Vegan Indian Cauliflower Mash, or Aloo Gobi Mash

Happy Monday! To those of you that celebrate Easter I hope you had a lovely holiday. To those of you, like me, that don't celebrate Easter, I hope you had a great weekend. Today I have a vegan recipe that is great as a main dish or as a side dish. It was actually inspired by Veggie Test Kitchen. She participated in February's YBR and submitted her Madras Mashed Cauliflower. As soon as I saw her photo and read her post I knew I had to make it immediately. Well immediately came a little later but I did finally cook it.

I hope The Veggie doesn't mind if I quote her blog as to how she came up with this dish. She says that this dish is a spin on the classic Indian Aloo Ghobi. Aloo Ghobi translates to potato cauliflower and it is a eaten throughout the country, India. She goes on to explain that Aloo Ghobi is chunks of potatoes, cauliflower florets, onion, garlic, ginger and spices. But she made her own version by mashing the potatoes and cauliflower and topping with sauted shallots and a few other things. The Veggie gives some great tips so please stop by to read her whole post. Trust me you will want to make it immediately.

When I went into my kitchen to prepare her recipe I didn't have all the spices in her recipe so I improvised. This is my version of The Veggie's madras mashed cauliflower. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. I served it a part of our vegan/vegetarian dinner along side some flat bread and a couple other small sides. It was so delicious and filling with a little quick to it. Remember though you can always adjust the chile amount to your own taste. Enjoy and thank you The Veggie :)

Indian Cauliflower Mash, or Aloo Gobi Mash
Based on and inspired by The Veggie, Veggie Test Kitchen, Madras Mashed Cauliflower .

1 cauliflower head, cut into large florets
4 small potatoes, peeled and cut into large pieces
small piece of fresh ginger, ginger and finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 red chile, finely chopped
11/2 tbsp. garam masala* (my recipe is here)
1 tsp. ground turmeric
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
extra chile powder, optional *

salt & ground black to taste
finely chopped chives, chiles and/or fresh cilantro to top, optional

* Adjust to taste

1. Boil the cauliflower and potatoes until tender. Drain and set aside. Heat the oil and cook the onion until soft and translucent. Add the ginger, garlic and chile and saute for another 3 minutes. Place the boiled cauliflower and potatoes into the pan. Add the remaining spices to the pan. Use a potato masher and mash until the vegetables have broken up into a thick mash. I left a few chunks of both the potatoes and cauliflower for a chunky texture. Stir to combine all ingredients well, and cook for another 10 minutes.

Serve with Naan bread or other Indian flat bread.

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Giveaway Winner, 2011 Calendar and Awesome Brownies

Happy Thursday everyone! Today I hope that it will be extra happy Thursday for the lucky winner of the CSN sponsored $75 giveaway. The number was chosen using Random.org random number generator and here is the winning number,

The winning number was picked by Green Girl @ A little bit of everything, Congratulations!!! Roxana I will be sending you an email with the details. I can't wait to see what you buy, how exciting. Of course big thanks to CSN and all of their team for sponsoring the giveaway. Everyone please make sure you stop by and take a look at all of their wonderful products like their wide range of briefcases.

The next thing I would like to tell you about is the 2011 Spicie Foodie Calendar. Over the past several months I have been receiving emails from many of you requesting a wall calendar, and about 8 or so of you ask for a wall calendar with recipes. It took me a little while to finish it but here it is and I hope you like.

It is a 12 month full color calendar for 2011 and all 12 months/photos have a recipe to go with them. Some are from my archives, some from my cookbook and some never before published. It is now available for sale to everyone and anyone all over the world. Stop by here to get your copy and get a full preview.

And now for the Awesome Brownies! These brownies are soft, moist, addictive, chocolate heaven awesomeness. For years I've tried to make the perfect brownies trying countless recipes from various sources because let's face it the boxed kind just don't cut it. I've never been quite satisfied with the recipes I tried, I tried all sorts of recipes to no avail. Gross, one time I even tried one made with Baileys that I thought would be delicious and was so disgusting I threw it all out and I loathe throwing out food.

