spring pea soups....

                                                           Art by Jacques Pepin

I am a big fan of spring peas... sometimes I plant them in time to use in my dishes and other times with our Chicago weather our winter goes straight into summer, I don't get my peas planted in time.
  I am lucky to have a Fresh Market in driving distance of my home where seasonal vegetables and fresh fruits are available to buy my peas or I just use the organic freezer peas for my spring cooking.

My favorite soup may be split pea but today I had on my cooking wish list, Jacques Pepin's Cold Cream of Pea soup with Mint from his book ESSENTIAL PEPIN.  AS THE RECIPE IS NOT SHARED THROUGH PRINT OR VIDEO, I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SHARE IT HERE.  If you want the recipe go to his book ESSENTIAL PEPIN and look on page 3.  

I personally like Daniel Boulud's version of cold pea soup better, probably because it has bacon and leeks in the soup, but it was fun making Jacques quick cold pea soup.

PHOTO BY THE CHALK BOARD MAGAZINE:  (LOVELY PEAS AND GOAT CHEESE)  http://thechalkboardmag.com/taste-of-pace-spring-english-peas

Jacques Pepin's recipe has onion, chicken stock, mint leaves, baby peas, plain yogurt, butter, sugar and tabasco.

 Jacques Pepin's cold pea soup. (w/o mint leaves on top) 

DANIEL BOULUD

 not my photo 

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/chilled-spring-pea-soup  by DANIEL BOULUD

photo by Quentin Bacon 

COPIED EXACTLY FROM FOOD AND WINES RECIPE PAGE (LINK ABOVE) THE RECIPE IS PROPERTY OF DANIEL BOULUD AND FOOD AND WINE MAGAZINE. 

1. "8 slices of bacon
2. 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3. 2 celery ribs, thinly sliced
4. 1 onion, thinly sliced
5. 1 leek, white and tender green parts only, thinly sliced
6. 5 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
7. Two 4-inch rosemary sprigs
8. Salt and freshly ground white pepper
9. 1/2 pound sugar snap peas, thinly sliced
10. Two 10-ounce boxes frozen baby peas
11. 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
12. 1 cup heavy cream
13. 1 garlic clove, minced

1. In a medium soup pot, cook the bacon over moderate heat until browned and crisp, about 6 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a plate. Pour off the fat in the pot.
2. In the same pot, heat the olive oil. Add the celery, onion and leek and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned, about 7 minutes. Add the chicken stock, 4 slices of the cooked bacon, 1 rosemary sprig and a pinch each of salt and white pepper. Simmer until the vegetables are very tender, about 15 minutes. Discard the bacon and rosemary. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the vegetables to a blender.
3. Meanwhile, bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the sugar snaps and cook for 3 minutes. Add the frozen baby peas and the parsley and cook just until heated through, about 1 minute; drain. Add the sugar snaps, baby peas and parsley to the blender and puree until smooth, adding a few tablespoons of the broth to loosen the mixture. Transfer the soup and the remaining broth to a large bowl set in a larger bowl of ice water to cool.
4. In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream, garlic and remaining rosemary sprig to a boil. Simmer over low heat until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Strain the garlic cream into a bowl and let cool.
5. Ladle the chilled pea soup into bowls and drizzle with the garlic cream. Crumble the remaining 4 slices of bacon into each bowl and serve.

MAKE AHEAD The soup and cream can be refrigerated separately for up to 2 days.

SUGGESTED PAIRING

Brisk, lively Austrian Grüner Veltliner."