A delicious and hearty soup made dried green split peas, ham or hocks, and seasoned with thyme, allspice, and bay leaves. Using a leftover, meaty ham bone from the holidays makes this soup perfect for serving on New Year’s Day. If you don’t have leftover ham, simply substitute ham hocks to add a smoky flavour. Don’t use leftover ham that has been cooked or basted with anything sweet like honey, maple or brown sugar as it adds an unpleasant flavour to the soup.
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Serves: 8
Ingredients
1 pound dry green split peas
2 quarts water
1 meaty ham bone, or 3 ham hocks, rinsed
1 cup chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram, crushed
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
2 bay leaves
dash pepper
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrot
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Instructions
Pick over the peas and remove any stones. Wash and drain peas.
In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, cover dried peas with 2 quarts of water. Bring split peas to a boil; boil gently for 2 minutes. Set aside to soak for 1 hour. Add ham bone or ham hocks, chopped onion, garlic powder, marjoram, thyme, bay leaves and pepper. Bring split pea soup to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Remove ham bone or ham hocks from soup. If using ham bone, remove meat from bone; dice and return to pea soup with chopped celery and carrot. If using ham hocks – cut away the outer skin and remove the meat from the bones and return meat to soup with celery and carrots.
Simmer split pea soup slowly for an additional 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste the soup and add salt as desired.
Christmas is almost here, and with it comes gift-giving and family feasts with all the trimmings; and we’re in the business of helping you with the details – especially the “family feast” part.
We’re all making our gift lists and checking them twice, but we don’t want ever to forget where Christmas comes from, as it is from the birth of the precious namesake of this greatest of holidays we have gained the gift that really DOES keep on giving.
Merry Christmas from all of us at Lindo’s Group of Companies.
Who can resist showering their beloved pooch with gifts during the holiday season? Instead of the usual chew bone or fuzzy toy, why not try this homemade dog treat – it’s very easy to make and doesn’t require a lot of ingredients. With different baking options and a few variations it’s also quite versatile.
Basic Ingredients:
1 cup Cornmeal
1 cup All Purpose Flour (to make gluten free or organic you can use any of the following flours as alternatives (Oat Flour, Brown Rice Flour, Rye Flour or Whole Wheat Flour)
4 Tablespoons of Baking Powder
1 cup Milk (any type i.e. Full, Non fat, Skimmed, etc)
1 Whole Egg – slightly beaten
½ cup Corn Oil (or Vegetable, Canola and for organic use Safflower). You can make it even yummier by adding bacon fat!
Directions:
Combine all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add liquids and beat until smooth. Pour into a greased 8” x 2” square baking pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 425 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Take out of oven and let cool in pan for 15 minutes and than slice into bars for the size of your dog or friends dogs. If you prefer muffins than use a mini muffin pan and bake for approx. 10 minutes and if using a regular muffin pan bake for 15 to 18 minutes.
Storage: These goodies should be kept in an airtight container in the fridge and will last 7 days (if your pooch hasn’t devoured them all by then!). They can also be kept frozen for 30 days in sealed Ziploc bags. Bundle in small quantities if freezing so when you want to give your pooch a treat you can take a bag out and let them defrost in the fridge before serving.
VARIATIONS
Try turning them into Italian Corn Bread by adding a tablespoon of tomato paste and ¼ tsp of garlic salt and ½ tsp of dried parsley or dried oregano.
For the Vegan Dog try adding a ½ cup of grated carrots or ½ cup of Zucchini
Cheese Lovers add ½ cup of Cheddar or Parmesan
For fruit loving dogs, you can add some dried or defrosted frozen cranberries for an even more tastier and festive treat!
