giverny, Monet's country home where grows to this day the garden that inspired so many of his paintings. I've leaped into the book Monet's Table once again and tried a couple more recipes. I've made substitutions to this soup just because some of the ingredients are a little challenging to find here - not impossible, just not at the grocery store nearby. I've indicated the substitutions as well as the original ingredients for the sake of keeping a record - my additions are in parentheses and italicized.

Part 1 - the peas

2 cups dried green or yellow (split) peas

Part 2 - the soup

2 Tbsps (28gr) of butter

1 onion (6oz/170g) thinly sliced

2 leeks (12oz/340gr) white parts only, thinly sliced

½ lb sorrel (or ½ lb spinach, plus 1 Tbsp lemon juice added later) trimmed and shredded

1 head iceberg (or romaine) lettuce (550g) trimmed and shredded (or 300g Swiss chard, thick midribs removed)

3 sprigs chervil (or 1 Tbsp finely chopped French tarragon or parsley), finely chopped

2 potatoes (16oz) peeled and cut in half (or quarters for a piece in each bowl)

6 cups rich beef broth (or any broth) or water

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

Part 3 - the cream

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2 egg yolks

1 cup crème fraîche, full fat yogurt or heavy cream (maybe just ½ cup?)

½ cup (4oz/114gr) butter, gently melted and allowed to cool 1 to 2 minutes

Bread to accompany the soup

1. The split peas: Soak the dried peas in water for 2 hours (I put it in a pot and left it on the stove at the lowest temperature, just to keep the water hot but not boiling to make this go faster) then drain.
2. The soup: In the meantime, melt 2 Tbsps of butter in the soup pot. Add the onion, leeks, sorrel (or spinach, not the lemon juice yet), lettuce (or chard) and chervil. Cook over low heat until the veg are well coated; do not let them brown.
3. Add the split peas and potatoes, give it a good stir, then add the broth. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer gently for 60–120 minutes, or until the split peas are completely soft and beginning to break down.
4. (If using spinach, add the lemon juice now). At this point you have two choices: 1) strain the soup (using a vegetable mill or forced through a sieve using a wooden spoon) or 2) keep it chunky where it's recommended you break up the potato with the back of a spoon and mix it in. Either way, you'll then need to make the cream, and for this you must...
5. The cream: The purpose of this step is to enrich the soup with a classic French liaison — it will give the finished soup a velvety, rounded quality that sets it apart from a plain pea potage. 
1. Beat the softened butter with a wooden spoon until it is completely smooth with no lumps.
2. Beat the dairy and egg yolks together in a bowl. in the crème fraîche or cream a little at a time until fully incorporated, then beat in the egg yolks one at a time. 
3. While whisking continuously, stream in the melted butter into the dairy/yolk bowl. The mixture should look uniform and creamy. 
4. 
   
5. Place this cream either in a warmed soup tureen or divide it among individual bowls. NOTE: Your soup must be very hot when you pour it on top — ladle a small amount of the hot soup over the cream first, stirring it directly into the cream to begin warming it gradually, then pour or ladle the rest of the soup over slowly, continuing to stir as you go. This gradual approach warms the egg yolks gently without scrambling them, and brings the whole thing together into a rich, unified soup.
6. Enjoy with crusty bread.