Dave, the field peas as per dilla's link and of what are typically used for "split-pea" soup are of the same family as "english peas" or "green peas", brought from europe to NA: pisum sativum. Southern peas or cowpeas of course as you know are the family Vigna from africa and have a dramatically different taste from pisum(IMO), Yeah, I know. Thus the use of "moniker" as opposed to genus or family since many use the common labels interchangeably, incorrectly but still interchangeably. A long discussion over on the Harvest forum some months back came up with several more alternate labels for them but I can't recall all the "we call them" names folks came up with. Sorry if any confusion. But whatever one calls them, they still are not productive enough in the typical home garden to off-set their inexpensive store-bought cost. Dave

Thanks Dave! I googled it but didn't find much info. That article was very helpful. I also have Red Norland, but assumed since it was Red, it wasn't good for soup. Sounds like I should use the Red Norland. Yes, the soup is for fresh eating, or freezing, although the potatoes tend to get mushy when frozen. I've got some Savoy cabbage and squash, which I also love to put in a good minestrone. Too bad I have no ripe tomatoes yet, but maybe I'll add some canned tomato basil sauce I have leftover from last year!

I will report back on the soups on how they freeze. I freeze all kinds of soup all the time and have never had a soup not hold up well. The slimming soup is a soup from Women First magazine. It was an except of a book on soups that help with weight loss. Here is the recipe: 1 3/4 lbs lean ground beef, turkey, or chopped chicken* 1 tsp/ olive oil 1 large onion, peeled, chopped 1 large red, yellow, or green pepper, seeded, chopped 1 large yellow squash, chopped 8 oz mushrooms, chopped 1 tsp. chopped garlic 1 bottle 46 oz reduced sodium tomato or veggie juice 1 can 15 oz pinto, garbanzo, or black beens, rinsed, drained. 1 can 14 oz crushed tomatoes 1 tbs. fresh lime juice 1 tbs. ground cumin 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper or to taste 1/4 cup each fresh cilantro and parsley leaves, chopped. Cook meat in olive oil until cooked, drain, remove from pot. In same pot cook onions, peppers, squash, mushrooms and garlic 5 min or until tender crisp. Stir in cocktail juice, beans, tomatoes, lime juice, cumin, cayenne, and cooked meat. Add up to 1 cup of water if desired. cover, bring to simmer, do not boil. Let simmer 20 min. Add cilantro parsley, cover, simmer 5 min. Garnish with cheese if desired. Can be stored in refrigerator up to 5 days or frozen. * can use 1 additional can of beans instead of meat Other suggestions to reduce digestive yeast are to double the garlic, add some daikon and eggplant and just cook a little longer. My adjustments are: I use an extra can of beans instead of the meat. I do not use mushrooms as I don't like them. I use only half the amount of cocktail juice and instead use homemade turkey or chicken broth for the other half. I do this as it seems a little to "tomatoey" to me with 46 oz of tomato juice. Also note to read the labels on cooktail or tomato juice. I find the regular juice often has less sodium then the reduced sodium juice. I use lemon or line juice, whatever I have. I do add daikon when I can find it.