This recipe is from the kitchen of WILMA’S BARKERY located at Good Companions Kennels & Cattery in Kingston, New Brunswick, Canada
The owners, Sally and John Weston, are former residents of Bermuda and are fans of Lindo’s Group of Companies. For more information visit www.boardingkennels.org/Canada
December’s recipe is from Executive Chef Livio Ferigo
INGREDIENTS For the crust
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
¼ tsp salt
½ cup cold butter, broken into small pieces
5 tbsp cold vegetable shortening
8 tbsp ice water For the filling
8 medium apples (1 medium apple = approx. 1 cup)
1/3 to 2/3 cup sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp margarine (more…)
With so many ways to use, rich, creamy lemon curd makes a wonderful homemade gift for giving at Christmas. Delicious spread over buttery shortbread, scones and English muffins, for topping pancakes, spooned over berries, or for filling tarts and layer cakes.
Ingredients
4 eggs
4 egg yolks
7oz granulated sugar
6 lemons, juice and zest of 3
5oz unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
5 sterilized jam jars
Decorations and labels, if desired
Directions:
Sterilize the jam jars. Wash the jars in soapy water and rinse in clean warm water. Preheat the oven to 275°F. Dry the jars, upside down, on a rack in the oven for 30 minutes.
Using the top bowl of a double boiler, whisk the eggs and egg yolks until well combined. Add the sugar and stir in the lemon zest and juice. Add the butter and set the bowl over the lower pan of very gently simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water.
Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon for five minutes until the butter melts, then use a whisk to continuously stir the ingredients and cook for 10-12 minutes. The lemon curd should be the consistency of custard. When the curd is ready, it will thinly coat the back of the wooden spoon and the sides of the bowl. The curd will continue to thicken in the jars.
Pour the hot lemon curd into warmed, sterilized jars and leave to cool. Cover the curd with a disc of waxed paper or baking parchment and seal with a lid. Add a festive label with date and recipients name, and decorate if desired. Store in the fridge and plan to give within a few days as lemon curd should be used within two weeks.
PREP. TIME: Less than 30 mins COOKING TIME: 10 to 30 mins YIELD: Makes 5 jars
Mild-flavored leeks and Gruyère cheese offer a refreshing taste variation in this baked side dish usually reserved for potatoes and Cheddar cheese.
Gruyère is a hard yellow cheese, named after the town of Gruyères in Switzerland. Gruyère cheese is generally known as one of the finest cheeses for baking, having a distinctive but not overpowering taste.
Ingredients
8 medium leeks with tops (3 lb)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 1/3 cups milk
1 cup shredded Gruyère cheese (4 oz)
1/4 cup Progresso® dry bread crumbs (any flavor)
2 teaspoons butter or margarine, melted
Directions
Heat oven to 325°F. Grease bottom and side of shallow 2-quart casserole. Cut leeks into 1/2-inch pieces. In 3-quart saucepan, heat 2 inches water to boiling. Add leeks. Cover and cook over medium heat about 5 minutes or until crisp-tender; drain.
In 2-quart saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter over low heat. Cook flour, salt and pepper over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Gradually stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in cheese until melted. Stir in leeks. Pour into casserole.
In small bowl, mix bread crumbs and 2 teaspoons butter until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over casserole.
Bake uncovered about 25 minutes or until golden brown.
BUYING LEEKS
When you’re looking for leeks, choose those that have a crisp, bright green top and blemish-free white bulb.
How to Trim, Cut, and Wash Leeks – Gourmet Magazine
A delicious and hearty soup made dried green split peas, ham or hocks, and seasoned with thyme, allspice, and bay leaves. Using a leftover, meaty ham bone from the holidays makes this soup perfect for serving on New Year’s Day. If you don’t have leftover ham, simply substitute ham hocks to add a smoky flavour. Don’t use leftover ham that has been cooked or basted with anything sweet like honey, maple or brown sugar as it adds an unpleasant flavour to the soup.
Christmas is almost here, and with it comes gift-giving and family feasts with all the trimmings; and we’re in the business of helping you with the details – especially the “family feast” part.
We’re all making our gift lists and checking them twice, but we don’t want ever to forget where Christmas comes from, as it is from the birth of the precious namesake of this greatest of holidays we have gained the gift that really DOES keep on giving.
