Split Pea Soup.
- 1 pint of split peas.
- 4 quarts of water.
- 2 lbs. of beef and some bones.
- ¼ lb. of lean bacon or ham.
- 3 stalks of celery, the white part only, cut fine.
- Juice of a lemon.
- Stale bread cut into dice and fried.
Soak the peas all night in soft water, changing it in the morning for warm—not hot. Throw this off after an hour and cover the peas with four quarts of cold water. Boil in this—adding the meat, cut small, the bones well cracked and the celery—four hours. Always boil soups slowly. The neglect of this rule leaves in the kettle a mass of toughened meat and an ocean of dish-water.
When you are ready to take up your soup, strain in a colander, picking out and casting aside bits of bones and shreds of meat. Rub the peas and celery through the holes of the strainer until nothing more will pass. Season with pepper and salt; add the juice of a small lemon, and return to the kettle, which must first be rinsed with hot water. Let all boil together two minutes. Should it not seem so thick as you would like, you can put in, while it is boiling, a little corn-starch wet up with cold water. Put a couple of slices of stale bread, cut into dice and fried crisp in dripping, in the heated tureen, and pour the soup upon them.