Creamy Fresh Tomato Soup

As a full-fledged first-grader, Looly has made a pledge to embrace more soups this year in her lunchbox. I'm not sure what inspired the declaration but it might be the croissant that often accompanies her soup rather than any deep seeded desire to expand her palate. Or perhaps it has more to do with the cool travel spoon in her thermos. In any event, I'll take what I can get.

She's already a staunch supporter of broccoli cheese soup and ever since we made grilled cheese sandwiches with roasted tomato dip, she's been clamoring for more homemade tomato soup. Thankfully the kids are just as excited to pluck a few heirlooms off the vine now as they were 6 weeks ago when the first green bulbs were starting to blush.

Creamy Fresh Tomato Soup
adapted from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics by Ina Garten

3 tbsp olive oil
2 cups onions, chopped
4 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
1&1/2 tbsp garlic, minced (about 4 cloves)
4 pounds fresh, juicy tomatoes, chopped (about 6 medium tomatoes)
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped, plus more for garnish
2 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped, plus more for garnish
4 cups chicken stock (homemade, if you have it)
1 tbsp kosher salt
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper* (much less, if serving to children)
1 cup half and half
1 tbsp sunflower seeds, for garnish

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add the onion and carrots and saute until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a minute more. Add tomatoes (including juice and seeds), sugar, tomato paste, basil, oregano, chicken stock, salt and pepper. Stir well, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 45 minutes.
2. Process until smooth with an immersion blender. Alternatively, transfer hot mixture to a blender in batches and process until smooth. If your audience is sensitive to textures like mine, strain the soup through a sieve and discard any remaining pulp or seeds.
3. Stir half and half into the strained, hot tomato mixture. Garnish with sunflower seeds, fresh oregano and basil leaves, or grilled cheese sandwich croutons for kids.

*2 tsp of black pepper give this soup a delicious kick, but if you're preparing it for kids or anyone else who is sensitive to spice, tone it down. A lot! I recommend no more than 1 tsp, and to be safe, maybe 1/2 tsp if I'm serving it to my own spice-averse kids. You can always add a dash of hot sauce or extra pepper to grown-up servings later. 

Now let me clarify one thing. Just because this soup might show up in a thermos at the elementary school cafeteria should you consider it kid food. This is serious soup. Really good, grown-up, creamy, zippy, gut-warming, leaves blustering through the intersection kind of day soup.

Tempted By the Fruit of Another

A few weeks ago we went strawberry picking. After strawberry limeade, shortcake, and five pounds in the freezer, I was pretty sure I had my fill of bulk strawberries for the season. Then I stumbled upon these little beauties at our local farmers market.

Go ahead, try one, the berry mistress taunted. So I did. Thirty five dollars later I boasted eight more quarts of the best damn strawberries I have ever tasted in my life. Hands down.

I paraded them through the market like the Pied Piper, their heady aroma my magic flute, surrounded by throngs of hungry children and parents seeking out samples from my flat.

Home was no better. Note the look of pure ecstasy on both Bean and Roo's faces.

But, as if often the case with the tenderest and tastiest of berries I had to work fast if I wanted to preserve this perfect burst of summer. And preserve I did. Meet my new canner.

Before I give it to you, a few notes about my recipe. The original Better Homes and Gardens recipe called for whole pink peppercorns not crushed black pepper. I had a couple of issues with pink peppercorns, the first being that our "close" grocery store didn't have any and after purchasing the berries, the canner, accessories, and jars, I wasn't particularly motivated to seek them out. Second, I don't think I really want to bite into a whole peppercorn in my jam, but that's just me. Hence the cracked black pepper. The lazy woman's substitution worked quite nicely in my opinion and gives the jam a subtle kick.

Canning, like baking, is precise. I am by no means an expert canner but I took my chances by also reducing the sugar by one cup. The thing is, before I made the balsamic pepper-laced jam, I made some plain strawberry jam from the same berries using the full seven cups of sugar the original recipe called for. Even my six-year-old deemed it way too sweet. So, throwing caution to the wind, I reduced the sugar here and lo and behold, the jam still set beautifully.

If like me, you're somewhat new to canning, here's some great basic canning info to get you on your way.

Balsamic Strawberry Jam with Cracked Pepper
Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Can It!

12 cups strawberries
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 1.75-ounce package regular powdered fruit pectin
1/2 tsp butter
6 cups sugar
1 tbsp cracked black pepper

1. Place about 1 cup of berries in a large bowl and crush with a potato masher. Continue to add berries and mash until you have 5 total cups of crushed berries. Place berries in a large heavy pot. Stir in vinegar, pectin, and butter. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar all at once. Return to a boil, and boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with a spoon. Stir in cracked pepper.
2. Ladle hot jam into hot, sterilized half-pint canning jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe any goop off the rims and place the lids and rings.
3. Process the filled jars in a boiling water canner for 5 minutes timing from when the water returns to a full boil. Remove jars from canner and cool on wire racks or a dish towel for 12-24 hours. Makes about 10 half-pints.