Recipe profile: new to the kitchen, fall, can easily be doubled, weeknight

    The actual pea soup recipe is what I intended and started out to make.  It is a simple vegetarian soup that can easily be made vegan by removing the butter and substituting oil.  When I finished the soup and tasted it for the final seasoning I happened to notice the cracklins I had made the day before sitting there beside the stove staring.  You see I was going to make croutons for the garnish but instead I just threw a few goose cracklins on top and wow did they stand up and sing.  The flavor of the goose next to the clean vegetable flavors was awesome.

         So a happy accident or discovery is what this is and my if you can find or make any kind of cracklin I suggest you go for it.

Makes 4 good sized servings

2 teaspoons unsalted butter

5  3/4 cups good vegetable stock

1 3/4 cups spit green peas

1 leek, white part only, rinsed trimmed and diced

1/2 onion trimmed peeled and small dice

1 1/2 cups buttercup or butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 teaspoon thyme, minced

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

goose, duck or pork cracklins  and even rye croutons would be great

green onions, sliced

Kosher  salt and fresh ground pepper

1. 1.Place a 4 quart heavy bottomed sauce pan over medium heat and add the butter.  Once the butter melts swish it around to coat the bottom of the pan.
   

2. 2.Add the leek and onion to the pan and cook them until they are tender but have not browned.  Adjust the heat as necessary to keep them from browning.
   

3. 3.Add the garlic, thyme and peas.  Stir them around and then add the stock.  Bring the stock to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer.  Cook the peas till tender.  The ones I used took twenty minutes but I have used others that have taken 40 minutes.
   

4. 4.Add the squash, salt and pepper to taste.  Stir in the squash and continue to cook the soup until the squash is just tender.  You want the squash to have tooth so don’t  cook the it until it turns to mush.
   

5. 5.Taste, adjust the seasoning then serve topped with cracklins or croutons and green onions.