I don't care if spring is just around the corner . . .

I've been feeling like SOUP. Earlier this week, a lazy dinner involved getting three kinds of soup and a baguette from Elephants Deli (lamb with barley, turkey rice with fennel and butternut squash, and mulligatawney with chicken and apple), but I felt guilty (as I frequently do) for buying something I am very capable of making myself. So I went to the cookbook shelf, and started (as I often do) in my amassed issues of Cook's Illustrated (organized not chronologically but seasonally: all the January-February issues together, etc.--and I rotate them as each new bimonth rolls around, so the most seasonally appropriate recipes are easy to find). Now, with my family's dietary restrictions (Number Two is allergic to cow's milk and does not tolerate cooked tomatoes very well), and my own dislikes (I cannot abide mushrooms), a number of otherwise good-sounding possibilities were eliminated right off the bat. But when I got to the recipe for Split Pea Soup with Ham in the March-April 1999 issue, I knew right away I had a winner--the only ingredients I didn't already have on hand were the ham and the split peas.

So, today after teaching choir to Number One's class at school (we have performances next week), Number Two and I ventured forth in search of the recipe's recommended 2.5 lb bone-in picnic ham (from the shoulder). When I called Gartner's Meats, and they didn't have one, I got the feeling I would probably have to find an alternative. I found what looked like a decent one at Sheridan Fruit Co.: a 2-lb bone-in ham shank, meaty and dry (not shrink-wrapped and watery). A pound of split peas from the bulk section at the supermarket, and I was ready to roll.

I put the ham shank in a dutch oven with 3 qts of water and four bay leaves, then simmered it for about 2.5-3 hours. Then I pulled out the meat and put it on a plate to cool, and put the peas in the broth to simmer for about 45 minutes. Then I chopped two medium onions in the Cuisinart, chopped three carrots and two celery ribs on the cutting board, and heated two tablespoons of olive oil in a nonstick skillet until shimmering. I sauteed the vegetables over pretty high heat until they were getting browned, then reduced the heat to medium-low and added two cloves of garlic (minced--actually run through a garlic press), 1 T butter, and a pinch of sugar. Then I continued to saute the vegetables until they were nice and brown.

After the ham had cooled enough to handle, I picked off and hand-shredded the meat. I peeled and cut into 3/8-in dice two medium russet potatoes. Then I put the meat, vegetables and potatoes into the pot and continued to simmer until the potatoes were tender. I adjusted the seasonings with fresh-ground black pepper and a couple of teaspoons of balsamic vinegar (no additional salt was needed), and served it with multigrain artisanal bread. Yum.