Eat your peas

I felt we could all do with a (far) less serious (and even humorous?) post long about now! Plus, I haven't done a recipe for a while, so this is long overdue!

A family secret is that Mr. Z, a tall, strapping man of strength and vitality and quite some manual dexterity, has a heck of a time and complains about keeping peas on his fork. (sshhhh, my mother doesn't even know this). I happen to love peas but I hadn't made them in a while because, frankly, I didn't want to hear it (right, wives?). I mean, who wants to be married to someone who nags, even jokingly, about how his peas won't stay on his fork!?

So, a few months ago, I had about had it with depriving myself of this treat (an especially good side dish for meat loaf, which I happen to love), and decided I'd try something that might make peas more attractive...and less .....unpredictable.... in their behavior! I shmooshed them! (I learned that term at the Cordon Bleu in Paris, where I did take a class, by the way, but it did not include peas).

If any of you have the same trouble Mr. Z has, or you have children who don't love their peas, check this out (you will recognize this as a public service announcement):

Boil water and add frozen peas. Cook till they're..........cooked. (another French cooking hint)

Drain most of the water. Add as much grated parmesan cheese as you like (Start with about a 1/4 of a cup and then, later, after you've shmooshed, taste and add more if you like! Another tip: If you add enough parmesan, your children will not remember that dish started out with the dreaded peas). Shake a bit of garlic powder into it (never use garlic SALT for anything, folks...that's a Z recommendation). Add S&P to taste, and shmoosh with an immersion blender, up and down, till they're the consistency you think you'd like. (If you're married to a man like mine, test with a fork; if peas still fall off, shmoosh again!)

This treatment of peas is really very delicious and does wonders for a marriage.

If you'd like to do something else I do if I happen to have them, drop about five small frozen onions into the peas when they're cooking and follow instructions as above. By the way, keeping a bag of small frozen onions in the freezer is great for a lot of things, especially applying the bag to an elbow or knee if you happen to have fallen! :-) Yes, yes, you may chop into small dice a normal onion and sautee it a bit and then throw it into the newly cooked peas if you like, but why bother when you can just throw the frozen ones in....or leave the onions out all together. I did tonight, and they were not missed.

Thankfully, the floor was....Missed, that is. Mr. Z did a FINE job of finishing ALL his peas and not complaining once.

You'll thank me. I promise.

but, seriously, folks....they are REALLY good this way! Enjoy!

z