Campfire Split Pea Soup

Directions

1. 1
   Get a fire going and burn the wood down to red hot smoldering coals. You'll want enough wood left over to occasionally add to the fire, one at a time, during the cooking process.
2. 2
   Once your fire is ready, put your campfire grill grate over the fire, and set a soup pot on the grate.
3. 3
   Add the bacon, and cook until it starts to crisp up, but still kinda raw. The bacon will finish cooking in the soup later. Can't really say how long it will take, it all depends on how hot your fire is, and how close your pot is to the fire. Remove the bacon from the pot and place it on a plate. Wrap the plate in tin-foil, and set aside until needed. If the bugs are bad, wrap the bacon in foil and put it in your cooler, tent, car, ect, so the scent doesn't attract more bugs.
4. 4
   Throw 2 tablespoons of butter into the pot, once it completely melts, add the minced garlic. Continuously stir until the garlic becomes fragrant, approx 30 seconds. Then add the mirpoix.
5. 5
   Sprinkle the mirpoix with a pinch of salt and pepper, then stir occasionally until the mixture begins to soften. Again, you will need to taste and play cooking times by ear depending on how hot your fire is.
6. 6
   Once the vegetables are softened, add the thyme and split peas. At this point I added another pinch of salt and pepper and stirred until the peas will mixed well with the vegetables. Now add the veggie stock, and water. Stir the ingredients around for a bit, so the peas don't stick to the bottom of the pot and burn.
7. 7
   Now add the somewhat cooked bacon and the ham steak into the pot. Submerging them into the liquid. It's hard to control a camping fire's temperature, so at this point, I put the lid on the pot, and another log on the fire, in hopes it would bring the liquid to a boil. Which it did. If your fire is too cold and the soup won't boil, don't be too worried, you just may have to cook your soup longer.
8. 8
   Cook, covered, for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
9. 9
   Note, about 20 minutes or so into the cooking time, take off the cover, you should see a foam forming on top of the liquid. Skim the foam and discard it in the garbage. Replace the cover and continue cooking.
10. 10
    After 1 hour, remove the ham steak from the soup. This will help prevent the ham from drying out. Put the ham on a plate and cover it with foil. If the bugs are bad, you may need to keep the ham in your cooler, tent, or car, otherwise the smell will attract more bugs.
11. 11
    Continue cooking the soup for another 40 minutes to an hour. Stirring on a regular basis. Taste the peas, if they break apart easily, the soup is ready. If the peas are still tough, you'll have to cook it longer.
12. 12
    Once the peas are extremely soft and easily break apart, I start to gently smash them against the side of the soup pot to break them up even more (optional).
13. 13
    Remove the cooked bacon. You can either eat it right there, discard it, or cut it up, and put it back into the soup. Taste the soup for additional salt and pepper. Cube the ham steak, and add it back into the pot, ensuring you pour any juices from the resting ham, back into the soup.
14. 14
    Ladle the soup into bowls, and top with any soup toppings you like (cheddar cheese, breadcrumbs, ect)