Roasted Garlic and Tomato Soup

I didn't feel like going to the grocery store on Sunday and wanted to use up some of the random veggies and an open container of chicken stock in my fridge. This is what I came up with and it actually came out really good!

If you can't find cans of fire roasted tomatoes (Muir Glenn and Hunts both make them), you can roast your own by spreading out diced canned tomatoes, drained or sliced fresh tomatoes on a cookie sheet and roasting them with olive oil, salt and pepper around 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

And if you don't have a Parmesan cheese rind lying around (I save all of mine in the freezer, they add a ton of flavor to soups quickly!), just buy a good block of Parmesan (Parmigiano-Reggiano if you've got the extra pennies!) and cut off the rind end. Save the rest of the cheese for something else. I have plenty of recipes that use the stuff (here, here, and here for starters!).

Ingredients

Makes about 6 cups of soup

1 14.5 oz can of fire roasted tomatoes
4 cups low sodium vegetable or chicken stock/broth*
1 onion, diced
one carrot, diced
1 medium sized zucchini, diced
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons tomato paste
kosher salt
black pepper
1 head of garlic
1 Parmesan cheese rind
1 tablespoon olive oil

Roast an entire head of garlic (recipe can be found here). Cook the onion and carrot in 1 tablespoon olive oil until soft, stirring occasionally, then stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste and vegetable or chicken broth. Add seasonings: basil, oregano, bay leaf, and salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes, then add the Parmesan cheese rind and zucchini and continue to simmer. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins and add to the pot. Cook until the zucchini is soft, stirring occasionally.

Remove cheese rind (will break down a bit but you should be able to remove the biggest pieces) and the bay leaf. Separate the liquid from the solids with a sieve, putting the liquid back in the pot. Puree the solids in a food processor, blender or hand blender and then return to pot. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. You're all done!

Serve with crusty bread and a dollop of sour cream if you like. It tastes even better the next day!

*If using chicken broth, the recipe is no longer vegetarian.*

All text and photographs (except where noted otherwise) © 2008, 2009 Food is to love / Andrea Quigley

Potato Leek Soup

Yum, Yum, Yum!!! This is the first time I've decided to blog about someone else's recipe but this was so delicious and easy that I couldn't resist! My friend Maribeth sent this to me and she got it from her dad, but is unsure of where he got it. I'm telling myself it's an old family recipe of theirs that they're just passing down generation to generation for everyone to enjoy. Regardless of where it came from, it's awesome and I'm grateful that Maribeth was willing to let me post it.

It's sweet and creamy and incredibly filling. I totally thought I'd have room to scarf down some bread and veggies with it (as usually is the case when I eat soup!) but I only had a few bites when I decided to forfeit the other parts of the meal. Pardon my lack o' pictures-I decide mid-bowl that I may want to post the recipe so I didn't take any pictures of the steps to make it.

I followed Maribeth's recipe pretty closely and made just a few substitutions (and added measurements where there was none) based on what I had in the house. Also, if you are looking to add a little something extra, I tossed some smoked oysters in (2 cans, rinsed well and chopped) since J seems to have a stockpile of them growing in our cabinets but otherwise followed her recipe. Rockin! It's a little time consuming (cooking time as well as cleaning the leeks) but it's packed with so much flavor and took so little effort that I think this is something I will make again and again.

Now what to do with all that extra buttermilk in the fridge???

4-6 servings

Ingredients

3 - 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 leeks, dark greens and roots discarded
3 large Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and chopped
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup cream or half & half
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon white or black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
(optional: 2 cans smoked oysters)

Cut the white and light green part of the leeks in half lengthwise and then slice each half into semi-circles. Put all the cut leek pieces in a large bowl and fill with water. Leeks collect lots of dirt and grit and if you don't wash the layers carefully you're going to end up crunching on something you don't want to. Use your hands to move and break up the layers of the leeks. The dirt will fall to the bottom of the bowl and the leek pieces will float. Remove the leeks, drain the water, rinse the bowl of sand and repeat. You may have to do this in batches.

Once your leeks are clean, drain well and melt the butter in a large dutch oven. Toss the leeks in when the butter is melted and sweat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the kosher salt and cook leeks on low medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes or until tender. Add potatoes and vegetable broth and simmer for 35 minutes. Puree in a blender or food processor and then add back to the pot. Add the cream (or half and half), buttermilk and pepper. If using smoked oysters, stir them in when you remove the pot from heat. Serve with crusty bread.




