Kicking Big Blue into action ...

With cooler weather we have been having, I decided it was time to make some Thick pea and ham soup.

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I bought a nice ham hock and fresh packets of split green and yellow peas...

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 I boiled the hock for about an hour before adding in the split peas.  I let them go for about half an hour then

added the chopped carrot, onion and celery...

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 At this stage it was time to remove the hock and cut all the meat off the bone...

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 Lots of yummy ham...

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I added the ham back into the soup, gave it a real quick stab with my Bamix blender to give a creamy texture but retain some whole veggies and the job was done.  Delicious Pea & Ham Soup.

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Now, nothing is better with home made soup than home made bread rolls so I made some more of these using Rhonda's recipe that I posted for the Kaiser rolls.  This time I paid special attention to my yeast as I have had some flops recently with the dough not rising enough.  I tried one batch of Lowan's dried yeast (2 tspn with 1/2 tablespoon of honey in 1/4 cup of warm water) and after about 5 minutes it looked kind of dormant.  So I got out a sachet of Tandaco dried yeast and mixed it up the same.  I gave that 10 minutes and I am glad I did - it had frothed up nicely and the Lowan's was still just sitting there.  I don't know why because it is a brand new tin of yeast and has plenty time before it expired.  Any clues???????

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 I used my mixer with dough hook to knead the dough for 10 minutes then left it to rise in my warm oven. I was pleased with the way it rose...

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 I just went with round rolls today, with a few slits across the top and some porridge oats sprinkled on top for a rustic look...

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 I left them to rise another 30 minutes in the warm oven before taking them out, setting the oven heating to 200C then returning them to bake for about 25 minutes in total, until golden.

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 Success!  They looked magnificent!

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... and I can tell you they tasted great with my Pea & Ham Soup!

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Later this afternoon, I am making French Bread (2 sticks) from another recipe so I will let you know how that goes.  I'm having a lovely day home in the kitchen.

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Cheers - Joolz xx