Cream of Tomato Soup

Tonight, I whipped up some tomato soup.  I got this recipe from Monkey and it's super delicious and quite fast to put together.  The first step was to roast tomatoes with a splattering of brown sugar.  While that's doing it's thing, you saute shallots, butter, and tomato paste.  Then add some flour to thicken.  Finally dump the tomato juice, chicken broth, and roasted tomatoes back in.  End with some heavy cream and a dash of brandy (YUM).

The end product isn't so exciting to look at on its own (maybe I should have garnished with some toasted bread and herbs), but don't be fooled!  This is amazingly flavorful, the best tomato soup I've made by far.

After dinner, we dove into some Jean Philippe chocolates Badge got for free while in Las Vegas last week.  Perfect end to a simple but satisfying meal.

Cream of Tomato Soup (from Cook's Illustrated)

2 (28 oz) cans whole tomatoes (not packed in puree), drained, 3 cups juice reserved, tomatoes seeded

1 1/2 tbs dark brown sugar

4 tbs butter

4 large shallots, minced

1 tbs tomato paste

pinch ground all spice

2 tbs unbleached all purpose flour

1 3/4 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tbs brandy or dry sherry

salt

cayenne pepper

1. Adjust oven rack to upper middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees.  Line a rimmed sheet with foil and spread tomatoes in single layer on foil.  Sprinkle evenly with brown sugar.  Bake ~30 min (until all liquid has evaporated and tomatoes begin to color).  Let tomatoes cool slightly, peel off foil and transfer to small bowl.

2. Heat butter in pot until foaming and add shallots, tomato paste and allspice.  Reduce heat to low, cover and cook, stirring occasionally until shallots are softened (7-10 min).  Add flour and cook, stirring until combined (30 sec).  Whisking constantly, slowly add chicken stock, reserved tomato juice and the roasted tomatoes.  Cover, increase heat to medium and bring to boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer about 10 min.

3. Strain mixture into bowl and transfer solids into food processor (or blender).  Add ~ 1 cup of liquid and puree.   Add everything back into pot.  Add cream and reheat soup.  Off the heat, stir in brandy or sherry, season to taste and serve.

Just Me and Baby

This week, Badge went to NY/Boston and ended up getting stuck there due to the blizzard.  Rather than flying back on Sunday only to fly out again next Tues, he decided to just stay there through the weekend and come home next Sat.  Boo.

So, it's just been me and baby.  Of course, that's not quite true since Spike has been watching BB all week while I worked, and my mom is driving to SD as we speak so she can watch him next week.  Really, I've been playing the role of single mother with wonderful grandmothers helping me out.  Yes, I know I'm extremely fortunate.

So what have BB and I been up to in the after work hours?  Well, mostly I just bring him home, feed him, and do the whole bedtime routine (baths every other night).  He's incredibly squirmy these days so it's been a challenging (but amusing) chasing him down.  In the mornings, he's been snoozing like it's his job.  I frequently have to wake him in order to deliver him to Spike's in time for my 8 am meetings.

Yesterday, we went to our friends' kids' birthday party down in Point Loma.  They had a cute pirate outfit that I put BB in.  Hilariously, with his disheveled hair and bulky sweatshirt, he looked more like a homeless drunk pirate.  

After his nap, I took him to Spike's so I could dash out to a yoga class.  I usually prefer to go to the Sun class at FSY but since no one would be available to watch BB, I had to improvise by going to Core Power.  Though not as challenging as my usual class, it was still good to sweat it out (sweating mostly because they turn on the heat).  I can't believe how packed CP classes always are.  I've gone every once in a blue moon and it's always jammed.  

Today I took BB up to the mall to run around.  They've remodeled everything and it's so fancy schmancy now.  This better up the value of our house.  As usual, I couldn't resist popping into Sephora and buying makeup I don't need (eye shadow brush, mascara, and lip gloss).  I even got a brow gel to see if I could tame my funny asian eyebrows that tend to grow straight out and kinda down.     I guess asian eyelashes are like that too (but not when combatted with a curler!).

That's mostly it for this random weekend update.  

Pudding

This weekend, I made pudding.  This was a recipe my cousin and I tried while I was in Taiwan.  The ingredients are simple (eggs, milk, sugar) and overall the pudding is much better than my previous flan recipe, which was way too sweet.  This recipe makes a small amount so it can't hurt to double!!

Also since it was Super Bowl Sunday, I made this seven layer taco dip and brought it over to Spike and Frog's.  Beyond simple and quite tasty.

Pudding

80 grams sugar (I used 50 grams)

2 tablespoon hot water

450 ml milk

80 grams sugar (Iused 50 grams)

3 eggs

dash of vanilla

Melt sugar with hot water and coat the baking dish.  For custard, heat milk with sugar until dissolved.  Take off heat and add eggs that have been pre-beaten.  Add vanilla.

Bake at 325 in a water bath for 40-45 (check at 35) min until set.