All text and photographs © 2008, 2009 Food is to love / Andrea Quigley

Homemade Chicken Soup

Mom frequently made big pots of soup when we were kids and I hated them all. It wasn't that her cooking was bad, it's because she'd make things like "Carcass Soup" (also known as Turkey or Chicken Soup). I thought it was so gross that she'd boil a leftover bird carcass on the stove for hours and then expected us to eat it. And the word "carcass" added an extra level of disgust. When I started making my own soups and used store-bought broths and stocks, I couldn't get the flavor I wanted no matter what herb or spice I added. I finally decided to make a batch with help from a carcass and I was amazed at how much richer the flavor was. I can't make Chicken Soup without it anymore. Even though it's March, winter still has a pretty strong hold on New England so I'm sure this won't be the last pot of soup of the season.

This recipe is a little time consuming so I recommend making it over the course of two nights or trying it out on a weekend when you have several hours you'll be at home. Oh and I'm FINALLY posting a recipe that is dairy-free. Aren't you proud?

Ingredients

1 4-6 lb whole chicken or chicken carcass* see note below
6-8 cups of water
7 carrots, 4 peeled, sliced, 3 cut in half
6 celery stalks, 3 sliced, 3 cut in half
2 1/2 large onions, 1 diced, 1 1/2 unpeeled and cut into quarters
8 garlic cloves, 2 minced, 6 unpeeled, smashed with knife once
1 Tablespoon + 2 teaspoons dried dill
4 teaspoons dried thyme
1 Tablespoon + 2 teaspoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon ground savory (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt plus more to taste
1 teaspoon black pepper plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 large split chicken breast halves
olive oil for basting and cooking onions
1 1/2 cups pasta or egg noodles
2 teaspoons vinegar based hot sauce (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the chicken breasts on a cookie sheet and baste the skin with a little olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 40 to 45 minutes. Put aside and let cool.

While the chicken is roasting, put the carcass in a large pot (at least 5 or 6 quarts) and fill the pot with water except for the last two or three inches. Turn the burner on medium high and bring to a simmer. While you are heating the pot, throw in the celery and carrots that were cut in half (3 each), the quartered onions and the 6 cloves of smashed garlic. Next, add 1 tablespoon of dried dill, 2 teaspoons of thyme, 1 tablespoon of parsley, 1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt and 1 teaspoon of black pepper. Simmer for 3 to 4 hours. Lower the heat if it starts to overflow. A lot of the water will evaporate so feel free to add a few extra cups as it cooks.

Turn off the heat and strain all liquid through a fine sieve into a container, pressing any extra liquid out of the carcass and the vegetables. Discard everything but the strained liquid. Let the stock cool and then put in the fridge for a few hours. While your stock is cooling, remove the meat from your roasted chicken breasts and cut into cubes or shred if that's what you like. Put the chicken aside.

The entire bowl will have become almost solid with a layer of yellow fat on top. Skim off the fat with a spoon and discard. Don't be too grossed out that the stock is thick and gelatinous-this is actually desirable in a stock. The gelatin is a result of the breakdown of cartilage, joints, and calcium released from the bones. Yes, kind of disgusting but gelatin repairs cartilage in our own bodies (how many of us have creaky knees from years of running and/or being overweight?) and can calm an angry digestive system because it is easy to digest. Chicken soup truly is the miracle food it's reputation claims and not just an old wives tale.

Heat a little olive oil in the same pot (or a clean one if you do this over the course of two days) and saute the diced onions for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the two minced garlic cloves and cook for 1 minute. Remove both the onion and garlic to a plate and add the stock to the pot and warm up to a gentle simmer. Now it's time to add your additional herbs: 2 teaspoons of dill, two teaspoons of thyme, two teaspoons of dried parsley, 1 teaspoon of ground savory and the hot sauce (if you are using it), 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary and the cayenne pepper. Stir and let cook for 10 minutes. Next, add the noodles, sliced celery and carrots and simmer for 7-10 minutes, or until the noodles are tender. Last, stir in your cubed chicken and add more salt and pepper to taste (if you ended up with a lot of liquid stock, you will need quite a bit more salt).

Serve with lots of crusty bread.

* I'll buy a whole chicken and cook it as part of dinner. Once dinner is over and I've picked off all the meat, I'll then start cooking the carcass. If you don't have time to do it all in one night, you can put the carcass in the refrigerator and tackle it the next day.

All text and photographs © 2008, 2009 Food is to love / Andrea Quigley