Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

One of my all time favorite things in the world is tomato basil soup. I am frankly a bit obsessed with it and I generally order it at any restaurant where I find it on the menu. It MUST be of the creamy variety. I started making this myself and have come to the point of having my own recipe. I can whip this soup up in a different way every time, depending on what is hiding in my pantry when the hankering starts. This is what I generally do:

Saute three or even four chopped shallots and a couple of chopped garlic cloves in a dutch oven with half a stick of butter. When the shallots are clear and starting to brown, mix in one 6 oz can of tomato paste. Follow that with two cups of chicken stock, one can of tomato soup and one large 28 oz can of whole tomatoes. I then use my immersion blender to make it smooth. I add a bit of brown sugar (probably a couple of teaspoons) and lots of pepper. Season with salt, dried basil (a good bit!), oregano, rosemary and a smidgen of cayenne pepper. Then stir in one pint of heavy cream and let simmer for about 30 minutes. This stuff is to die for and so easy!! Be easy with that cayenne pepper...it gets spicier as it simmers and if you have kiddos eating it, you need to be careful. I made it last night and got it a bit too heavy on the spicy, although when I tasted it as I was adding the pepper, it was not nearly as hot as it turned out. So make a note! You could easily skip it, but I like the little undercurrent of heat.

This recipe gets a lot of modifications when I make it. I will use two 14 oz cans of diced tomatoes instead of whole if that is what I have at the time. Another trick that is awesome is to chop up two slices of standard wheat sandwich bread and put them in before you puree. If you do this, you must let the bread simmer for about 10 minutes or so before you puree so that the bread begins to break down. This trick is surprisingly awesome and makes for a much thicker soup, although you would never guess there was bread in there! I also tend to go with three cups of stock instead of two if I am adding the bread. It is delish and really just changes the consistency and not the taste. It is a good trick if you are in the mood for thicker soup. I also use a whole onion frequently if I don't have shallots on hand. I think the shallots are the best, but the onion also makes for great soup. I also love to use fresh basil if I have some...it makes for the BEST taste. However, there are lots of times when I want the soup but don't feel like going out for basil and the dried still makes for great soup. I serve it up with my garlic bread toast sticks and it is a quick and easy meal.

It works especially well for the nights that you abandon your husband and son to go watch "The Bachelor" with your girlfriends. ;-)

Potato Leek Soup

A couple of weeks ago, my wonderful husband Jeremy bought me a present...a hand immersion blender. It has proven to be the perfect gift and I have been absolutely obsessed with soup ever since. Jer asked for potato leek soup and I set out on a mission to find the most delicious version possible. After digging around, I found two recipes that were very different and decided that each version deserved a try. The first round went to Ina Garten's version found here. First of all, I make a LOT of Barefoot Contessa recipes. They are always yummy and I find that I rarely have to make changes to her stuff, which I love. If I choose her recipe, I usually always enjoy the results the first time, rather than having to try it again with modifications. For this recipe, I did make some changes right off the bat and I am glad that I did. First of all, I did not use the arugula. There was none to be found at my sad grocery store around the corner (you will probably hear that a lot on this blog) and so I just omitted it. Second of all, I did research on the creme fraiche (because lord knows I was not finding that either!). It is WONDERFUL stuff to cook with because it is not as acidic as sour cream and also does not curdle at high heat. It is also pricey and hard to find. Through my studies, I found out that Crema Mexicana is the exact same thing! It is sold in a tall-ish jar right around the cream cheese in the grocery store. Here in Texas, it is sold EVERYWHERE (even Wal-Mart!) and you have probably passed it a million times without paying attention. I used that instead of creme fraiche and it was absolutely fantastic. Crema Mexicana is now a staple in my fridge. Back to the recipe; I also only used 5 cups of stock in the entire dish and that includes the cup of stock used after roasting. If I had added the amount Ina suggests, it would have been WAY too runny for us. I wanted a bit of substance to the soup and that was the right decision. It turned out very creamy and thin, but not TOO thin. Don't forget that you are also adding the cream, so there is plenty of liquid! I did not make the crispy shallots because of time, but I did fry some bacon to crumble on top, which was delish! I cut up a fresh loaf of french bread and made garlic parmesan bread, which I do a lot. I simply melt some butter, olive oil and minced garlic in a small dish in the microwave. I brush it on the cut bread and then sprinkle freshly grated parmesan on top. Broil for a couple of minutes and you have the perfect bread for dipping!

I recommend this recipe to everyone, but I think it is pretty important that you not add too much stock. I also don't think the arugula is necessary, but if you try it, let me know! Also, be liberal with the salt and pepper. I think the roasting of the potatoes and leeks made for a very rich soup with LOTS of flavor. Fantastic!! I did try the second recipe that I found that did not roast the potatoes and leeks and the flavor was not even close to Ina's. Next time I will try to make those shallots if at all possible...they sound SO GREAT! Overall, this one is staying in rotation!! Perfect for cold winter nights!!