Imagine my husband's surprise when I joined him in England, fresh off the wedding, and cooked my very first house-wifey meal for him (some sort of chicken and rice casserole)... and it was awful. Like, spit out that first bite, dump the rest, and order a pizza awful. So maybe I wasn't a chef. I could do a darn-good PB&J, a great stuffing (out of a box), and a pretty stellar fried-egg-on-toast (otherwise known as a toad-inna-hole in my family). But that was about it.
Fast forward 5 years and 2 kids, and I like to think I've come a long way. I was surprised as anyone to find that cooking and baking were undiscovered passions of mine. It seems each month I discover something new, a new technique, a new ingredient, that spurs me on to create something even more delicious and satisfying.
My plan is to record this journey I am on, by way of recipes that I stumble across as I go. From family, from friends, from the internet, from my head. They will all be here. I hope that I will inspire others to cook, to really get down and dirty in the kitchen. I think a big reason a lot of people choose not to cook is because it can be intimidating. From my experience, things that look like they were the hardest to prepare are often the ones that surprise me with their simplicity. And that's what I want to do with this blog. Break it down, so we can all enjoy some good food-love.
I'll start with a recipe that I just made this afternoon for lunch. It was forwarded to me by my brother, who is making his own leaps and bounds in the kitchen. Cook on, bro. Cook on.
Roasted Tomato Soup
Ingredients:
2 1/2 pounds fresh tomatoes (mix of any kind you want)
6 garlic cloves, peeled
2 yellow onions, sliced
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 quart (4 cups) chicken stock or broth
2 bay leaves
4 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
3/4 cup heavy cream (OPTIONAL)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Cut the tomatoes in half, then in half again. Discard the seeds and the core and toss the tomatoes on top of a baking sheet with your garlic and onions. Season them with salt and pepper, then drizzle enough olive oil on them to give it a nice coat (about 1/4 cup). Mix it all up and put it in the oven for about 25 minutes until there is some nice color on the onions and the tomatoes have wilted down some.
Carefully put the roasted veggies into a large pot and pour in 3 cups of the chicken broth. Add the bay leaves and the butter, then let simmer for about 20 minutes so it reduces by about a third. When it's ready, add the basil leaves, then blend with an immersion blender until smooth. If you don't have an immersion blender, just pour the soup into a regular blender or food processor (in batches if you have to), and blend until smooth. Put the mixture back on the heat. Here is where you have some decisions to make. If you like this consistency, you can stop here. I chose to add about another 1/2 cup of broth to thin it out just a tad. If you choose to, you can also add the cream, but I found that this was creamy enough on its own. I saved my waist-line the trouble of having to carry the extra bulge later and chose to omit it. Serve it with a few shavings of parmesan cheese and a little basil leaf, alongside you favorite 'adult' grilled cheese.
Source: Slightly adapted from FoodNetwork.com (Tyler Florence), courtesy of PhilAlan.
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