Souper economical: habitant soup

Habitant soup came to New England via French Canadiens who filtered down from Québec. You may know it as split-pea soup. It’s an economical, stick-to-the-ribs soup, often served in lumber camps. Some claim that authentic habitant soup is made with a lump of salt pork, yellow split peas, a trinity of chopped vegetables plus garlic, water and a bay leaf. Mine employs leftover ham bone and yellow or green split peas, along with the other basic ingredients. I sauté the vegetables, but many cooks simply dump everything into a pot à la fois (at once) to simmer. Yellow split peas have become harder to find in the markets, so you might have to sacrifice visual appeal and use the green split peas instead. Thanks to my friend Sue, who claims French-Canadian ancestry, for tracking down yellow split peas for this recipe. In my opinion, the flavor of this soup rests on the quality of the ham. For a rounder flavor, use chicken stock in place of the water. The flavor of this soup improves if it sits overnight in the refrigerator, but it also thickens as it sits, so be prepared to add more water as you reheat it.

Habitant soup

1 lb. yellow split peas (green may be substituted)

1 large onion, chopped

1 large rib of celery, chopped

2 large carrots, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 bay leaf

8 cups or so of water

ham bone or ½ pound salt pork

salt to taste

Pick over the peas. Rinse. Leave them to soak as you chop and sauté the vegetables. Sauté the onion, celery and carrots for about 10 minutes; then add the garlic and sauté for another minute. Drain and add the peas, water, ham bone and bay leaf. Cover the pot and bring to a boil; then reduce to a simmer and cook for about two hours. Skim mid-way through cooking or as necessary. Remove ham and bay leaf. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup. Any meat clinging to the ham bone can be added to the soup at this point. Discard salt pork, if used. Soup will thicken as it sits. Serves six to eight.

Cure for holiday excesses: turkey soup

Yankees are fond of this adage: “Use it up; wear it out; make do or do without.” To stretch your turkey dollars even further, make a delicious soup from the turkey carcass. If your pocket and your stomach are feeling the pinch from holiday excesses, you’ll appreciate this soup. I’m always amazed by how fully flavored it is, given the meager ingredients.

Turkey noodle soup

1 rib celery, washed (top can be left intact)

1 carrot, scrubbed, top removed (peeled if you prefer)

1 medium onion (no need to peel if clean)

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon salt

1 turkey carcass

4 ounces egg noodles

Place all ingredients except egg noodles in a large stock pot. Fill pot 2/3 full of water, enough to cover the turkey carcass. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. After about 30 minutes, skim any scum that has risen to the top. Continue to simmer, half covered (lid tilted), for about two hours. When done, remove the carcass, vegetables and bay leaf; discard. Strain the stock into another pan. Bring to a boil. Add egg noodles; stir. Boil gently until tender. Leftover turkey meat can be added to the soup and heated through. A small turkey (up to 14 pounds) will make enough stock for six servings of soup. Leftover stock can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days or in the freezer for several months.

Welcoming pineapple upside-down cake

By the mid-1600s, the pineapple, a native of South America, was being grown in hothouses in England and Holland, according to research done by Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida. From there, the fruit spread to other parts of the world. American colonists began importing pineapples from the Caribbean in the 17^th century. The fruit soon became a symbol of hospitality; because of its exotic nature, pineapple was served to special guests. According to some accounts, New England sea captains would place a pineapple outside their homes as a symbol of safe return from sea voyages.

Because pineapples have been on sale at local supermarkets, I decided to try fresh pineapple in an upside-down cake. Combined with toasted coconut, the fresh pineapple makes the cake moist and delicious. Its flavor is reminiscent of English sticky toffee pudding. This cake falls into the category of what Fanny Farmer called “cottage pudding”: plain cake served warm with sauce.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

6 tablespoons butter, softened

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon water

3 tablespoons toasted coconut

Three to four rings of pineapple

1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

2/3 cup milk

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

Melt two tablespoons of butter in a 9-inch round baking pan. Stir in brown sugar and water. Sprinkle in toasted coconut. Arrange pineapple on top of the coconut. Set pan aside.

In a mixing bowl or bowl of a standing mixer, stir together flour, granulated sugar and baking powder. Add milk, remaining butter, egg and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until combined; then beat on medium speed for one minute. Spoon batter over fruit.

Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 40 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for five minutes. Loosen sides and invert onto plate. Serve warm as is or with whipped cream, if desired. Serves 6 to 8.

To stuff a turkey

The first American cookbook, American Cookery, published in 1796 offers the following receipt (recipe) for turkey stuffing:  “Grate a wheat loaf, one quarter of a pound butter, one quarter of a pound salt pork, finely chopped, two eggs, a little sweet marjoram, summer savory, parsley and sage, pepper and salt (if the pork be not sufficient), fill the bird and sew up.” From this recipe we can see that Colonial cooks used herbs liberally.

My apple-sage stuffing, featured on the Thanksgiving menu, can be made with wheat, white or corn bread. I often use stale ciabatta. Check out your market’s day-old bread basket for bargains. Of course, you can use fresh bread, toasted, but to the Yankee mind, this seems a bit wasteful. This stuffing can be placed loosely inside the bird for cooking or can be baked separately, as I’ve done here.

