How Joan cooks Split Pea Soup

I always assumed, without ever trying it, that I didn't like Split Pea soup - then Tom gave me a taste of his and I fell in love. He has not (yet) given me his recipe, so this is the one I go by - I'm pretty loose with the measurements. Perhaps Tom will post his recipe...it's mighty tasty.

1 Tbs olive oil
1 medium onion
4 carrots
3 celery stalks
1 Tbs dried thyme
sea salt & pepper
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
16 oz split peas, rinsed
ham bone (have the butcher crack it a couple of times)
5 cups water
Dregs from roast chicken (not required, see note at end of recipe)

Finely chop the veggies while you heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add veg plus thyme; season with salt & pepper (just a pinch of pepper, and two pinches of salt for now - you'll season to taste later) and cook until veg (mainly the onion) soften (7-9 minutes). Add broth and stir any veg off the bottom of the stockpot; then add peas, ham and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer for 45 minutes. At 45 minutes, taste the soup - it probably needs some S&P, but before you add more S&P, take the ham bone out, trim/discard the fat/skin and bone, and dice up the meat - return meat to pot and simmer another 5-10 minutes. Now add S&P to taste. If your soup gets too thick, add a little water.

If you stop here, your soup will be fine. I like to eat it with a baguette or sprinkle garlic croutons on top. The soup keeps in the fridge nicely. Again, if it gets too thick, add a little water when you reheat it.

But, if the soup needs a little more depth - that's when I check the fridge for my jar of roast chicken dregs. You see, when I roast a chicken, I use the pan drippings to make gravy and save the carcass to make broth - but usually there are more drippings then I can use (about 4-8 oz), so I store it in the fridge in a glass jar where the fat rises to the top and forms a protective layer over the darker, more flavorful, gelatinous chicken dregs. Dregs are not to be confused with broth. Like I said, I do use the carcass to make broth, which also gets stored in a glass jar in the fridge. But if the split pea soup is missing some depth, then I poke through the fat layer and scoop out 1-2 Tbs of just the dark gelatinous dregs and mix it into the soup before I finish seasoning with salt & pepper.