Cream of Tomato Soup

Here's another dish I had to consume during my wisdom teeth "saga" (I exaggerate, of course). This soup was very good and hearty. However, it didn't take long for me to get tired of soups. What I liked about this recipe was that it had a small enough yield for one or two people compared to the soup recipe from Ina Garten (why do most of her recipes yield so much?).

Anyway, make sure you season this soup well. If you're eating this soup right after an extraction, purée the soup more than I did. I ate this after 3 or 4 days of my extraction, and I was lazy, so I didn't purée it. I will be sharing one more soup I consumed during my extraction, then we can move on to solid foods again hehe. On the top of the soup, I added small squares of a grilled cheese sandwich as garnish!

Cream of Tomato Soup

adapted from Life's Ambrosia and Ina Garten

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp flour
1/4 cup chicken broth or dry white wine (I don't drink alcohol, so I used extra broth)
1 28-ounce can fire-roasted or regular crushed tomatoes (I always use a box of Pomì)
3/4 cup vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 tsp granulated sugar (to reduce the acidity of the tomatoes)
Black pepper
Kosher salt
1/2 cup half-n-half or heavy cream

Garnish:
Chopped fresh basil
Grilled cheese sandwich chopped into squares

In a large saucepan heat olive oil and butter over medium heat. Once butter has melted add onions and garlic, cook until onion is softened about 5 minutes. Add in 2 Tbsp of flour to form a roux. Cook the roux for 3-5 minutes. Pour in broth or wine, and allow to cook for 1 minute. Add in crushed tomatoes, vegetable or chicken broth and granulated sugar. Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low.

Slowly stir the cream/half-n-half into the soup, and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.

For a smoother soup, blend the mixture, and process it until smooth. Just before serving, sprinkle with chopped fresh basil and/or grilled cheese sandwich squares.

Enjoy!

Chili Macaroni

I have a paper due on the 10th of February, and it is an important paper that will determine if I will be a PhD candidate or not. Therefore, I will not be as active on the blog for a few weeks, but I will still post regularly. I will just be a bit more terse. (PLEASE PRAY FOR ME, OR SEND GOOD KARMA MY WAY!)
Nevertheless, I'm glad I have been taking advantage of the winter break by making a lot of dishes that I had always wanted to make like tamales, a rosca de reyes, and bagels. I now want to make churros, pretzels, and perfect my puff pastry-making skills. I will worry about all of that later, though.

Anyway, I made this chili macaroni yesterday, and it is beyond delicious. That little puny bowl of macaroni you see just teased and prodded my tastebuds haha.
I've been trying to use my cookbook more lately, so I got this recipe from my Betty Crocker cookbook. The feminist in me doesn't like the title of the cookbook, but it does have a lot of good recipes and tips in it. Below the recipe, I have also included a Southwestern variation of this dish. I also added some optional additions in italics that were not mentioned in the cookbook. You can make this a vegetarian meal easily by adding more beans or tofu. Enjoy!

Want some?

Chili Macaroni

from Betty Crocker's Cookbook: Bridal Edition

1 cup (3.5 oz) uncooked elbow macaroni (I would add 1/2 - 1 cup if you like a more even ratio of pasta)
1 lb lean ground beef (or ground turkey, ground chicken, tofu, or nothing at all)
1 med onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 can (15-16 ounces) kidney beans, drained (use another can if not using meat)
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained (or whole tomatoes, cut up)
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1-2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional; my addition)
2 slices of Velveeta (optional; my addition)
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese (I shredded it myself from block cheese. YUM!)

Cook macaroni as directed on package. While macaroni is cooking, cook beef, onion, and garlic in 4-quart saucepan or Dutch oven over med-high heat, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown. Drain (I didn't).

Drain macaroni, and add it to the meat. Add in the remaining ingredients with the exception of the cheese (I actually added two slices of Velveeta to the sauce itself). heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Then, reduce heat, and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Sprinkle mixture with cheese, or add cheese to individual bowls.
Southwestern Chili Macaroni: Use black beans instead of kidney beans, rinsed and drained. Add shredded Monterey Jack cheese instead of cheddar. Add 1 can of chopped green chiles. You could also add cilantro on top of individual servings.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Comfort in a bowl. That is what this soup should be called. As Sugarcrafter, where I got the recipe, stated, I love the broccoli cheedar soup at Panera Bread. Not surprisingly, this soup was even better!

Since I was craving this soup, I made it as soon as I saw it in a bread bowl. Since I didn’t have a batch of bread dough sitting in the refrigerator and was very hungry, I just poured this soup in a bowl. I plan to make bread later, though. Then I can dip some warm, fresh bread into this cheesy, warm soup.

There was one missing step in the recipe on her site (adding in the garlic), so I added it in the recipe below. Also, it involves adding cardamom and nutmeg, but I didn't taste the spices at all. I also added a few shakes of hot sauce; next time I'll add more. Enjoy!

*Update* I made a bread bowl today for the leftovers of this delicious soup. It was really good. I used the bread for Artisan in Five's master's recipe. I apologize for the dark, blurry photo. I made it in a hurry.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup
adapted from Sugarcrafter

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups chicken stock (I used bouillon cubes + boiling water)
• 1/2 lb fresh broccoli, chopped
• 1 cup carrot, shredded and chopped
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cardamom
• 8 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 4 ounces grated Colby jack cheese (I used Velveeta)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Hot Sauce (optional)

Sauté the onion (and garlic) in the butter over medium heat. Remove the onions (you can actually leave the onions in there) and add in the flour, stirring constantly. Add in the half and half, milk, and chicken stock. Bring to almost a boil.
Add the onions back in, along with the broccoli and carrots. Simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes.
Season the soup with the salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cardamom. Stir in the cheeses (and you can play around with the amounts; use however much or little you like) and let simmer for 10 minutes longer before serving.

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