Trottin' Pea Soup

So I was doing a bit of grocery shopping with the last of my stamps from Alaska, and I pass the canned-and-otherwise preserved meat aisle.  {Four, I think it was.}  Lo and behold, my eye caught the top-shelved jars of pickled pigs feet.  Never in all my days have I given them a go; no clue even what they might taste like.  So I buy one all the same, for experience sake.

Three weeks later, the thing is still in my fridge and I have no idea what to do with them.  And suddenly it hits me:  pea soup!  I mean, basically it's ham.  As for the rest of the story…

Preparation Time:  between one or two hours; honestly, it depends on the peas you buy.  Manischewitz pea soup mix takes about 45 minutes to an hour; Hurst’s should take between one to one and a half.

Serves:  plenty; I’d say ten or so servings sounds about right.

Requirements:

1# bag of split peas

1 jar of pickled pigs feet; drained, rinsed, and so forth {they emerge like Austin Powers from cryro-}

1 medium-sized onion, chopped into petals

3 cloves garlic

1 sweet potato, simply chopped

3 bay leaves, a douse of pepper and a brace of salt, with just a pinch of Old Bay

6 baby bella mushrooms, sliced

Directions:

Add 12 cups of water to a fairly large pot and add a dash of salt.  Throw in your peas, feet, onion, garlic, potato and spices; everything but the mushrooms.  Turn on to HIGH and bring to a boil; let boil for half an hour, stirring occasionally.  [Helpful Pairing:  In the meantime, make up a dose of cornbread; I don’t have any recipes in particular, sorry to say.]  After the first half hour has passed, add your mushrooms, and crank the heat down to a ‘2’ or MED-LOW setting.  Depending on the peas you purchased, it should simmer anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour and a half.  Basically, once the peas are broken down into a stewy mush.  Between that and your cornbread, your kitchen should be smelling quite fine!  {Makes great leftovers.}