Fresh pea soup

The blog, mmm-yoso!!! is about food.  Kirk is off in the world, researching food while on vacation.  ed(from Yuma) is in Yuma, researching food while carrying on with life. Cathy is posting about food today. 

Of all vegetables, peas may be my favorite.  There are many varieties of garden peas, as well as peas which grow in the wild.  Some have shells you can eat raw or steamed or stir fried.  Some have shells you can't eat, so the peas need to be 'de-shelled' and those spheres from inside the pod can then be eaten raw, by the handful or tossed onto salads or even mixed with other vegetables.  Peas can be found frozen, canned and dried. 

I especially enjoy raw English peas.   A whole portion of my garden is devoted to English peas every year, but as of today they are not ready for picking (they need about 60 days before cultivation) .  Costco is selling shelled English peas (from Guatemala) in a 1.5 pound bag for about $5 (in the walk in refrigerator).  Here is a recipe I got from the back of the label. I follow recipes the first time, the modify to my own taste after that.

The ingredients are simple, as is the process. The receipe needs 3 cups of peas and the bag from Costco has about 5 cups. Cooking time is only about 15 minutes. You can cut the recipe in half.

Fresh Pea Soup

3 Tbs butter

2 shallots, chopped fine

2 C water

3C peas

3Tbs whipping cream (I used half and half)

1Tbs chopped basil

Melt butter in a sauce pan. Saute the shallots on medium heat about 3 minutes, add the water and peas. Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer and cover.  Cook until peas are tender (15 minutes) puree in a blender then add back to the sauce pan with the half and half. Add basil, salt and pepper to taste and serve. This can be re-heated.

 
Fresh pea soup,  tomatoes from the garden, cucumber, jicama and Kirkland frozen pizza (4 cheese pizzas for $10- really good frozen pizza).  Lunch outside yesterday. 

I hope everyone is having a good weekend!