I realize that this post may make it seem like I am not in possession of a heart. I want to make it clear that even though I am poking fun at someone, I mean it lightheartedly.
Currently I am referring to my apartment as the infirmary. My sister R, who lives with me, has contracted some sort of plague. She has seen three different doctors, who have all diagnosed her. Unfortunately they all have different opinions as to what plague she has. (Personally, if it was me I would be demanding to see Dr. Gregory House)
Right now she can only eat things that are easy on a sore throat, like ice cream and soup. Being the wonderful sister and nurse that I am, I told her I would make her soup on Monday night for supper. What I didn't check, before idiotically promising to make her soup, was the weather forecast.
It was 28 C in Edmonton yesterday, or around 85 F. My office was so hot that one could cook an egg on my desk. Realizing that my apartment would be a similar temperature, I called R in the afternoon and instructed her that if she wanted soup (WHY????), that she needed to turn on the air conditioner.
I got home, and the infirmary was moderately cool. It was comfortable enough that I could make the soup, but still warm enough that I would have preferred making the soup in my ginch.
Now R, where was she when I was slaving over a hot stove, in 28 degree weather? On the couch, buried under a mass pile of blankets. At one point I looked over, and she had a blanket wrapped around her face. She looked like a man who had gone to the barber for a shave and had the hot towel wrapped around his head.
My first instinct was to take a picture with my Blackberry and send it to my sister E. As much as I would love to post the real picture up here, I think R might be upset, and I'm not totally cruel. So I used my awesome skills in Paint to give you the idea of what the invalid looked like.
It was the funniest thing I had seen in a long time. Those of you who think I am an awful person, keep in mind at the time I was making HOT SOUP for the invalid as I was cooking myself. I really do feel bad for her that she feels so awful, and I don't think it's hilarious that she's sick, just the head wrapping was funny to me.
I made her tomato soup. I thought about making the tomato soup that I posted about back in February, then I decided to try a different one for the sake of my blog. The inspiration came from here, but I adapted it a bit, so I will write out my recipe below.
Rebekah's Tomato Soup, loosely based from Ezra Pound Cake (serves 4-5)
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (plus more for garnish, optional)
- one onion
- two cloves garlic
- one 28 oz can San Marzano whole tomatoes
- 1/2 tsp red chili flakes
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup of chicken stock
- 1.5 slices of white french bread
- 1.5 cups cooked macaroni (optional)
Note: I made this soup with the intention of pureeing it at the end. If you do not want to puree it, then use an onion that has been diced, and mince the garlic cloves. Use a potato masher or spoon to break up the whole tomatoes.
1) In a large pot heat the oil over medium high. Slice the onion into thin strips and add to the pot. Once the onions have softened (about two minutes), add two cloves of garlic that have been sliced. Saute for another minute.
2) Add the chili flakes, thyme, bay leaf, tomatoes, and chicken stock. It is important to use a good quality of canned tomato, since it is the main ingredient of the soup. If you can't find San Marzano, use canned tomatoes that have been imported from Italy.
3) Rip the bread into chunks and add it to the pot. My soup was looking really thick at this point so I added about a half cup of water.
4) Bring to a boil, turn the heat down to low and simmer for about thirty minutes.
5) Remove the bay leaf, and puree the soup using a hand immersion blender. Or a regular blender if you don't have a hand immersion one.
6) Stir in the cooked macaroni, if using
7) Ladle into bowls, and drizzle extra virgin olive oil on top, if using
After my trip to the farmer's market two weeks ago, I was left with a lot of fresh basil. I thought about making pesto, but I made a simple basil oil instead. I made it by adding about 1.5 cups of fresh basil, and 1 cup of extra virgin olive oil to a food processor. I pureed it, let it sit for an hour, then strained the oil into a bowl. This is will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.
Instead of using plain evoo for the tomato soup, I used a tbsp of my basil oil to saute the onion and garlic. I also used the basil oil for the drizzle garnish.
The effect was amazing. The soup had a really fresh hint of basil. If you make the soup and don't want to make the basil oil, you can add the basil flavor by adding some fresh basil just before serving.
I liked this soup better than the one I previously blogged about. The macaroni isn't necessary, but ever since I was a kid I have always had tomato soup with macaroni in it, so I add it.
I used french bread for the soup. The bread gives the soup a certain thickness and texture, that it isn't getting from a fatty cream addition. Since the soup only called for a slice and a half, I had almost a whole loaf left. I sliced the remainder and laid the slices on a baking sheet. I brushed each slice with a bit of the basil oil and grated Parmesan cheese on top. I put this under the broiler for a couple minutes until the bread was golden, and the cheese had melted. A very nice accompaniment for the soup.
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