A great gadget for soup

Grand Island Dispatch, March 30, 2007

I thought I had the only Foley Food Mill left on the planet. But not so – it seems that my antique food mill has a brand new representative available on line. And a food mill is what you will need to make these very delicious soups.

I got my food mill when my uncle sold the family house on Bird Avenue in Buffalo. Uncle Jim said to take anything that hadn’t been sold on consignment. There wasn’t much left to get my imagination going. By the time I got his invitation, all the good stuff was gone as people had helped him move from the three-story energy trap into a small efficiency apartment.

I took a few nondescript books that had been favorites when I spent time at the house: a Horatio Alger, some Earnest Thompson Seton and the collected verse of Rudyard Kipling seemed the right ones to re-read.

In the pantry, the lone piece not taken was the Foley Food Mill. What a find!

It sat on a shelf in a bottom cabinet for years. When we moved, it came along. I really didn’t know what it could do. But its magic was soon to be revealed. One day, my husband, Bob, said that he remembered a split pea soup that his grandmother had made. Could I find a recipe for it? I searched the cookbook and there it was. The modern version takes less time than the original recipe, as the dried split peas of today don’t need to be soaked overnight or preboiled.

So, here is my recipe – and just in time to take advantage of that leftover ham bone that the Easter Bunny left under the egg tree.

Green Split Pea Soup

1 pound package of green split peas
1 or carrots, washed, peeled and chunked
1 or 2 stalks of celery, chunked
1 large potato, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 to 3 quarts of water
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 bay leaf
(optional: 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, chopped)
1 lean ham bone with about a quarter-pound of ham still on it
Salt and pepper to taste

Rinse split peas under water spray (and take care to look over peas, as they could have dirt or small stones in the package).

In a large pot, put ham bone, water, carrot, celery, potato, onion, (garlic) and bay leaf.

Bring to a boil and add split peas. Bring back to a boil and boil gently for 1 and 1/2 hours. Add more water, if needed. Stir, if necessary. Remove bay leaf and ham bone. Set ham bone aside to cool.

Rinse the food mill with cool water if you haven’t used it lately. Set the food mill onto a second pot that it will fit on without moving. Put about one half of the soup mixture into food mill and turn the handle to strain the mixture. Add the rest of the mix and keep cranking that handle.

When you have strained all of the soup mixture through the food mill, take the mill apart and rinse the three pieces under cool water. That’s the way to save yourself some sticky washing up, later.

Remove the meat from the ham bone, dice it and add it to the soup. Taste the soup and correct the seasonings if needed.

This makes about 12 servings. I usually make this for supper, and we like a batch of cornbread with it.

As for the food mill, I’m not going to be sure that one is available at a local kitchen supply store until I have a chance to go either to the Boulevard Mall or the Fashion Outlets Mall on Military Road in Niagara County.

I do know that it is available on line. I went to www.foleyfoodmill.com. I clicked on the upper right under related categories: “Food Mill Ricer,” then on the upper left, under Food Mill at shopzilla.com. Click on Kitchen Supplies and Utensils, and you will get a listing of rotary food mills that range in price from $19.95 for a plastic one to the Foley at $46.95 (my favorite!) and on to one at $179.50.

I’m no computer whiz, so if I can find something on line, you can, too.

The other soup I make is a 15-bean soup. It’s a little different in that I only sieve (using the food mill) about one-half of the mixture, leaving some beans intact.

Fifteen Bean Soup

1 ham bone with at least a quarter-pound of ham still on it
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 15-ounce can of diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon of chili powder
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 to 3 quarts of water
Salt and pepper to taste

Rinse beans in a spray of cool water.

Put beans into a pot with the three quarts of water and bring water to a boil.

Reduce heat and cook for about an hour.

Stir.

Add ham bone, onion, canned tomatoes, chili powder, garlic – and the juice of one lemon, if desired.

Simmer the mixture for 30 minutes or more or until beans seem tender. Remove ham bone from soup and set aside to cool.

Add a packet of flavoring, if one is included in the package of beans.

Using the food mill, sieve about half of the soup into a separate container – or not, if you prefer whole beans. Add cooled, diced ham from the ham bone.

Put all together and reheat.

This, too, is a great soup for supper time.

I have to add a postscript to this column that has nothing to do with soup. It’s about the food mill, only. Use this great gadget for sensational applesauce.

Food Mill Applesauce

Wash and remove any stems from about six apples. Cut apples into quarters and place into a three-quart, covered saucepan with one half to three-quarters of a cup of water. Bring to a boil. Cover.

Cook, stirring enough to break up apples. Re-cover. Cook, altogether, for 10 to 15 minutes.

Set a second put up to set your food mill on.

Sieve apples into second pot.

Depending on the variety of apples you have chosen, add from one-third to one-half cup of sugar. You may add a half-teaspoon of cinnamon, as well.

I use a rather tart-tasting variety and add a minimum amount of sugar.

Happy Easter!