Tomato soup

[RioG]

I just need to post this somewhere...

Having a massive garden has really gotten me enjoying (basic) cooking.  I still leave the elaborate stuff to DH but I really get a thrill out of making things where every ingredient came from my garden, that I can freeze/preserve for the winter.

My latest is tomato soup.  I am so proud of this soup and have made three batches. 

Recipe: (I tripled it for today's batch)

4 cups chopped tomatoes, any kind, skins and seeds still on
1 onion (I eyeball the size)
2 cups broth (use chicken stock from my freezer, veg would work well I'm sure)
4 whole cloves (I used ground)

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes

Remove from heat, put through food mill (I don't have one, so I blended it)

Make a roux of 2 tbsp. butter and 2 tbsp. flour.  Golden brown roux.

Whisk soup back in slowly.  IT IS FUCKING DELICIOUS.

I then strained it because I didn't have the food mill.  Awesomest soup ever.

[caribougrrl]

the clove is interesting as a sole spice for tomato soup, I'd have never thought to do that... but it does sound good

and the chicken stock means a lot more protein in that soup than if it was done with veg stock




god, one thing I seriously miss about Ontario is ripe tomatoes from the garden, lots of them for very little effort... I stopped growing tomatoes here because it was a fuck of a lot of work to get 2 or 3 ripe ones... I sort of miss the green tomato salsa in the cupboard all winter, but not enough to bother growing them

[Ice Cream]

I think the cloves are to replace the sugar to counter the acid in the tomatoes.
I love tomato soup.

[RioG]

I don't know what the cloves are for, but it is seriously perfect.

Cgrl - I'm picking I bet 20 lbs/week of tomatoes.  It is insane.  I still have green tomato salsa in the cupboard from last year so I won't be too sad if I don't get any this year - these ripe tomatoes are amazing! 

[Ice Cream]

the clove is interesting as a sole spice for tomato soup, I'd have never thought to do that... but it does sound good

and the chicken stock means a lot more protein in that soup than if it was done with veg stock




god, one thing I seriously miss about Ontario is ripe tomatoes from the garden, lots of them for very little effort... I stopped growing tomatoes here because it was a fuck of a lot of work to get 2 or 3 ripe ones... I sort of miss the green tomato salsa in the cupboard all winter, but not enough to bother growing them

How much protein can there be in chicken stock?

[caribougrrl]

How much protein can there be in chicken stock?

if it's homemade (i.e. from chicken pieces or carcass, not from a bouillon cube), it can have 4-8 g of protein per cup (depending how concentrated it is)... vegetable stock has negligible protein

[RioG]

This is homemade.  I can't let a carcass go to waste!  The last batch might have been turkey stock, not sure.  Homemade stock is unbelievably delicious.

[radial]

How much protein can there be in chicken stock?

I don't know.  Could be plenty of fat in there, though.  Better fuel than protein. 

[RioG]

I don't know.  Could be plenty of fat in there, though.  Better fuel than protein. 

heh.  The way I make it there's fat   I have been known to throw the skins in while it's simmering...  I do skim it off, and if I let it cool enough before I freeze it and there's obvious fat that's hardened I'll take that off.  But I'm a believer in fat (to a degree).

Did you know you can make a roux from bacon fat?  I haven't tried it myself.

[radial]

Did you know you can make a roux from bacon fat?  I haven't tried it myself.

You can make mayonnaise from bacon fat.  I haven't tried it myself either, but it's on the list. 

[Natasha]

When I was a kid, we made white gravy from the leftover bacon fat, to go with the biscuits. We also always saved the bacon fat in a jar and kept it in the frig. Used it to flavor beans.

[Suesquatch]

Yeah,  you can make toux from bacon fat!

[radial]

When I was a kid, we made white gravy from the leftover bacon fat, to go with the biscuits. We also always saved the bacon fat in a jar and kept it in the frig. Used it to flavor beans.

We always had a tin can full of bacon fat handy in the house where I grew up.  It's a good general purpose lubricant for practically anything you might cook in a fry pan.  I just cooked up a big slab of salmon for dinner and used bacon fat to keep it from sticking to the pan.  You might think it would spoil the flavor of the fish, but just the opposite. 

[RioG]

I do remember the bacon fat in the fridge thing... we used to use it to rub on horses when they're blankets rubbed out the hair   We don't eat enough bacon to keep it around now though, and when we do the dogs get the fat.

[nadra24]

I have a jar of bacon fat in my fridge right now!

[radial]

I have a jar of bacon fat in my fridge right now!

Me too, but it's going fast.  Might have to cook up a rasher or two of bacon just to keep up with demand.  Tonight it was the enabler of sauteed chicken thighs.  They were SO good.