1.__________________________________________________________ Asparagus and Leek Soup Posted by: san_ (My Page) on Wed, Nov 20, 02 at 18:21 Asparagus and Leek Soup over low heat, saute: 2 finely chopped leeks in a little butter or olive oil then add: 2# chopped asparagus, 2 cloves chopped garlic, 2 C chicken broth, 1 C water when the veggies are very tender, puree them in a blender. return this to the stock pot and if you like it, stir in 1/2 C of sour cream. slowly reheat and add a little salt and pepper to taste. 2._________________________________________________________ Chilled Soup of Mixed Peas Posted by: san_ (My Page) on Wed, Nov 20, 02 at 18:21 Chilled Soup of Mixed Peas # snap peas, blanched and julienned, ¼ C butter, 2 minced shallots, 2# shelled peas, 2 C chicken stock, 2 C half and half, ½ C sour cream, lemon juice, salt & pepper, basil Melt butter in a saucepanadd shallots and sauté for a minute or two. Add peas. Reduce heat to low and cook about 5 minutes. Raise heat to high and add the chicken stock. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat and cook 2 minutes. Blend in a blender until smooth and chill thoroughly. Whisk together the half and half and sour cream and pour this into the soup. Season with a squirt or two of lemon juice, salt and pepper and add a little shredded or dried basil. Garnish with the pea pods and serve. Notes: the above is fairly thick and creamy. You can substitute no fat half and half (which is pretty high in sugars) and no-fat sour cream. The flavor is still quite good but it is a little thinner, both in consistency, as well as flavor 3.__________________________________________________________ Mom's Parsley Soup Posted by: san_ (My Page) on Wed, Nov 20, 02 at 18:21 Mom's Parsley Soup Combine and simmer for about 30 minutes: 4 C diced potatoes (3 chefs or 5 or 6 regular ones), 1 C diced onions, 1/4 C butter, 1/4 tsp curry powder, 1 T worcestershire sauce, 1 ½ C water, After cooling the above mixture a little, pour it into an osterizer, adding about 1/2 C of milk and blend until it's VERY smooth. heat in a small saucepan: 2 ½ C chopped parsley, 3 C chicken stock, (the parsely and stock can be put through an osterizer or blended with a "power stick" but i prefer to leave it with a little texture) stir the parsley/stock into the potato/stock, and season with salt and pepper. check to see if it needs thinning with a little more milk. at this point, you can chill it or reheat just to the boiling point for serving. this will serve 8 easily. 4._________________________________________________________ Wild Mushroom Soup Posted by: MQmoi (My Page) on Tue, Nov 26, 02 at 18:15 As promised, here's the Wild Mushroom Soup recipe that got raves at the Autumnfest meal. It is from The Trellis Cookbook. I made it using Chanterelle mushrooms. If you read the Chef's notes, you will get other ideas, e.g., I made part of the soup ahead of time. Wild Mushroom Soup Serves 8 1 pound shiitake mushrooms or other available fresh wild mushrooms, 6 cups chicken stock, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon water, 2 stalks celery, chopped, 1 medium onion, chopped, 1 medium carrot, chopped, 1 medium leek, white part only, chopped, 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed, Salt and pepper to season, 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, ½ cup all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon clarified butter, 2 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped, 1 cup heavy cream Remove the stems from the mushrooms. Slice enough mushroom caps to make 3 cups. Reserve. Place the remaining caps and stems in a 2 1/2-quart saucepan with the chicken stock. Bring to a boil then lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. While the stock is simmering, heat the vegetable oil and water in a 5-quart saucepan over medium heat. When hot, add the chopped celery, onion, carrot, and leek, along with the garlic. Season with salt and pepper and saute until the onions are translucent, 5 to 8 minutes. Add the chicken and mushroom stock to the sauteed vegetables. Bring to a simmer. In a 2 1/2-quart saucepan, melt the butter on low heat. Add the flour, to make a roux, and cook until the roux bubbles, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir constantly to prevent browning and scorching. Strain 4 cups simmering stock into the roux. Whisk vigorously until smooth, then add to the large pot with the remaining stock and vegetables. Whisk until well combined. Simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and puree in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. (Pass the soup through a strainer if a smoother texture is desired.) Heat the clarified butter in a large non-stick saute pan over medium heat. When hot, add the reserved 3 cups sliced mushrooms and saute for 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for an additional 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the cream. As soon as this mixture is hot (do not boil), add to the pureed soup. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve immediately. (This soup may be held hot in a double boiler for up to two hours.) The Chef's Touch Because of their wide availability on a year-round basis, shiitake mushrooms have become the fresh wild mushroom of choice at The Trellis. Many other varieties of fresh wild mushrooms are also available seasonally. Some of our favorites include: oyster tree, black trumpet, white trumpet, chicken-of-the-woods, morel, porcini, and chanterelle. When fresh varieties are not available, do not hesitate to use the dried variety, especially for a soup or stew. For this recipe, rehydrate 4 ounces dried wild mushrooms in 2 quarts warm water for one hour; drain well before using. If for some reason wild mushrooms, fresh or dried, are not available, an acceptable soup can be prepared by using 1 pound cultivated white mushrooms. If the soup is not to be served within two hours, omit adding the sliced mushrooms, tomatoes, and cream. Cool the soup properly (see page 315), then cover and refrigerate for up to three days. When reheating the soup, bring to a simmer before adding the separately heated garnish of mushrooms, tomatoes, and cream. 5.__________________________________________________________ No Peek Stew Posted by: Ann_T (My Page) on Thu, Nov 28, 02 at 19:26 Joanne, I have never made this nor do I know who posted it first. It has been posted numerous times though. This particular version of it I copied from another website. See link below. If someone would like to take credit for it, please be my guest. LOL. Ann. No Peek Stew 2 lbs. stew meat, 1 (2.5 oz.) can sliced mushrooms, drained, 1 pkg. dry onion soup mix, 1 (10 3/4 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup, 1 cup ginger ale, Throw all ingredients into a pot with a tight-fitting lid and bake at 350 degrees F. for 2-1/2 to 3 hours. Do not peek. Yield: 6 servings. 6._________________________________________________________ OLd Fashioned cream of tomato soup Posted by: Linda_inTennessee (My Page) on Thu, Apr 3, 03 at 21:42 OLd Fashioned cream of tomato soup serves 10 1 stick of butter, 1/2 cup flour, 4 cups milk, 2 1/2 lbs canned diced tomatoes, 1 1/2 cups tomato juice, 1 1/2 cups prepared bloody mary mix, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp pepper, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 cups heavy cream make a roux in a large pot using butter and flour, careful not to brown. add remaining ingredients , simmer 15 minutes. garnish each serving with a dollop of sour cream and a touch of dill 7.__________________________________________________________ WINTER VEGETABLE STEW Posted by: Teri2 on Thu, Aug 28, 03 at 15:55 This is always a hit and it's just about my favorite winter dish. It never fails to amaze people who think they don't like brussel sprouts, including me! Use the tender, young sprouts of fall and they'll just soak up the yummy liquid and taste soooo good. WINTER VEGETABLE STEW 5 T. butter, 2 med leeks, sliced thinly, 1/2 lb. boiling onions, 2 cloves garlic, minced, 1/2 t. thyme, 1 bay leaf, rosemary to taste, 1/2 lb. mushrooms, whole or halved to bite size, 1 med. turnip, 1/2 in. dice (this is essential for flavor), 1 1/4 c. dry white wine, 1 1/2 T. soy sauce, 1/2 lb. Russet potatoes, 1/2 in. dice, 1/4 lb. small brussel sprouts, 1 c. hot vegetable stock (Knorr cubes work well), 1 T. wine vinegar, 1 1/2 T. molasses, 1 1/2 t. paprika, dash of Tabasco, salt and pepper to taste Use a large, heavy pot. Saute leeks, onion, garlic and herbs in 3 T butter until leeks turn golden. Add mushrooms, turnips, wine and soy sauce. Stir and lower heat. Prepare potatoes and sprouts. Add to stew. Stir again and cover. In a small saucepan, melt 2 T butter and stir in flour. Cook the roux for a few minutes. Add hot vegetable stock and whisk to thicken. Add vinegar,molasses, paprika and Tabasco. Add to stew. Simmer stew about 1 hour. Season to taste (if at all). Serves 4-5. Teri