Soup what is the secret?

When I was young my Auntie would make the most delicious soup .
I know she used a ham shank, some split peas, parsnip & carrot but this is where my memory fails me.
I have tried to re-create the recipe by using a ham shank, red lentils, pearl barley, split peas, onion, celery, carrot & potatoes but it is all guess work.

Any ideas?

Well Mrs Nesbitt it looks like you are on the right track,
I seen in many book and also on the tv some soups are more with less,
down here we would use the ham shank and the split peas onions carrots and the stock.

I know my Dear old mum would have made this many a time, so when I call her in the morning I'll ask her to see how she made it then send it on to you.
I hope that will help
NB

Great stuff Nickyboy! The butcher gets the ham shanks in on a Tuesday and a Friday so this will suit me fine.

:bounce:

Whether you start with a ham shank depends on what sort of soup you are trying to make. Wrong starting place if you're trying to make New England style fish chowder, classic Jewish style chicken soup, turkey noodle soup, vegetable soup, etc.

You've got to tell us what sort/style of soup you want to make before we can make intelligent suggestions. Except one thing applies to all of the "thick" style soups that are more like stews. You can't just go away and forget about it entirely as possible to burn.

mrsnesbitt wrote:When I was young my Auntie would make the most delicious soup .
I know she used a ham shank, some split peas, parsnip & carrot but this is where my memory fails me.
I have tried to re-create the recipe by using a ham shank, red lentils, pearl barley, split peas, onion, celery, carrot & potatoes but it is all guess work.

Any ideas?

As an experienced soup maker...i think maybe you are "over egging" the soup...( to mix metaphors LOL....)
Why not just try the ingredients your Auntie gave..they look pretty good to me!

But long sloooooooow cooking is the key to a good soup...regardless of the ingredients...IMO

Q. Was the ham shank cooked in with the soup or used to make the stock after it had been cooked?

personally .....if a raw ham shank ....Make stock ( water plus ham shank added to some fried veg, boil for a time then simmer for many many hours) then I would fry the onions, sweat all other ingredients ,add the stock plus bits of meat and simmer for an hour at least.

OR I would add cooked ham shank to fried off veg and lots of water and simmer for a very long time , until the cooked meat falls off the bone....

lentils could be added at the early stage, to provide a bit of thickening?...

regardless of method, the end result might be a bit scummy so you might want to strain off the surface scum a bit before serving...

HTH....not quite sure which recipe you are after, but either way it will be lovely!

Some good relevant points here. I guess I just do not know the answers. I never saw Auntie Dot actually start off the soup I only know the results. Her husband, Uncle Moss had an ulcer and didn't eat anything fried so I would suspect everything would have been cooked in a stew type fashion. I do remember her using a pressure cooker!

So if any of you have some tried & tested recipes which you are willing to share I really should try them out.

Mrs Nesbitt may I say how ever you will make it, it will be good lol.
Now my old MIL never has made soup from scatch she has only ever opened a can of soup, the poor old dear, But she was never showen how to make soup.

Hi Mrs N,

I find and keep recipes off the 'net..... Wondered if this was of use:

North East Broth

Ingredients:

Ham shank
Barley/lentil mixture
Leeks
Turnip
Carrots
Potatoes (optional)

Directions
Place the ham shank in a large saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Simmer for around an hour. Remove the ham shank and score the fat with a sharp knife.

Roast in the oven on a medium heat. Skim any impurities from the water the ham shank was simmered in and introduce the chopped vegetables and Barley/lentil mix.

Bring to the boil and simmer. When the ham shank is roasted remove from the oven and leave to cool. When cool remove the fat from the meat and cop up, reintroduce it to the saucepan and continue to simmer for another hour, topping up with water if necessary.

Comments
Traditional north eatern recipe, best eaten when heated up the next day and particularly delicious if sage and onion dumplings are put in when reheating.

Submitted by: Ken Denham

I've not tried the above yet though! I'm heavily in to making my mam's Leek and Potato soup.....tis easy peasy, delish and sooooo warming! I make loads of it in the winter

A x

Ham and lentil soup is a winter staple in Schloss Rhomboid. Partly because we have a lot of ham, partly because it is so delicious and sticks to your ribs in inclement weather.

