I have always liked split pea soup from a young age. Back when I was in high school Lipton’s made an instant form of split pea soup that all you had to do was add hot water to it and then you would have soup.

I have also made it from scratch over the years and used various recipes, like the one that calls for traditional ham hock. Last year I used some smoked beef brisket and found it to be just as tasty if not better. Having grown up in Wyoming, I can even remember once using a pronghorn antelope roast as the meat that was simmered with the split peas.

But maybe one of the best recipes that I have ever had comes from my Uncle Ray. My mom had two brothers and they both lived in Montana and they both worked for the railroad their entire lives. Uncle Ray had worked for the railroad long enough that he had become a train conductor, the kind that checked your tickets when you rode in the passenger car. He rode trains all over America, and when we came to visit him, he would tell us all about it.

One time he told me that he had rode into St. Louis Missouri and while he was there, he enjoyed the best bowl of split pea soup that he had ever experienced in his whole life. He explained that different parts of the country are known for good BBQ. And St. Louis is known for the most delicious smoked baby back ribs. There were a couple of smokehouses on main street that would smoke racks of ribs all day long to sell to hungry customers that came from miles around. But sometimes at the end of the day they would run out of customers and be left with a few racks of ribs.

One of the smokehouse owners had come up with a new way to make sure the ribs did not go to waste. At the end of the day, he put the remaining ribs in the bottom of a large kettle and poured 10 pounds of dried split peas over it and then topped it off with water and let it slow cook all night long. In the morning when he arrived at work, he had the most delightful split pea soup.

This past Monday over Fall Break, I walked into my local Smiths store and found in the chilled deli section, two full racks of St. Louis Style baby back ribs that had been marked down to half price because they had not sold the day before. I decided right then and there that I would have to try and make Baby Back Split Pea Soup.

If you would like to see if you agree with Uncle Ray that this is the best bowl of split pea soup that you will ever have in your life, then drop by Room 200 where we will be using it to motivate young math students to complete their quiz over inequalities. (Remember greater than and less than signs? > < )

Bon Appétit Mon Ami