Cream of Tomato Soup

Growing up in a single parent household with two hungry siblings, we relied heavily on simple, quick meals to get us through the week when mom had to work late.  That meant quite a few casseroles (Penny Casserole, Chicken a la king), baked Italian pastas (it took me a few years of not living at home until I could eat a stuffed shell again) and of course - Grilled Cheese with Cream of Tomato Soup.

When I hear "Cream of Tomato Soup",  like millions of Americans, I think of the salty, savory flavor of Campbell's Condensed Cream of Tomato Soup.  Tasty for sure, but one dimensional.  But, if Campbell's is 1D, the version of the soup in Saveur's 101 Classic Recipes produces a soup that is full on 3-D.

 The ingredients are:

4 slices thick-cut bacon, finely chopped
2 tbsp unsalted butter
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp flour
4 cups chicken stock
2 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
1 15-oz can whole, peeled, crushed by hand
1/4 cup heavy cream
Kosher salt and ground pepper, to taste
Creme fraiche, croutons and finely chopped chives, to garnish

Many of the recipes in that I have been cooking call for the use of a 4-quart saucepan, but in my experience the more room your food has to cook, the better the final results.  The bottom of my pot is a bit thinner than my saucepan, so I have to keep a closer eye on the flame that I cook with to make sure the food doesn't burn or heat more quickly than I'd like, but that tends to be the only difference for me.  Plus the wooden spoon makes a satisfying clang when I bang the remnants off of it by hitting the side of the stock pot.  When I hit the spoon on the side of the saucepan the sound it makes is more of a "plink".

I placed my stock pot on medium heat and heated the bacon until all the fat had rendered out and the bacon had crisped nicely. 

I then added the butter, cranked the heat up a bit and added the onion, garlic and carrot, stirring until it had softened and the onions had become translucent, about 10 minutes.  I was surprised that there was no celery in the recipe, leaving the traditional soup/sauce base mirepoix incomplete.  That would be an interesting addition when I make the recipe again.

I tossed in the tomato paste and cooked until caramelized a bit, then added the flour and cooked while stirring constantly (about 5 minutes total).

 Next - the big dump.  Into the pot went the stock, thyme, bay leaf and tomatoes and once they had boiled, I reduced the heat to low and simmered the soup until it had reduced a bit, about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once the soup had finished cooking I removed it from the stove and engaged my trusty immersion blender to puree the heck out of it.  After pureeing the soup, I stirred in the cream and seasoned lightly with salt, but liberally with pepper.

For garnish the recipe calls for creme fraiche, croutons and diced chives which posed some problems. Trying to stay as low carb as possible, croutons were out,  I checked a few local groceries and couldn't find creme fraiche, so I tried to make it at home using a recipe I found online (two cups buttermilk mixed with one tablespoon of lemon juice, left on the counter, covered, overnight), but it was unsuccessful.  Instead, to plate (do you "plate" soup?  Maybe you "bowl" it?) the soup I  used sour cream mixed with a little milk and chopped chives.

Cream of Tomato Soup - Schuler Version

I made the soup for a group of friends (as all great cooking should be) and there wasn't a lick left in each bowl when they finished.  In comparison to the salty, almost tinny taste of the Campbell's Tomato soup, this was fresh tasting with a smoky undertone from the bacon.  I am a big fan of sour cream in all forms and one of my favorite moments in eating this was when I would put a spoonful in my mouth and the hot, savory soup would first coat my tongue, only to be extinguished by the creamy, tart taste of the sour cream.  Kind of like the mouth feel of cool blue cheese on a chicken wing.  Yum.

I'll probably make this again, but to me the experience of making this soup is a little less about this final product as it is about learning the basic structure of the recipe and playing with the parts - Cream of  Potato, Cream of Asparagus, Cream of Parsnip, Cream of  Broccoli, etc, etc.  I'm a big fan of the skill of "Kitchen Cupboard" Cooking.  That is, the ability to look into the kitchen cupboard, fridge and pantry and making a great meal out of whatever is in there.  Culinary problem solving at its finest.

Credit: Todd Coleman

16 down, 85 to go!

Salmorejo

As winter begins its slow but sure descent into our lives, it seems that that the darkness of the evening creates a dour and sullen mood, even in the early days of November.  I thought that I would try to brighten the mood of a Sunday night by making a bright, summery dish, Salmorejo.  Salmorejo is a Spanish puree of tomato, bread and other ingredients served chilled.  Think a thicker, more robust take on gazpacho.  The recipe was simple and I found the method of "cooking" the soup very interesting.

Ingredients for Salmorejo:

3 tbsp. Kosher Salt, plus more to taste
8 plum tomatoes, cored, halved and seeded
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 baguette (about 10 oz) cut into large onions
1/2 small yellow onion
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
 2 tbsp. Sherry Vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1 1/2 cups chopped Iberian ham or prosciutto

The first step was to place the tomatoes, onion, garlic salt and bread into a large bowl, cover with boiling water and let steep for 1 hour.

Then I drained the vegetables, reserving a cup of the liquid and place back into the bowl and squeezed the water out of the bread and place into the bowl as well.  Warning, even thought the bread had set for an hour, it was still very hot. Squeezing the water out was also difficult to do by hand.  The bread would squish through my fingers as it relentlessly held water.  I also attempted putting the bread in a colander and sieve, but got similar results.  I had some success pressing the bread between layers of paper towels, but it took quite a few paper towels.  Not very budget or eco-friendly.

