For Marcus Audens, Pork and Peas

This one has taken me a while to get to, not because I haven't wanted to, but because life has been BUSY! But today, this amazing food is cooking in my kitchen, and my nose is quite pleased! So, here's the process I'm following. I wish I had my camera to take photos!!

This morning my dear hubby and sous chef helped me by cutting this huge pork shoulder and ribs slab into several pieces. I froze half for another time, and took the tip, the big shoulder piece and a couple of ribs. I seasoned them well with salt and pepper and just popped them in the fridge for later. Before I started the veggies, I put the pork pieces in a pan and coated with olive oil on both sides.* I roasted them at 400 degrees about 15 minutes and flipped for another 15 minutes. This will give you time to chop veggies and clean up this round of the meal!

The chichees were soaked overnight last night and then again today with fresh water. Once I got the meat in the oven , I dumped the soaked peas in my big stew pot, covered them in water, and added the following**:
2 chopped carrots
2 chopped celery ribs
2 chopped leeks (chop then toss in a bowl of cold water to separate and rinse)
1 large chopped onion
several cloves of raw garlic that had just been broken with the flat side of a knife
Then I added just a little bit of chicken bouillon, but only because it was in the fridge that was getting cleaned out at the time!

Added some fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary, oregano, basil and bay) to the pot and a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. The roasted meat goes in next with all the drippings and olive oil you began with. Then I put in about half the head of roasted garlic. It's 6:20pm and we're simmering with everything in the pot and the lid tipped a bit to vent the amazing smell.

 6:45 and I almost couldn't leave the pot. It smells SO good. I decided it was time to add some more herbs and some spices to the mix. I tossed in a good heavy center-of-my-palm full of ground coriander and about the same amount of curry powder. I also tossed in a bit of rubbed sage, and stirred it all while enjoying the steam facial!
This will be a recipe I will be using again. I can already tell by the smell that it's going to be amazing.

7pm- added about 4 or 5 cloves of roasted garlic. YUM Stirred well, still simmering!

8pm- could no longer resist. I had a small bowl. It was delicious! It's a rich broth, very mild with a wonderful balance of herbs and spices. Took out what was left of the stems from the fresh herbs and removed the pork to cool so I can shred it.

10pm- The pork is shredded and I made some plain rice to go with this soup. Big bowls of rice are covered in this flavorful soup, and the steaming bowl is very good and very reminiscent of a time gone by. Everyone is full and happy with our late-night feast.



Notes:

*Had I been cooking over flame, just sear each piece quickly in a pan or on a long stick for the purpose. You don't need to cook it through, just brown it.

**You could also use shredded cabbage, turnips, rutabaga, parsnips, beet roots and greens, chard, spinach, just about any veggie you have on hand that would have been medieval (or not!).