Time to revive this old thread. I work at home and it's the best job I've ever had. Also do the cooking. Yesterday was Soup Day. Time to reduce the rest of the bone-in spiral cut smoked glazed ham to Lentil Soup. My lentils got sorted, washed, and picked last night and were soaking until this morning. Ham came off the bone and was cubed. Couple pounds of cubed ham ready to be minced:
Bone went into the pot with the lentils, fresh cracked black pepper and sea salt, dried basil, marjoram, thyme, chervil sage, a bump of fresh grated nutmeg, three bay leaves, Hungarian sweet paprika, worchestershire sauce, vegetable bullion cubes, and water. Here’s the pressure cooker as the Little Engine That Could filling the house with glorious smells:
Cooked lentils cooled slowly until the pressure dropped, then stirred while pulling the hambone and the bay leaves. Pureed in the pressure cooker with a hand blender and a quart of chicken broth.
Minced the cubed ham in the food processor and started browning it in some EVOO in the bottom of my twelve quart soup pot. Cleaned, prepped, and minced the onions, carrots, and celery in the food processor. Reserved the browned minced ham and browned six cloves on minced garlic in the soup pot before adding the other vegetables to soften. Returned the browned ham and deglazed with chicken broth. Added the cooked lentils, some more chicken broth and corrected the seasoning before bringing the hot tub up to a low covered simmer. The finished soup:
Served with big hot crusty rolls and a glass of cab. Yum!
OP’s Lentil Soup: best part of a day in the kitchen (and one knife cut
).
Seven quarts of leftover soup to freeze for delicious fast suppers to come: Priceless!
