Thayer in the Kitchen

I have had problems making dishes with the bunches of pea shoots that have come in my CSA box.  I've made the mistake of not getting rid of the stems.  That was definitely not good.  It was like chewing on a bunch of little sticks.  No matter what the dish is, this is an unpleasant experience. The most recent thing I tried was this soup. Good!  I avoided using the stems in the soup. I'd make it again which is why I'm posting it. •1 Onion •3 Slices Bacon •1-2 Medium Potatoes •1 bunch of Pea Shoots •2 cups Chicken Stock •Sour Cream •1-2 tbsp chopped fresh chives Chop the bacon and chop the onion finely.  Fry in a saucepan together until the bacon and onion are starting to brown. Chop the potatoes coarsely. Add the potato and the chicken stock to the saucepan. Boil for 10 minutes until the potato is soft. Place the contents of the sauce pan into a blender, and blend until smooth.  Then add the pea sho...

This is a hint that I found on the Harmony Valley website, "The secret to cooking them is to trim the ends to where the stems begin to be tender and chopping them into 2 inch, or smaller, pieces." I did chop them into small pieces, but failed to remove the tougher woody stalks. It kind of all looks alike, so its easy to think all of it will cook OK. This is not the case! We wound up having to pick the tough little sticks out of our pasta. This is not something you want to experience. It gives you a rather negative feeling about the whole pea vine thing. I recommend the following recipe, but be sure to do a better job trimming the pea shoots than I did. Pasta Carbonara with Pea Shoots 1/2 pound pasta of your choice 3-4 slices bacon 2 large cloves garlic, minced 4 cups pea shoots, including leaves and tendrils, roughly chopped (1 bunch, trimmed) Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste 2 large eggs 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided 1/2 cup chopped f...