Pea Soup Part 1

I took Aki & Alex's "Hydrocolloids at home" class on Saturday, and had an idea during class that this was the first step toward realizing. Nice, traditional pea soup with a little bacon and mirepoix and a long simmer to get it all soft. A good winter meal, especially with sautéed pak choi on the side and the first of our 2006 Siduri Willamette Valley pinot. They make some of my favorite New World pinots, and though this is not one of their superb single vineyard wines, it still has the tang, funk, and fruit it needs. (It's also less than half as much.)

Part two will reveal if my idea is a good one.