You know how on every episode of House he gets that epiphany look on his face? That was the look I had when I finally realized I should go to the source. The source being Hershey. My dad is an avid and very talented baker that will put many professional bakers to shame. He makes the best Mexican breads and Polish Kolachky among many other great treats. He always had Hershey cocoa and products in the house and I remember the brownie recipes. Here in Prague they don't sell Hershey products but here comes the internet to the rescue again, yay internet! I've been using this recipe for the past year and every time it yields delicious results. Soft, moist and to a chocoholic almost orgasmic. The anticipation is high, the smell in the air can be torturous and I can never wait for them to cool off before taking my first bite. Pure heaven! ( enter happy dance here, hehe)

I follow the recipe as it's stated but only make some changes like I've added 1 tsp. of instant coffee for a different taste. I don't often include the nuts for a more pure chocolate taste. The recipe also has a creamy brownie frosting recipe but again depending on my mood I will or will not make.

These heavenly brownies are ones that must be shared with friends. Though it's hard to hand over the box of freshly baked brownies and watch it disappear as you watch your friend carry it off down the sidewalk. You wipe the tears and hurry back home to bake yourself another batch. Don't worry you can do an extra hour of yoga this week to burn off all the oh so worthy extra calories. Brownies for breakfast, oh yes that's the breakfast of champions. This has been the confessions of a brownie addict and her chocolate vice. Enjoy the recipe and you can find it here, http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/5008/Best%20Brownies.aspx

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Chicken Tagine with Dried Figs and Honey

Do you ever cook a dish that as soon as you put that first taste in your mouth leaves you in a state of elation? You even do a little dance or wiggle (when no one is looking) of shear happiness, and pride. (Yep I do a happy wiggle!) You say to your self "Oh my god this is so good, why didn't I think of this before". You hold your head up high and think about all of the compliments you'll receive on this almost orgasmic dish, how they are all going to rave to everyone they meet about your amazing culinary talent, how everyone is going to ask what's your secret? And how they'll beg you to please give them the recipe. Oh yeah folks, that's a great floating in the clouds kinda feeling... Then you look down on the counter, and SMACK! There it is, the piece of paper you printed out with the recipe. Do you hear that? That's the loud sound of your bubble bursting and bringing you back to reality. Oh dam you reality! OK, so now that you are back in the real world you remember that you were not the mastermind behind this delectable dish. You were just lucky enough to have found the recipe on a great site. Man, why couldn't I have been the one to have masterminded this recipe? Perhaps we can blame the wine we drank for allowing such illusions of grandeur. And maybe next time you'll only have a very small glass of wine (on an empty stomach) instead of gulping down a normal sized glass. Neah! There's that reality bubble again.

Today's exotic recipe, Chicken Tagine with Dried Figs and Honey, is a delectable feast that you can prepare in a relatively low amount of time and it won't brake the bank. Since reality hit me hard this will be another installment of my "Recipe Review", and I think you all know what I think of this recipe. I found this recipe last Autumn, as we were looking for ways to use up or enormous bag of dried figs before they became too hard. This site belongs to Valley Fig Growers (I am not being paid for this), they have so many fantastic recipes and information about many of their products. Well as soon as I read their recipe for Chicken Tagine with Dried Figs and Honey I knew immediately that it was the perfect recipe. Before the dish was done my husband came into the kitchen asking what the smell was. We both really fell in love with this recipe, it is a little sweet, spicy, hearty, healthy, exotic and oh so delicious. I prepared it so many times, I lost count, until I couldn't buy anymore dried figs at my local markets. We both have been anxiously awaiting for Autumn and fig season to arrive because that means dried figs will also be available. Yay! Insert happy dance here. I've bought the first bag and quickly prepared their recipe. I don't own the recipe so I will just provide you with a link to it and you can go to Valley Fig Growers and read the 5 star worthy recipe. I follow the recipe as is but the only change I made is that sometimes I like to serve it with spiced Millet instead of Couscous and it still taste amazing.

