Split Pea and Ham Soup with Cheese Biscuits

Split Pea and Ham Soup

My dearly beloved Aunt is an excellent cook and has this rich soup as a family offering. The meat that has as its base is one pork hocks that is smoked. Its lovely smoked aroma come through along with a tiny dash of sherry. She finds that these cheese biscuits are a perfect accompaniment to a hearty winter meal.

1 smoked pork hocks

12 cups water

4 cups chicken broth

1 large onion minced

2 cups diced celery

6 cloves garlic diced

1 cup grated carrots

1/2 cup sherry

1 bag of split peas (450 gr.)

2 tbsp chopped fresh dill

2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

pepper to taste

Boil the pork hocks in water for approximately 2 hours. Put the hocks and the broth in the refrigerator overnight to allow the fat to solidify. Remove the fat and return to the cooking process adding chicken broth and the balance of the ingredients until the soup is thick. Just before heating to serve, add the sherry, heat and it is ready to serve.

Cheese Biscuits

The fluffy biscuits have diced squares of cheddar cheese to flavour the biscuits in a delicate way.

2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour

21/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

1/4 cup cold unsalted butter

3/4 cup cream

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh dill

1 cup of old cheddar cheese cut into small squares

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut into the flour the cold butter with fingers until the flour becomes the texture of peas. Add the dill and finely quickly add the cream until it is a dry dough. Transfer to a floured surface, knead for a ‘scant half minute’, roll out flat and cut into rectangular squares approximately 6” x 12”. Stuff each of these rectangles into muffin tins while adding 3-4 squares of cheddar cheese. Bake at 450 degrees F. for 10-12 minutes. Serve warm with Split Pea and Ham Soup.