Split Pea Soup

Method

There is hardly a more appetizing aroma than that of a chicken roasting in the oven, and the fact that it’s cooking without any effort on my part (apart from a bit of preparation before popping it into the oven) distinctly adds to the appeal. Yesterday we enjoyed this savoury anticipation in the Whitsend kitchen almost as much as the meal that followed, but the best is yet to come.

The carcass has been carefully put by and together with a couple of bay leaves, an onion and a sprinkle of ground mace, it has simmered in a large pan of water for hours - oh, you lucky folk with your Agas, Rayburns, Stanleys… This evening, I have sieved the broth and at last said farewell to the lovely bones. Tomorrow I shall bring it all to the boil and add a cupful of split peas and whatever vegetables are to hand, an onion, leeks, carrots, maybe celery, or some parsnips. (In actual fact, I’ve probably run out of all of them and I shall be frantically dashing into the shop as ever!) A few herbs now and then it will do the cooking by itself all day long, if I choose.

Mrs Trewhitless