In recognition of St. Patrick’s Day I am going to provide the recipe for an inexpensive, tasty, filling soup that epitomizes the color green…in a good sort of way, depending on who you ask. This is one of my favorite soups because it is cheap, flavorful, filling and easy to prepare. Pea soup is by no means an American phenomenon. The legume was orginally cultivated by the Greeks and Romans and the soup was made most famous in the English nursery rhyme: Pease porridge hot, Pease porridge cold, Pease porridge in the pot Nine days old. The word Pease is actually how the English say “peas.”

There are green split peas and yellow split peas and depending on where you are from, one version may be more popular than the other. For example in Finland the peas are green, in Sweden the peas are yellow. Some folks dress their pea soup with tiny diced carrots while others use some form of pork, usually smoked sausage, ham or bacon. I personally like carrots and smoked sausage, however I have prepared it with no meat at all and it is equally delicious.

So if you don’t know what to serve in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, pull out your Dutch oven and make a delicious pot of Spit Pea Soup, it will warm the hearts and tummys of all who eat it.

Patty’s Day Pea Soup
Makes about 3 quarts (freezes well)

Ingredients:

• 2 quarts water
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 pound split peas, rinsed
• 2 pounds smoked sausage, (kielbasa, beef or turkey smoked sausage)
• ½ cup onion, diced fine
• 1 cup carrots, diced fine
• ½ cup celery, chopped fine
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper

Adjust seasoning if needed Directions:

1. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, large enough to hold 3 quarts; add oil and heat to medium high
2. Add onions, sausage, carrots and celery and saute for 7 minutes
3. Add 2 quarts of water and the pound of peas to the sauteed vegetable mixture and bring to a boil
4. Reduce heat, add hot sauce, salt and pepper and continue simmering the soup until it is slightly thick and the vegetables are tender, about 35-40 minutes
5. Serve

And for dessert serve that ever popular…

Fluffy Pistachio Pineapple Stuff

When I was in the U.S. Navy living in Okinawa, Japan, stationed on Kadena Air Base, one of my best friends shared this recipe with me. She made it all the time and I have to admit it is pretty tasty considering all the artifical stuff it is made from. This is what I call “Fun Food” the stuff you make once a year, to remind yourself why you eat healthy everyday. It is pretty good though!!!

Ingredients:

• 1 (16 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant pistachio pudding mix
• 2 drops green food coloring (optional)
• 3 cups miniature marshmallows
• 1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained
• 1 cup chopped pistachios or walnuts (reserve 1/2 cup for serving)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine whipped topping, pudding mix and food coloring if desired
2. Fold in the marshmallows, 1/2 cup nuts and pineapple
3. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, over night is better
4. Just before serving, sprinkle with remaining nuts

Look, times may be tough and money might be tight, but there is no reason you can’t entertain for St. Patrick’s Day, have a few friends over for a pot of soup, a keg of beer and some of that green fluffy stuff.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Rice and beans, beans and rice. No, we’re not there yet, however I am old enough to have lived through a few recessions and I can tell you it is not fun. I have to say my mother and father best prepared me for the information I am about to share with you. I am certain that their parents and grandparents best prepared them. Living through tough economic times is rough for everyone and 2008 is going to test your belief in mankind, but you can and will survive and thrive if you exercise discipline, patience, and due diligence. Prayer helps too!

Here are a couple of things you might consider.

1. Stop eating out. Just stop. I know that if you are accustomed to eating lunch with coworkers or friends it will be difficult. Change your mindset and think, would I be doing this if I had no job? Remember $7 here and $18 there adds up. Take a bag lunch, invest in a quality lunch bag with beverage holder and call it a day.
2. Organize your debts so you will know exactly what you owe. Clean up the lowest debt first then hit the big stuff. Get together with friends and have a yard sale. Sell everything that is taking up space, simplify your life. You know spring cleaning makes room for new blessing to enter.
3. Consider a second job. I know you are a busy person and you are thinking. “I can’t take on anything else.” I don’t mean that kind of second job. I don’t want you to sell sweet smelly stuff or any of those other products that might put more money in the hands of the distributor than your own. I mean a job that does not call for a lot of investment. Consider becoming a tutor, what would it take to become an ESL tutor? check into it. Do you live in an area where a number of people speak English as their second language? Do their children need help in school? Parents love to invest in their children and will pay. Tutors make $20-$45 per hour depending on the subject you’re tutoring. Math tutors make the most money. Are you interested in becoming a Mystery Shopper? Do you make jewelry? Can you turn a simple hobby into a money making experience. If you can sell name brand sweet smelly stuff, you can sell those lyrics you write, or those little scrapbooks you make out of newspaper. My dad always said everyone should have a side hustle and he was absolute correct; it gives you a sense of control over your future, or a least part of your future. You also never know when a side hustle is going to take center stage and cause you to tango right into Bank of America.
4. Remember everything is cyclical and the recession will pass. This is a good time to go back to school or become certified in a new skill. Did you know you do not need a Master’s degree to get a PhD? This is not true for all subjects but for some it is. Check you local colleges and universities to see if there are programs near you and check some of the online institutions. Education is a great defender against a recession. Why? When all else fails hire yourself out as a contractor and work for a number of small businesses. Become an independent sales representative for small companies. If you are an administrative assistant, check into becoming a virtual Administrative Assistant for two or three companies. They will pay you less, but you will not be working for them 40 hours per week giving you a more flexible work day, to saaaay…go back to school.
5. Learn to cook. Food takes up a large part of every human beings budget (13-30% depending on who you ask). People love to eat and they love to socialize. One of the best bits of advice I can give anyone who lives on their own, is “learn to cook.” Never, ever leave your gastrointestinal system at the mercy of restaurant owner’s; you will pay a dear price in the long run. Restaurants are not in the business of feeding you healthy, filling food. Restaurants are in the business of making money and don’t you ever forget it. There are some restaurants that take pride in serving good, health conscious food, but they are few and far between. Learn to cook for yourself. You don’t have to become a gourmet chef but learn to prepare the food you love and you will never be hungry!

