[MoreWhisky]

Just having a clear out and have found nearly a full bag of these yellow split peas.

Dont like chucking food out  any ideas what i could do with them ? would they make a soup?

Was thinking of lentil and bacon soup but with yellow split peas would that work?

Cheers MW.

[titch]

yeah i used them to make mine. twas very yummy indeed, i soaked them for a wee while in boiling water then cooked them with the ham, have some for a treat another day

[arugula]

Hi MW,

They are great in soup, the perfect pea for pea and ham, along with a ham hock preferably smoked.

[mumofstig]

Just fry a couple of chopped rashers with your onion, the add the split peas (I usually soak mine overnight otherwise they take an awful long while to cook) and then water/stock.
Keep cooking untill the peas disintegrate and thicken the soup...yummy.
Sometimes I add curry spices as well for a change

[madcat]

Or pop them in a slow cook casserole; they thicken it up a bit and give it some 'body', particularly if you are a bit light on the meat element.

[Yorkie]

madcat, would you soak them overnight before using them in a slow cooker?

I am very nervous of which pulses should be soaked and/or boiled rapidly before further slow cooking as I've no experience of this

[madcat]

Split peas in a slow cooker?  No need to soak - that  is part of the joy of them.  When you think you might be over generous on the stock, they take it up during the long slow cook and give it a bit of extra texture/protein without arguing in the flavour dept. 

The ones to be really careful of are a) dried kidney beans, because without the fast boiling stage they can be poisonous ( ) and b) dried chick peas and butter beans because they do need the soak or they are like bullets!!!    

You can speed it up a bit with bicarb of soda and a lot with a pressure cooker (there is another thread on this)

[Yorkie]

Many thanks, madcat 

[gypsy]

Sometimes I soak loads and freeze them so they are ready when I am in a rush. I have been know to cook a bag full and freeze them ready to add to soups etc. CC x

[mumofstig]

I do the same with the mixed soup pulses as well, cos I rarely remember to soak overnight. So easy to just take a portion of cooked beans out of the freezer

[Yorkie]

So, if you're using the split peas or soup pulses (can you buy them ready mixed?  ) you soak them overnight and then cook them properly, then freeze them and simply thaw / reheat?

Sorry to be so dense but I seem to have a complete mental block on these different pulses.

[mumofstig]

Yes you can buy packets of mixed ones for soup

Soak the whole pkt (in a big pot as they really swell a lot) then cook them till ready, drain and freeze in portions.

When you make soup just add them towards the end to heat through, or if you want them to thicken the soup as they disintegrate then of course add them at the start. Easy peasy cos you don't have to remember to do the soaking and then the hours of cooking

[Yorkie]

Ta

One for after the house move I think 

[Lewjam]

You just have to be a little wary of the "Mixed" pulses and beans.

 I have made disaster soups and hot pots before by pre boiling my pulses, tasting and the ones i tried were soft!

By the time i came to eating the soup there were still rocks and bullets bobbing about because of the different cooking times of the pulses in my pack!

I tend to over cook them now just to be sure - i had to fight my way through 10 portions of semi crunch minty lamb hot pot because of those hehe

Bad times!

[arugula]

I never pre-soak the mixed packs, commonly called something like "broth mix" and I do make a lot of "broth" type soups. As Madcat said, its very important with the likes of kidney beans - for poisoning reasons - and other types like chick peas and haricot beans its certainly very desirable, but other than that.... Anyway, it always gives clear instructions on the packet.