Yesterday I stopped
playing Skyrim long enough to make roasted tomato soup. It was delicious and gave me the energy boost
necessary to continue hunting dragons.
Ironically, just like in the game, I was wearing an iron mask with horns
on the top and carrying an ancient battle axe weighing 22 pounds and dragon
bones weighing 35 pounds. All this made
cooking a real workout. Give this soup a
try, you won’t be disappointed.
Ingredients
1 ¼ pound ripe
tomatoes (about 4 large tomatoes)
½ medium yellow onion
3 garlic cloves
1 Tbsp Extra Virgin
Olive Oil
1 tsp Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper
1 Tbsp Chopped Parsley
1 ½ Cups Low Sodium
Vegetable or Chicken Broth
1 Tbsp Organic Tomato
Paste
¼ Cup Heavy Cream or
Half and Half
Fresh Oregano + Basil
for Garnish
Garlic Croutons
Asiago Cheese
Preparation
Preheat the oven to
350 degrees. Cut tomatoes and onions in
wedges. Use your finger to push out some
of the seedy parts of the tomatoes. Just
get out the big seedy parts, a bit intact is fine. Spread the onions and tomatoes on a rimmed
baking sheet lined with foil. Drizzle
the olive oil and sprinkle the salt, a generous amount of pepper, the chopped
parsley and gently toss it with your hands.
Tuck the garlic cloves somewhere in the tomato, so they don’t burn. Roast on the middle rack for 30 to 40 minutes
or until the tomatoes have broken down and reduced to about half their
size. Remove and cool slightly.
Warm the broth and
stir in the tomato paste to dissolve.
Add all the ingredients from the roasting pan into the broth and let it
gently simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Use
an immersion blender to puree the soup in the bowl, or with a food processor or
blender. The soup should be smooth, with
some texture. If you don’t like any
texture at all, you could run it through a fine mesh sieve. Return it back to the pot, and add the cream
to taste. Taste for salt and pepper.
Serve with some
croutons and cheese on top. Broil on
high until cheese is melted and slightly burnt.
Top with oregano and basil and serve.
BTW…this is usually
what I see just off to the side when I take my pictures.
An activity I’ve done
with kids many many times is making play dough.
They love it. Homemade play dough
is not as easy to work with as store bought play dough, but the fun in making
it and the sense of accomplishment is worth the trade-off. Because it is the week of Christmas, try this
recipe.
Ingredients
1 cup flour
¼ cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of
tartar
1 tablespoon
peppermint oil extract
1 tablespoon vegetable
oil
1 cup water
Preparation
Mix flour, salt and
cream of tartar in a medium cooking pot.
Add water, peppermint extract and oil.
Stir over medium heat 3 to 5 minutes stirring constantly. When mixture forms a ball in the pot,
remove. Knead until smooth. Now you can play and create with your good
smelling play dough! Put in a plastic
bag and refrigerate to store.