I have been living in North Carolina for almost three years and I still can’t find a restaurant that provides consistently good food. I know this is an issue everywhere, but for those restaurant owners in the Raleigh/Durham area, they don’t realize that the worse sin you can commit is to prepare consistently bad food and pawn it off as good or even fairly decent. I don’t eat out a lot, but when I do, I want good food. I know there are a lot of issues that restaurant owners have to deal with today and many will say, “It’s not my fault, I’m doing the best I can. The reason we have lousy food is because:”

No one properly trained the kitchen staff
There are no really good chefs out there
The kitchen staff does not speak English
The kitchen staff cannot read
The kitchen staff cannot follow directions
The kitchen staff cannot cook
The kitchen staff lied about their culinary experience
The kitchen staff won’t come to work
The kitchen staff doesn’t care
The kitchen staff is lazy
or
I know I’m the owner but I don’t care about serving tasteless food
I know I’m the owner but I don’t care about serving food that is old
I know I’m the owner but I don’t care about serving bread that is stale
I know I’m the owner but I don’t care about the quality of the meat being served
I know I’m the owner but I bought this restaurant from someone else and they always did it this way
I know I’m the owner but I have too much on my plate and I just can’t worry about that
I know I’m one of the owners, but this is not my responsibility, the other owner handles this, I just keep the books

Look, this is the way it works, as the owner of an eating establishment you are responsible for the quality of the food you serve. If you don’t care about the food you service close your establishment or your customers will close it for you!

Hello people!!! It is 2008 and I wish diners would stop patronizing fooderies that pass off “nasty food” as delicious culinary works of art. It just ain’t so!

At what point do we grow some backbone and say “Hell No We Won’t Go” and exercise our options, our culinary dollars and sense. Your restaurant does not have to have a menu containing 120 items, everyone is not a Coney Island. If you have five or six entrees that are “consistently exceptional” you will have people lined up out the door, I promise.

When I first came to Cary, North Carolina my daughter and I would purchase a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich, hummus and grape leaves from this little Mediterranean Restaurant across the street from where we lived. It has since gone out of business and it really should not have. The restaurant would be open today if the owner took pride in what he was selling; unfortunately he did just enough to get by. The little place had a huge problem with “inconsistency.” One day the food was great, the next day it was lousy. Some days the hummus had garlic and lemon juice, other days it had nothing. Look if you can’t seem to get your recipes straight (and you’re the only one cooking) close your restaurant and become a used car salesman. I guess that’s what he did.

I know we are in a recession/depression and food prices are soaring, but if you want to remain open and keep customers coming through your doors, pay attention to the quality of your food. I honestly think, and this is my opinion and my blog, so don’t get upset, not that I would care; but I honestly think that food in the south sucks, there I said it. What people in the south are pawning off as good food is a travesty. Oh, there is an exception, the food in New Orleans, Louisiana (pre-Katrina) had a tendency to be pretty good, but it really depended on where you ate.

I even went to a “Ruth Chris” the other night and my daughter’s filet mignon was overcooked, the creamed spinach was undercooked and the mashed potatoes were made from a box. I could have screamed!

I am going to push for a revolt against all restaurants that attempt to force us to eat their nasty, flavorless food.

From this day forward I would like all who read this blog to get up and walk out of any restaurant that attempts to serve you bad food. Leave behind a ticket that says, “Serving Bad Food Will Put You Out of Business.” The CWD (Cooking with Denay) Bad Food Police. We certainly can’t put these restaurant owners in jail, but we can ticket them!

Honestly, I would rather have three or four superior restaurants to choose from than three or four hundred lousy ones.

If you know of any really great restaurants in the Raleigh/Durham area please send their names and addresses to me so I can check them out and put them on the CWD (Cooking with Denay’s) Super Fantastic Restaurant List.

Good food is just hard to come by today!!!! …but it shouldn’t be…