Harvest Soup

Over the weekend, we were informed that the first frost of the season would be arriving this week (it arrived today), so with this in mind, my wife went and harvested all of our ripe veggies. We had tomatoes, peppers, corn, and another zucchini we inherited, so I figured that the easiest thing to do with them would be to make a soup. With a few purchased items to help balance the flavors, our Harvest Soup was born.

Roasted Tomato and Garlic Soup

Last summer, we had several huge batches of tomatoes from our garden and when the first batch landed in the kitchen, I did what I normally do with our tomatoes: make a batch of salsa. Well, that first batch gave us twelve quarts and with the next harvest we gained an additional fourteen quarts. So, with the thought of yet another harvest coming and finding ourselves chin deep in salsa (yup, shameless plug), my wife and I decided that we should think about doing something else. Putting our heads together, we came up with a brilliant plan: what about soup?

With this new idea floating in the recesses of my empty brain, I decided that just plain tomato soup would be pretty boring, so to borrow a phrase from Emeril Lagasse, I decided to "kick it up a notch." The following is a recipe for Roasted Tomato and Garlic Soup. Now, I did not measure the amount of herbs or spices that I added; it was all done to taste. This means that you will need to taste your soup many times throughout the process, to get it to the way YOU want. The sugar is added to cut the acidity of the soup, so you will also need to adjust that to suit your taste. In this recipe, I used 60 tomatoes, but you can use any amount, just adjust the amount of the other veggies you use. Feel free to add your favorite vegetables and have fun. This recipe is a guideline to help you with the cooking and processing procedure. If this was a baking recipe, I would have given exact measurements, but cooking is more of an art, rather than a science. Have fun with it and make this recipe your own.


What you need...
Tomatoes (there's a shocker)... 60
Garlic... 3 bulbs (Yes, but we LOVE garlic!!)
Onions... 4-large
Carrots... 10
Bell peppers... 4
Tomato paste... 12 oz
Salt.. either Kosher or sea salt (for this amount of soup, I started with 1-Tablespoon and adjusted from there)
Pepper
Italian Seasoning
Basil
Bay Leaves (Turkish)... 3
Brown sugar
Olive oil
Large Stock pot
Blender
Potato Peeler
Food mill
Baking sheet
Foil
Mason jars w/ lids (for freezer storage)
Grilled cheese sandwich (to enjoy with your soup)
Lots of time


What to do...

1. Set your oven to 425° and grab a baking sheet and line with foil


2. Rinse your Tomatoes


3. Peel onions and quarter


4. Using a potato peeler, peel your carrots (this is an optional step, but I like to do it) and cut into sections


5. Cut the tops off the peppers and cut then length-wise


6. Remove the seeds and scrape smooth


7. Take the bulbs of garlic and cut the top off


8. Smear olive oil on the top


9. Place garlic in foil and cover


10. Place the whole tomatoes (the skin will be removed with the food mill at the end) and veggies on baking sheet and put into oven for about 35-40 minutes




• Unwrap the garlic and using a fork, you can easily separate the garlic from the skin


11. Once roasted, place veggies in stockpot and repeat until done




• This part took me about four hours to complete


12. Using potato masher, mash veggies as necessary


13. Once all your vegetables are roasted and put in the stockpot, turn the stove to medium heat and add the Tomato paste, bay leaves (3), salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and basil to the pot


14. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for one hour


15. Allow to cool partially


16. Mash those veggies, again


17. Taste and re-season, if necessary


18. Using a ladle, place veggies into the blender
    
    
    
    • CAUTION...Only fill to halfway or a little less. The mixture is hot and when you turn the blender on, it will expand and try to fly out of the top
    
    
    • Place a towel over the lid of the blender (this will help prevent the soup from redecorating your kitchen)
    
    
19. Pour blended mixture into a food mill and process


20. Pour milled soup into a big bowl


21. Repeat processing until done


22. Taste soup and season with brown sugar to reduce acidity


23. Place in mason jars


24. Once cooled, transfer to freezer


25. This recipe made ten quarts of soup

For Service...

1. Thaw your soup and place in microwave-safe bowl


2. Add a touch of cream or sour cream (what I add) to your soup and mix


3. Heat and enjoy with a grilled cheese sandwich

Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup

I have been volunteered into making the infamous Green Bean Casserole for Christmas dinner. However, instead of doing it the traditional way, I plan to kick it up a notch and try Emeril's recipe. Now, the original recipe serves 8 people, so I doubled it, because I want a lot left-over to freeze. If you do not want this option, then I would suggest going to the original site (link at bottom) and following those proportions. You will have more than enough for the doubled Green Bean Casserole recipe. This recipe consists of two parts: the first part can be made ahead of time (I just finished making this about 2 hours ago) and is outlined below. The second part is put together on the day it is eaten.

Makes 16 servings

What you Need...

* 12 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 2 cup chopped yellow onions
* 1 cup chopped celery
* 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
* 3 teaspoons minced garlic
* 12 ounces shiitake mushrooms, wiped clean, stems trimmed, and sliced
* 12 ounces oyster mushrooms, wiped clean, stems trimmed, and sliced
* 16 ounces cremini or button mushrooms, wiped clean, stems trimmed, and sliced
* 4 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
* 2/3 cup brandy
* 12 cups chicken stock
* 3 cups heavy cream

Putting it Together...

1. In a large stock-pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat.


2. Add the onions, celery, and cayenne


3. cook, stirring until they are soft, about 5 minutes


4. Add garlic and cook an additional 30 seconds


5. Add the mushrooms, thyme, salt, and pepper


6. cook, stirring until the mushrooms shed their liquid and start to brown, around 7-8 minutes


7. Add the brandy and bring to a boil


8. cook until everything is glazed, about 2 minutes




• You will notice that the veggies and the mushrooms will become shiny, this is what you are looking for


9. Add the stock, stir, and bring to a boil


10. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally


11. Remove from the heat and puree with a hand-held immersion blender, or in batches in a food processor or blender




• If you are going to freeze any of this soup, now is the time to do so...without adding the cream.


• If you do freeze some, you will need to adjust the amount of cream you add to the remainder. I would suggest adding it per your taste and the desired consistency


12. Add the cream, return to a simmer, and cook for 5 minutes




• If you cannot have uncultured dairy products, you can replace the cream with sour cream or, if you feel fancy, Crème Fraîche. Note, you will need to add it as you would a roue; otherwise you will get lumps

Remove from the heat and adjust seasoning, to taste

Photo courtesy of... tweet-n-eats

You will need approximately 4 1/2 cups of this soup for the casserole. I was left with just about 5 quarts that I was able to freeze.

Recipe courtesy of... Food Network and Emeril Lagasse

Next Time: The Green Bean Casserole