I use a hock or quite often long trotters - as they cook down the cartilage melts and gives the soup a lovely rich gelatinous silkiness.

I always used smoked, for flavour. And Ii soak it overnight to remove some of the saltiness - our hams a re often cured to hang outside so quite salty.

I boil the ham quite hard for 15 mins, skimming any scummy froth that comes to the surface, then reduce to a low simmer, add some bay leaves, black pepper and thyme and leave for about 3 hours, making sure the ham does not stay in one place on the bottom of the pan for too long and scorch to the base.

If I am using trotters I take them out at this point and separate the keeping meat form the bones and other bits I don't want to eat - everything is falling off the bone by this stage and it is easy to separate before the other ingredients go in. If it is a hock I do this at the end.

Then I add onions, celery, carrots and whatever other root veg I have knocking about - sometimes parsnip, turnip, whatever, and continue at a tremulous simmer for another half hour or so, then add the lentils at the end, and simmer another 30 mins covered and 15 mins uncovered.
If I have used a hock, I remove it and take the meat off the bone at this point, chop it into rough chunks and pop it back in, then serve with crusty bread.

It is a pretty forgiving soup - often we make it in a huge vat and keep it going for several days (not continuously obviously) - the ham may start separating after a couple of days, and the veg will be mushy, but i just add more veg as I go along. As long as you don't scorch it at any point it is difficult to get it wrong. Just make sure you don't add salt if you are using a proper piece of ham as it will salt it more than adequately on its own.

So inspired!

Villy that soup sound great any chance of sending us some over the internet???

Well I've now got my ham hock and I can't wait to try this.

Like the sound of those soups.

We have a lovely Stilton and Brocolli soup which is divine!! Which is quite amazing as I was never a fan of either.

We are having Tomato soup tonight, home made too.

When does a soup become a stew, i wonder?

Chicken casserole tonight in Rhomboidia. Half a big organic chook chopped into chunks and browned then onions, celery, carrots, swede, parsnip and potato lightly fried off plus a big chunk of smoked bacon and some rib bones for flavour and a couple of pints of chicken stock and all in the oven for an hour.

Good rich food for a filthy weather day.

You lot are making me hungry!

I am hungry too hun!
I will definately be trying out this recipe next week...from River Cottage's Autumn Programme!
Ingredients

* 1 smoked, uncooked ham hock or knuckle of bacon
* 1kg green split peas, soaked overnight in water, then drained
* 2 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil
* 2 onions, chopped
* 3 carrots, chopped
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper




1. Put the ham hock in a large saucepan with enough water to cover it. Bring to the boil, cover then reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour or until the ham is completely cooked. Skim off any scum that rises to the surface. When the hock has been simmering for 30 minutes, add the split peas to the pan.

2. Once the hock is cooked, remove from the pan. Pull the meat off the bone and shred into bite-sized pieces. Add these back to the soup.

3. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onions and carrots and sweat gently for about 15 minutes until soft and just starting to colour. Add these to the soup. Season with salt and pepper, reheat if necessary, and serve.

Hmm delish. I make ham & lentil soup quite often. I like to use a ham bone, which sometimes you can get in the supermarket or butcher. Put into the slow cooker for hours with enough water to cover or in the pressure cooker for an hour. Then chop onion & carrot, but not too much, add the lentils & cook in the slow cooker. When cooked add either a bit of milk or water & blitz it, taste & add salt pepper etc as necesary

Right, can anybody tell me what the secret is with green split peas?
Bought some so called easy cook ones and placed them in soup mixture....like over 24 hours ago in bottom oven in Aga....still not soft!
I put in top oven for a couple of hours and still hard....back in bottom oven now together with ham hock & veg....


any suggestions? :silent:

I thought they had to be soaked overnight, and then cooked gently. I haven't' used them for years now though as all the Fussies in this house don't care for them (Daddy Fussy is the WORST culprit!) Hope yours soften eventually.

Just made a pot of "windy" soup today. Absolutely full of beans & peas. Soaked the beans & peas over night rapid boil for 10 mins & then long slow cooking in chiken stock, boy does that taste good.