Apple sage stuffing

8 cups stale bread cubes

½ cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped apple

½ teaspoon sage

½ stick butter (4 tablespoons)

2 cups turkey (or chicken) broth

In a Dutch oven or other large pot, sauté onion and celery in cooking oil until soft. Add sage and sauté another minute. Add butter and broth; bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and add bread cubes and apple, tossing to allow bread to soak up liquid evenly. Place mixture in a greased 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes or until toasted.

Bring us some bread pudding

Taking a cue from England, New Englanders have traditionally enjoyed a warm pudding for Christmas. In my household, it's chocolate bread pudding. Now, it's important to note that the Pilgrims didn't celebrate Christmas and didn't have access to chocolate. But they did enjoy bread pudding. In fact, after his first wife jumped ship (some claim she fell) and drowned in the icy waters of the Atlantic, as the Mayflower was anchored off the coast of Provincetown, Gov. William Bradford married Alice Southworth, who became known for her plum pudding, according to the Plymouth Antiquarian Society's Plimoth Colony Cook Book. The pudding was made with bread, milk, eggs, molasses, raisins, currents, citron and candied cherries. Southworth came to Plymouth on the ship "Anne" in 1623.

According to Colonial Williamsburg, the first reference to chocolate in North America occurs in 1641, when the Spanish ship Nuestra Senora del Rosario del Carmen arrived in St. Augustine, Florida with crates of chocolate. In 1670, Dorothy Jones and Jane Barnard opened a public house in Boston to sell imported chocolate. By 1682, a British report detailed cocoa exports from Jamaica to Boston. And we know that early Patriots drank hot chocolate instead of tea to protest taxation without representation.

This recipe for chocolate bread pudding comes from the Gourmet Touch Cookbook by Naomi Arbit and June Turner, published in 1978. The pudding is homely but decadently delicious, especially served with real whipped cream.

Chocolate Bread Pudding

5 slices white bread, cubed

6 ounces chocolate chips

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1-1/2 cups milk

½ cup sugar

¼ cup butter

¼ teaspoon salt

2 eggs, well beaten

Lightly grease a 1-1/2-quart casserole. In a large bowl, combine bread cubes, chocolate chips and cinnamon. In a sauce pan, heat milk, sugar, butter and salt, bringing to a boil at medium heat. Remove from heat. Stir two tablespoons of hot milk mixture into beaten eggs to temper. Quickly beat eggs into remaining milk mixture. Combine milk-egg mixture with chocolate and bread cubes; stir to coat. Pour into casserole. Place casserole in a baking pan filled with a half-inch to an inch of hot water. Bake in a 350-degree oven 40 to 50 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream, if desired. Serves six.

Cape Cod candies

Looking for an easy-to-make gift for the mail carrier, piano teacher or bus driver? Try these delicious and not-so-sinful treats. They combine toasted almonds, dried cranberries and dried blueberries enrobed in dark chocolate. I developed these clusters two summers ago for the Barnstable County Fair and won a blue ribbon in the candy division.

Cape Cod Clusters

1 cup whole almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped

¼ cup dried cranberries and ¼ cup dried blueberries

8 ounces Ghirardelli 60% cocoa bittersweet chocolate chips or any good bittersweet chocolate (60% to 70% cocoa), finely chopped

In a medium bowl combine almonds and dried fruit. Line two large baking sheets with waxed paper. Melt half of the chocolate in the top of a double boiler over water that is just simmering. Make sure the water does not reach the bottom of the top pan or bowl. If any water touches the chocolate it will seize! Stir chocolate frequently. Remove double boiler from heat. Stir in remaining chocolate until melted. Carefully remove the top pan or bowl and wipe water from bottom. Stir fruit and nut mixture into chocolate. Working quickly, spoon heaping teaspoons of the mixture onto a waxed paper-lined baking sheet, leaving about an inch between each cluster.  Replace the pan or bowl containing the chocolate mixture on top of the pan containing the warm water to keep it at the proper temperature, if you need to. Refrigerate the clusters for at least 20 minutes to cool and set. Remove and store at room temperature. Makes about two dozen clusters.

Into the strata-sphere

As a result of Thanksgiving and then a holiday party, I’ve been faced with a lot of leftover ham. One can eat only so many ham sandwiches. A favorite New England bed-and-breakfast offering because it can be assembled in advance, strata can remake that ham into a tasty meal. Strata refers to the layering of ingredients. The basis for strata is bread, cheese, eggs and milk. For filler you can use ham, sausage, mushrooms, spinach, chard or asparagus. When we kept chickens, I often made strata because of an abundance of eggs.

Ham and cheese strata

6 slices hearty white bread (day-old is fine), cubed

1 cup diced cooked ham

5 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, cubed

3 large eggs

1-1/2 cups milk

Nutmeg to taste

Put a layer of bread in a greased 1 1/2-quart casserole dish. Top with ham and then cheese. Beat the eggs with milk and a bit of nutmeg. Pour the mixture carefully over the contents of the casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until the liquid is set and the casserole is lightly browned. Let sit a few minutes before serving. Serves four.