So, I had planned on making this earlier in the week & decided to wait. Then the night before making, I went out & had some at restaurant. Tomato cappuccino (all frothy like), I forgot to ask what kind of cheese they used, but yummo (seriously hit me if I ever use that in mixed company). Also ate blue cheese stuffed dates – usually opposed to mixing my fruits w/ anything. Me denying mixing of said sweet & savory lets me keep my non-foodie card just a bit longer. And I usually pronounce foodie bullshit all wrong so that helps.
Anywho, to the soup. This is so easy (except for one aspect) that I can’t believe I hadn’t done so before.
The components:
- 28 ounces crushed tomatoes , undrained
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 tblsp oregano
- 1 tblsp sweet basil
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 4 tablespoons butter (oops, forgot this – you’d never know the difference unless you’re Paula Dean riding on my back)
Make it happen:
- Add undrained tomatoes, chicken broth, oregano & basil to the cooker on HIGH for 5hrs
- @ 5hrs strain tomato remnants & blend to a puree until no bits are left (see below)
- Add puree back in
- Add cream to the mix
- Leave on WARM or LOW for 1hr
This is the below section. So talking about foodies – well, if I’d have had the proper “straining” apparatus the straining may have went easier. Attempted to use a 1/2 moon pan colander, that did not work the best & hilarity ensued. Wish I had video cause this was a comedy of errors that left the countertop, floor & pants covered in tomato spunk.
Grilled cheese – are you freaking kidding me – you have to have this. Used Dave’s Killer Bread, munster cheese & butter. Here is where it gets to the “danger zone!”. Give just one side of the bread w/ butter a quick grind of sea salt. This is a grilled cheese turning point for me personally. Try it & you’ll agree.
End result: the soup was amazing (on par w/ any I’ve had in a restaurant) – glad I didn’t use the full 2 cups of cream it called for or the butter – you know the grilled cheese part.
The fancy cheese at Oliver Twists was Grueyere. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruy%c3%a8re_(cheese)
Ok, Josephine. You’ll get a kick out of this. While Perry was here, we did a light dinner night which consisted of simple sandwiches & chips. I pulled all the fixins out on the counter & I had Kraft Singles (aka American cheese in the individual wrappers). What do you suppose my “foodie” brother says “Do they still make these? Then a quick recovery of….”I’m sorry, I just haven’t seen them in years”. Listen, we’re cheese lovers….but
always have to have the Kraft Singles on hand.
Don’t get me wrong, the Gureyere grilled cheese that we had was superb, but nothing beats a grilled cheese made from Kraft singles. Deanna – When you come out to visit, we’ll have a lady night and hang out.