Smoked Turkey Pea Soup

Happy Monday!  Hope your weekend was relaxing and fun.  Mine was both of those, with a little bit of work mixed in.  But the work was fun, of course, otherwise I wouldn't put the time in (lol).  Dave and I are helping to plan and deliver a seminar titled "Rebuilding the Temple" at our church, CLC.  The kickoff is next Sunday, and it will be a "40 day renewal of body-mind-spirit" over Lent.  We're getting very excited as the big seminar day approaches.  The entire church will be involved, and it will be led by our pastors and a few other speakers, as well as Dave and me.  I'm working on the menu for Sunday's luncheon among a few other things.  I just get so happy to help people strengthen their faith thru the 5 Essentials!

Congrats to this past weekend's 5 winners who won a copy of my Valentine's Day Menu Planner e-book.  Thanks to everyone who entered!  And, there is still time to enter the SKIN Organic Body Care giveaway.  But today is the final day, so be sure to register before midnight!!  There are multiple ways to enter, too, so check out the list and see if you can enter more than once.  Good luck!

Also among my weekend projects was mass pea soup stewing.  Ohhhh how I love pea soup.  We haven't eaten it in so long though, because I couldn't bring myself to make it without a ham bone (how Dave and I grew up eating it).  We're strictly a no pork family now, after learning a bit about the pork industry and the animals in general.  Thinking back, I would guess it's been at least seven years, maybe even longer, since I last had a bowl of pea soup.  I would get the cravings for pea soup every now and again, especially on chilly days where a nice warm bowl of the salty sweet goodness seemed so perfect.  Dave had the idea to use a smoked turkey leg in place of the ham.  I have no idea why we didn't think of this sooner!

You can find smoked turkey legs at the meat counter at the grocery store, but we got ours from our free-range farmer.  Wherever you can find it, give this a try.  It turned out so so yummy!!  I'm completely satisfied with the overall taste of the soup and texture of the turkey.  It's almost like we used a ham bone, the taste is almost spot on!  I made a huge pot of it, so if following my ratios you'll need a really big stock pot.  I like to double or triple soups and stews so I can save a batch in the freezer for a month down the road.  Cut the recipe below in half for a standard 6 quart size stock pot.

Smoked Turkey Pea Soup
Makes 24 servings

STOCK INGREDIENTS
2 large smoked turkey drumsticks
32 cups filtered water (8 quarts)
2 whole onions, rinsed
6 whole carrots, rinsed
6 stalks celery, rinsed (I use the center of the celery for this and save the outer stalks to chop into the soup)
20 whole peppercorns, tied off in cheesecloth
3 bay leaves

SOUP INGREDIENTS
4 lbs split green peas (about 9 cups), rinsed and picked thru for stones
6 carrots, peeled and sliced
6 stalks celery, sliced
1 cup diced onion
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 Tbsp dried thyme
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp dried sage
about 30 cracks fresh black pepper (more/less to taste)
2 big pinches of Himalayan sea salt (more/less to taste)

1.)   Add all Stock Ingredients to your pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to Low or Medium-Low to keep it at a simmer.  Let simmer uncovered for 5-6 hours.  By the 5th or 6th hour of simmering, the meat on the turkey legs should pull away from the bone on its own.  Your stock is ready at that point.

2.)  Remove from heat.  With a slotted spoon or long tongs, remove the turkey legs from the stock and let cool on a plate.  Also remove the boiled veggies, bay leaves and peppercorns from the stock and discard.

3.)  Return stock to a boil.  Add in sliced carrot, celery, onion and garlic.  Stir in the dried herbs.  Reduce heat to simmer for about 20 mins.  Meanwhile, shred the meat from the turkey legs, pulling out bones or tendons.

4.)  Add the rinsed split peas and shredded smoked turkey to the simmering stock.  Stir well, making sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pot.  Cover loosely and continue to simmer for 2 hours, stirring often, again making sure nothing sticks to bottom of pot.  The peas will absorb all of the stock and become soft, that's when it's ready.  Season with sea salt and black pepper (to taste) and serve.