Thursday, December 30, 2010

Swedish Thursday Pea Soup

Pea soup is a staple throughout Scandinavia.  It's not unusual for people all over Sweden to eat pea soup on Thursday's.  I remember hearing a story of why pea soup is a staple on Thursday's while we were living in Toronto.  The story is about a Swedish King named Erik who was given a serving of pea soup after he was imprisoned for being violent.  Unfortunately the soup was laced with arsenic and this ended his life.  Apparently this happened on a Thursday, which is why pea soup is now a staple.  Humm... not the kind of warm and fuzzy story I was hoping for and I'm not so sure this is true, but it makes for a interesting story!  Maybe this is why pea soup isn't well received in America???
2 cups dried split peas, washed
6 cups water
1 lb. diced ham (I used leftovers)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, diced very fine
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method

1)  Rinse peas
2)  Heat olive oil in pan and saute onions until translucent.
3)  Place onions, peas, water, thyme, and marjoram, and diced ham (bones to if you have them)in crock pot.  Cook on high for 4-6 hours, depending on your crock pot.  Remove the bones, season with salt and pepper and serve.  This is wonderful on a cold winter's night.

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