Once the bread was semi-dry, I placed it in the bowl with the vegetables, olive oil, the reserved liquid and vinegar.  The original recipe called for the mixture to be combined in a blender, but I used my immersion blender to render the bowl of chunky, juicy mush into a thick, velvety soup that at room temperature was fantastic.  If the soup was that good prior to the final product, this recipe couldn't miss.  I seasoned liberally with salt and fresh ground pepper and chilled it for an hour.

Following the chill, the soup was poured into bowls and garnished with a drizzle of olive oil, chopped egg and ham.  The soup had a good flavor, very fresh thanks to the barely cooked tomatoes and onion.  The pureed bread gave it the thick consistency, which in combination with the olive oil, caused the flavor from each sip and slurp to quickly spread across your tongue.  Thought the flavor was good (even better on day 2, once the ingredients further integrated, creating a deeper flavor), this was only the second or third time I had experienced a soup served cold and it seemed like my brain and mouth could agree that it was a good thing. 

Credit: Todd Coleman

I'd like to try this recipe again during a hot summer day in my backyard with a refreshing cold beer and the smell of  grilling meat wafting through the air.  This might be a case of right recipe, wrong time of year.  Having this recipe however made me want to make the Cream of Tomato Soup recipe that is also part of the 101 Classic Recipes list - more on that in the next few weeks.

12 down, 89 to go.

Senate Bean Soup

Next up in the 101 Recipe Challenge - Senate Bean Soup.  According to the entry in the October issue of Saveur Magazine, this recipe for Senate Bean Soup is similar to the version carried on the menus of many restaurants in the area of Washington D.C. near the U.S. Senate in the early 20th Century.

The soup consists of 7 ingredients (Navy Beans, onion, unsalted butter, a smoked ham hock, water, salt and black pepper).  Preparing the recipe takes a bit of foresight as the beans must soak overnight in water. 

Once thoroughly soaked, I gave the beans a good draining and tossed them into my dutch oven with 8 cups of water and a smoked ham hock.  Most  home cooks north of the Mason Dixon line don't have a ton of opportunity to use the lesser known bits of the pig, the ham hock being one of them.  The "hock" of a ham is part of the hind leg of a pig, usually the section between the joint and the foot.  It usually is full of fun stuff like ligaments, bone and a really thick skin.  Almost always smoked, cured or smoked and cured, it is used in soups, stews and other braised foods to impart a smoky, salty flavor to the dish.  I have used ham hocks in other recipes (Collard Greens, Kale stew, Baked Beans) and they almost always must be cooked for a long period of time to break down the tough tissues inside of hock.

The recipe called for one ham hock, but the ones I had seemed small so I tossed in two.  I brought them to a boil and simmered for an hour.  Towards the tail end of the hour, I finely chopped an onion and sauteed in butter until soft, then added it into the soup.

The recipe called to cook until the beans were soft (about an hour) and I simmered the beans to the point where they would squish a bit when I squeezed them.  I then pulled the hocks out (I don't think I ever thought I would use the word hock so much at one time), and let them cool a bit.  I pulled the skin off and set to pull as much meat as possible off the bone.  I'm glad that I put two into the stew because the actual meat was pretty scarce.  As you can see from the image below, the majority of each piece was bone and skin.  During my research several sites said that you could substitute 4 ounces of salt pork or thick cut bacon for a ham hock in a recipe.  I think I was able to pull about 4 ounce combined off of the two that I had cooked.

I then took my potato masher and mashed the beans a bit until it had a "thick, creamy texture" as described in the original recipe.  I folded in the ham, grabbed a piping hot bowl, ground on some salt and pepper and was ready for lunch.

Senate Bean Soup - Schuler Version

Senate Bean Soup - Saveur Version

The first taste seemed a bit bland, so I doubled up on the salt and pepper.  The consistency was good, but the beans didn't seem to be cooked completely.  It could be that I personally like beans that are really soft (think Bush's baked) and these were a bit more like al dente pasta.  There was a smokey flavor to the soup, but it could have been heavier.  I thought about hitting the dutch oven with my stick blender for a minute and trying to puree the beans a bit more, but wanted to stay as true to the recipe as possible.  The recipe description noted that it started in the early 20th century, and I could have definitely seen this as being eaten during that time.

I think that there would be a few things that I would have done different if I were to cook this again.  First I would soak the beans twice as long and probably cook them twice as long as well.  If I used a ham hock again, I would score the skin, letting out more of the flavor, and hopefully breaking the cartilage and connective tissue down a bit more.  But I think I would rather cook up a half a pound of thick sliced bacon or browned salt pork, then add 3/4 of it to the beans as they cooked, and the remainder after the beans were mashed.

Notes from my #1 taste tester - "The beans are a bit too tough, but with the flavor of the ham, it reminds me of  the baked potato soup from Bennigan's" (where I worked for a few years).

While Elvis Presley's Pound Cake will become at least an annual part of my repertoire, I'm not sure that Senate Bean Soup will be showing up again anytime in the near future.

5 down, 96 to go!