Joy of cooking soup

Guess the book!  Although the title of this post totally gives it away.

It's my old 'Joy of Cooking' cookbook, which I've had for nearly 30 years.  Despite it having no photos, it is one of my favorite cookbooks.  I do love photos in my cookbooks.  But this book makes up for it in other ways.  Very detailed, very basic instructions on how to cook almost everything.  Well, almost everything that an American housewife in the 1930s would have thought of cooking.  

'Joy of Cooking' has been through a number of editions over the decades.  If you decide to get yourself a copy, make sure to get a sixth edition (1975) or earlier.  The publishers removed a ton of info in the seventh edition (1997), and rewrote a lot of the original text.  In my mind anything after the seventh edition is not worth its salt.

As you can see, my copy is well worn.  I say it's the mark of a good cookbook - lots of stains, sticky pages and broken binding.  That's how you can tell it's been used a lot.  By a very messy cook.

Today I decided to make a large vat of split pea and ham soup.  Enough for tonight's supper and for freezing a few quarts.  My mom used to make this soup occasionally, although I'm not sure what recipe she used.  When I first made it, I used the recipe from 'Joy of Cooking.'  It turned out so well that I've never strayed since.  I usually use a leftover ham bone, but this time I skipped the leftovers and started with a four-pound ham from the freezer.

Like most soups, it's fairly easy to make.

Despite my greatest respect for Ms. Rombauer, I do take a few liberties with the recipe.  I don't put the soup through a sieve, because I like leaving the hunks of carrots and celery intact.  I don't chill and remove the fat, since I've already trimmed most of the fat from the ham and bone.  I also add pieces of cooked ham toward the end.  Okay, it appears I take a lot of liberties. 

I usually don't bother binding the soup with butter and flour, because it seems like a lot of work for little reward.  The soup tastes just as good without binding.  Maybe I'd bother if I was serving the Queen, but not for just the fam.

I also skip the Jellied Pigs feet.  Call me crazy.

I've made so many recipes from this cookbook it's hard to remember them all.  'Joy of Cooking' is my go-to guide for making chicken or beef stock, pumpkin pie, biscuits, roast turkey, rice pudding, baked potatoes, apple crisp and pickled beets, to name a few.  And, of course, split pea soup.  Another great way to enjoy a cold autumn evening.