Recipe: French Canadian split pea "risotto"

this gives new meaning to "chunky soup"

This little number came as a bit of a crazy inspiration as Dan and I moved along in the Ultimate Burger Series.  As you'll see in an upcoming post, we made the French Canadian burger.  As a country built largely on immigration, the question of "Canadian cuisine" is always a tough one, especially if you are focusing on the Francophone component.  French Canadian split pea soup is a favorite of mine and I was trying to think of how it could be incorporated into a burger without getting too ridiculous.  I managed to pull it off, and in the process discovered an amazing side dish I would be happy to serve anytime.

For the sake of the burger, I figured that if we could make a split pea saute with all the flavour components of the soup, we'd be onto something.  Cooking it risotto style seemed to be the natural approach to ensure that the final product wouldn't sog out the burger - it worked like a charm.  For the burger, we seasoned it at the end with some maple vinegar just to give it a bit of a "relish" characteristic and it was more than welcome.  Risotto is often seasoned with lemon juice, so the maple vinegar wasn't out of line and gave a nice balance to the richness of the dish.  I've included it here as a "to taste" ingredient because I think you'll find that a dash will just bring a lot of the flavours forward.  

pork sweats!

For the pork stock and fat, we were fortunate enough to have sous-vide pork belly around, so as they got used, I periodically raided the bags for their jellified juice and residual fat.  The inclusion of bacon lardons would be a delicious way to impart that pork flavour and provide you with the pork fat  needed to cook with.  Just render them off in the pan first, then take them out and start with your onions.  If you want to make a real nice pork stock, simmer off a couple smoked hocks with some mirepoix - this will also give you some delicious meat to use and the fat cap of the stock is perfect for cooking with.

You will need:

500ml / 2C                 soaked yellow split peas (about 250-300ml / 8.5-10 fl oz dry)

1/2                              white onion, fine dice

5ml / 1tsp                   minced garlic

saute the peas

60ml / 1/4C                pork fat

100ml / 1/3C+4tsp     pork stock

as needed                    water

to taste                        kosher salt

to taste                        black pepper

to taste                        maple vinegar (cider will also work well)

Method:

 - wash the yellow peas well, then soak for 24 hours

 - dice the onion fine and mince the garlic

 - render the bacon lardons if you need the fat

add the stock and be gentle

 - sweat the onion and garlic off in the fat really well

 - drain the water off the peas and add to the pan

 - saute the peas well, then turn the heat down and add the pork stock

 - like making a risotto, add water periodically (just enough to cover) and stir often

 - cook gently for about 30 - 45 minutes, then test the peas

 - if they are almost tender, stop adding water and reduce the mixture down to a risotto consistency

 - season with salt, pepper, and vinegar (if desired)

 - garnish with pork

 - serve