Made Split Pea Soup and French Dimpled Rolls for Thanksgiving dinner. I borrowed the help of my slow cooker; making the soup was a breeze! This is the first time I tried making bread from scratch, kneading the dough by hand is fun! It has turned out much better than I thought.
Ingredients:
(A) Split Pea Soup with Ham Bone
- 1 lb Split Peas
- 1 small meaty ham bone (I bought it from Honey Bake)
- 1 cup chopped onions
- 1 cup celery, diced
- 1 cup carrots, diced
- 1 cup red skin potato, diced
- 2 Tbsp minced garlic
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 6 cups chicken stock
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground pepper
(B) French Dimpled Rolls
- 3 1/2 cup white bread flour
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 oz fresh yeast
- 1/2 cup lukewarm milk
- 3/4 cup lukewarm water
Makes 10 Rolls
Directions:
To prepare Split Pea Soup:
- Wash and drain the split peas. Arrange them in the slow cooker in an even layer.
- Add the diced carrots, celery, potatoes, chopped onion, minced garlic, bay leaf, and thyme.
- Place the ham bone over the vegetables and add the chicken stock.
- Add 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper.
- Cover and set the slow cooker to cook for 8 hours at low temperature.
- After 6 hours, remove the ham bone and let it cool on a chopping board. Remove the meat from the bone and dice into small pieces. Return the meat to the slow cooker.
- Scoop half the soup with the vegetables into a deep pot.
- Using a hand blender, blend the soup until the mixture is thick and smooth.
- Return the blended mixture to the slow cooker.
- Let the soup simmer for the remaining two hours.
- Enjoy a thick, hearty, and chunky split pea soup.
To prepare French Dimpled Rolls:
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl.
- Stir in the sugar and make a well in the center.
- Mix the yeast with the lukewarm milk until dissolved, then pour into the center of the flour mixture. Sprinkle a little of the flour from around the edge. Let it sit at room temperature for around 20 minutes or until the mixture starts to bubble.
- Add the water and gradually mix in the flour to form a fairly moist, soft dough.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a lightly oiled plastic wrap and let it rise, at room temperature, for about 1 1/2 hour or until the dough had doubled in bulk.
- Turn out on a lightly floured surface and punch down. Cover and let dough rest for 5 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 10 pieces. Shape into balls by rolling the dough under a cupped hand.
- Lightly flour the top for the dough balls. Space the dough balls apart on the baking sheets, cover with a lightly oiled plastic wrap and let it rise, at room temperature, for about 30 minutes or until almost doubled in size.
- Lightly oil the side of your hand and press the center of each roll to a make a deep slit. Cover, and let it rest for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place a roasting pan in the bottom of the oven and pour 1 cup of water into the pan and bake the rolls for 15 minutes or until golden.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- Serve warm.
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