Cheating on Winter Pea Soup

A pea soup adventure with Dorie AND with the Barefoot Contessa...........

Per Tricia~

I have to admit that I am not normally a fan of pea soup.

 This week was different because we tried Dorie's and then

 at the last minute (Thursday night) I whipped up Ina Garten's

 version from her latest cookbook - "Foolproof". Why ?  

Because Nana and I had just had a Barefoot Contessa

 adventure- that's why !

if you knew how far back our seats were, you would really be impressed by these shots :)

We had planned to get signed copies at our local Williams-Sonoma 

last Fall, but were to be in France when the date came around.  

We figured we had a better offer so were not losing sleep - till France 

got cancelled. Hurricane Sandy ended up hitting on that date and I forgot all 

about  ever getting the cookbook.  Till this week when I went to look for it. 

I Googled Weds. morning, intending to buy the book, and learned she 

was doing an onstage book interview and book signing about two hours

 away with a local chef ----that NIGHT. I quickly secured tickets for us

 and the adventure began ! It was a very different experience than standing
in line at the store to get a copy signed and we had a great time.  As I peeked

 at the recipes I noted she had a pea soup one as well and thought it would

 be fun to compare. Basically her's included a second bag of peas in lieu of

 the romaine.  She also presents hers with a big piece of roasted Prosciutto

 on top. We tried a smoked Prosciutto and regular and while we enjoy

 this treat- next time we are going for bacon and definitely crumbling it.

Overall my guys enjoyed both soups.  

I had strained Dorie's pretty hard, per the instructions and it was

 MUCH thinner than the Ina version that I just put through the blender.

 This is personal taste only but our family liked the thicker version, which

 I can accomplish on Dorie's next time. My husband insisted that Dorie's 

was surprisingly sweet to him and he is convinced that it is due to the 

romaine. I'm not sure it wasn't the peas but was glad they were happy

 and  given the freezing temps we have had this week - I was just 

 happy to make any soup for FFWD.

Per Nana~

There isn't much to say about this recipe except that it lacked

 some flavor.  First, I prepared only half of the recipe and

 for that I am happy. I ended up with only two small bowls

 for us and no leftovers. 

I enjoyed all of the ingredients separately, but I thought it 

was a rather weak soup. After putting it through the Cuisinart,

 I eventually had to strain it. I turned out very smooth at this point 

and when we reheated it, I topped it with a dollop of sour cream.

 I added my Tabasco sauce to kick it up a notch. 

It's too bad because I truly love the cream soups we have

 been making, but this just didn't work for me.