Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese

This week in NY has been particularly cold. I know, I know, it's winter. This type of weather most definitely calls for soup, particularly tomato soup with grilled cheese. This soup came out delicious and 3/4 family members approved. Except for the one that loathes tomatoes... in any form.

Soup: (Makes 12 servings)

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of butter
2 small yellow onions chopped
4 cups of chicken stock
1 28 can of crushed tomatoes
3 plum tomatoes chopped
roughly chopped basil leaves (2 tablespoons divided)
1 pita bread (I used whole wheat) finely diced
3/4 cups grated parmesan cheese
1 cup milk (I used 2 %)
2-3 teaspoons of sugar to taste
Salt to taste

Directions:
In a large pot, saute the onion in butter till translucent.

Add stock. Bring to boil

Add tomatoes--canned and fresh and 1/2 the basil. Return to boil. Reduce flame to a simmer, cover and cook for about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat.

Add pita and allow it to absorb liquid.

Pure using immersion blended.

Add milk and cheese. Add sugar and salt to taste.

Serve topped with additional basil.

Grilled Cheese

2 slices of sourdough per serving
2 medium thickness pieces of gruyere cheese per serving
1/2 teaspoon butter per serving

Butter bread pieces on the outside.
Place cheese in the middle.
Preheat skillet.
Fry about 3 minutes per side on a medium high flame. I like to partially cover with a heavy cover to press down.

Serve hot and cheesy with the tomato soup.

*The recipe for soup was very much Adapted from my talented friend Marina at MakeMealsMama

Braised Beef Short Ribs

Beef short ribs are not in my regular rotation, this was my first time making them ever but the results were delicious. I used Anne Burrell's recipe (link below) which I adapted to fit my preferences (I loathe celery) and what I like more (leeks) as well as ingredients I had on hand. 

This recipe is fairly simple with the work front loaded and the rest of the time spent just smelling the delicious smell.

Ingredients: 

4 bone in beef short ribs (~2.5 pounds)
2 tablespoons of oil ( I used grape seed)
2 leeks, roughly chopped
3 shallots, roughly chopped
2 carrots, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves
1 cup of tomato paste
1 can of diced tomatoes, drained
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
2 bay leaves
2 cups of water
1 1/2 cup of red wine
Salt to taste

Directions:

Season each rib with salt. In a dutch oven/heavy cast iron pot, preheat oil on medium heat. Add salted beef short ribs. Do not crowd. If you have more then 4, you may need to do this in batches.
Brown about 3 minutes per side. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

While the oven is preheating and the short ribs are browning, puree all vegetables and garlic until they form a coarse paste. Do not overblend. Season with salt (and pepper if using-- I omit pepper, just not a fan).

Remove short ribs once browned. Drain the oil, add fresh oil and pureed veggie mixture. Cook till brown, about 7 minutes. Add tomato paste and tomatoes and cook  another 5 minutes. Add wine, cook about 5-8 minutes till mixture is reduced by half. 

Return short ribs to pan, placing on top of sauce. Add enough water to cover. Add thyme and bay leaves. Cover and cook for about 1 1/2 hours. Flip ribs to the other side. Cook another hour while covered. If the sauce is getting too thick, feel free to add more water. Remove cover and cook uncovered another 20-30 minutes to allow meat to brown. Meat should be very tender.

Serve over mashed potatoes or polenta with the sauce.

P.S--next time I will be making more of these to allow for left overs. 

adapted from Anne Burrell's Braised Beef Short Ribs Recipe

Potato Leek Soup with Bacon (Non Dairy)

So technically, it's end of October so soup weather should be upon us. But it has been warm but nevertheless I have started out with my fall soup repertoire. Here we have Potato Leek Soup with Bacon. Because you know as well as I do that bacon makes everything better.

This was a huge hit with my older daughter and husband. The younger daughter--not so much. Thought she did eat the bacon crumbles. 

Ingredients:
5 medium potatoes
3-4 leeks (white part only)
2-3 shallots finely chopped
6 -8 pieces good quality bacon (divided because you will blend some into the soup and use the rest as a topping)
4 cups of chicken stock  (I used low sodium organic chicken broth by Imagine, homemade stock would be even better)
1 cup of water

2 tablespoons of oil ( I used grapeseed)
Salt to taste

Seasoning of choice (I used a spice blend from Trader Joe's)

Prep:

Peel and chop shallots and set a side. 

Wash leeks really well. Chop and set aside 

Wash potatoes, peel if the skin looks meh, leave skin on if it's pretty unblemished. Cut into 1/2 inch pieces

In a large pot or preferably a Dutch oven, heat the oil about 2 minutes. 

Add shallots, cook on medium flame for about 3 minutes.

Add leeks. Cook another 5 minutes.

Add potatoes. Add stock and water.

Continue to cook till potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes.

Season with salt and seasoning. 

In the meantime, cook bacon in a skillet till crispy. Crumble and add 4-6 crumbled slices into the soup in the last 10 minutes of cooking. 

Blend till smooth, using immersion blender. Serve topped with reserved bacon crumbles. 

Potato Leek Soup with Bacon

Potato Leek Soup with Tumeric and Smoked Paprika

What could be better on a cold winter night then a hearty soup. Granted, winter has not been cold but I am still craving soup.  Playing around with flavors here and came up with an interesting twist on the classic.

INGREDIENTS:
5 potatoes peeled, washed and diced
3 leeks washed well and chopped
2 shallots peeled and chopped
1 carrot peeled and chopped.
5 cups of broth or stock (chicken, beef, vegetable--your choice)
2 tbs oil
Salt, Pepper to Taste
1-2 tbs of tumeric
1/2 tbs of smoked paprika 
3 strips of bacon cooked till crunchy and drained on paper towels (optional)


In a large pot, heat oil and simmer shallots and leeks for about 7 minutes till begin to soften. Add potatoes and carrots, simmer another minute. Add broth, bring to boil. Cook till potatoes soften, about 20 minutes. Add tumeric and paprika, salt and pepper and cook another 5 minutes.

Using emersion blender, blend soup till smooth. If too thick, add more broth and bring to boil while stirring.

I will be serving with bacon bits and kale chips.  Recipe for kale chips here: http://www.saladgirlnat.com/2013/01/kale-chips.html