And now for a few interesting fact about figs as found on Wikipedia: "The Common Fig is widely grown for its edible fruit throughout its natural range in the Mediterranean region, Iran, Pakistan and northern India, and also in other areas of the world with a similar climate, including Louisiana, California, Georgia, Oregon, Texas, South Carolina, and Washington in the United States, south-western British Columbia in Canada, Nuevo León and Coahuila in northeastern Mexico, as well as Australia, Chile, and South Africa. Figs can also be found in continental climate with hot summer, as far north as Hungary, and can be picked twice or thrice per year.
-It has been an important food crop for thousands of years, and was also thought to be highly beneficial in the diet.
The edible fig is one of the first plants that was cultivated by humans. Nine subfossil figs of a parthenocarpic type dating to about 9400–9200 BC were found in the early Neolithic village Gilgal I (in the Jordan Valley, 13 km north of Jericho). The find predates the domestication of wheat, barley, and legumes, and may thus be the first known instance of agriculture. It is proposed that they may have been planted and cultivated intentionally, one thousand years before the next crops were domesticated (wheat and rye).
-Figs can be eaten fresh or dried, and used in jam-making. Most commercial production is in dried or otherwise processed forms, since the ripe fruit does not transport well, and once picked does not keep well.
- Fig are richest in fiber, copper, manganese, magnesium, potassium, calcium, and vitamin K, relative to human needs.Figs have a laxative effect and contain many antioxidants. They are good source of flavonoids and polyphenols."

A very healthy,nutritious,fruit with a very interesting history. So what are you waiting for eat some figs. You may want to start with this recipe, Chicken Tagine with Dried Figs and Honey .

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Angelina's Eggplant Parmesan

Today's recipe is not my own creation, it belongs to Frank and Angelina from Memorie di Angelina, (and so fits into my recipe review category). Everyone knows Frank and his wonderful site with beautiful memories of his Italian Grandmother, Angelina. When a recipe has a special story, meaning or memory it draws me in right away, and so you can see that Frank's site is one that I will visit often. Not just for the stories but also for the exquisite dishes he shares with use. I love the way all of his recipes feel like warming comforting foods that you sit around a big table with loved ones to share. Frank always gives us easy to follow instructions that make you feel like you can make delicious and healthy Italian dishes with excellent results. My husband and I love eggplant, he loves eggplant cooked anyway I serve it to him but Eggplant Parmesan is on the top of the list. When I saw Franks recipe my mouth started watering and I immediately showed it to my husband telling him I was going to make it this past week, you can imagine how happy he was.

I've never made Eggplant Parmesan or Parmigiana di melanzane as it is called in Italian, but it is a dish that has been on my list to learn. So I thought what a better way to learn than with Frank's and Angelina's recipe. I followed it exactly as he instructed on his site. Since I wouldn't want to relay incorrect instructions to you I will just send you to Memorie di Angelina for the full recipe.

I know some of you may still be having hot summer weather so turning on your oven may not seam like a great thing to do right now. But you should bookmark or save Frank's and Angelina's recipe to make during cooler weather, trust me it's going to be a dish you'll want to make often. For us it seams like Autunm has moved in , sadly the Summer was mostly cold and now an early Autumn. One positive thing though is that I have been getting into the Autumn season by baking breads, making granola and several of soups to keep warm. A couple of nights ago we had our first single digit temperature, 7C or 45F , so baking season has begun.

Thanks Frank for sharing this very flavourfull, tummy and tastebud pleasing recipe. Now I can say I've made Parmigiana di melanzane !

I am submitting my recipe to Torview's event , Food palette red event giveaway , check it out!

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Plum Granita with 3 types of Plums (Vegan Treat)

Today I have another recipe review recipe for a Plum Granita. Granita is an Italian dessert made from fruits, sugar and spices that are pureed then frozen and served similar to a sorbet or an Italian Ice. If you are looking for a healthy and refreshing treat for the whole family this is it. It's also a great alternative to making ice cream because you don't need an ice cream maker and of course the calories will be much lower in the Granita than in ice cream.

The recipe come from Epicurious.com, and it is a great recipe for Granita beginners. When ever I try a recipe that isn't mine I usually end up tweaking it or adjusting it to my taste and this recipe was no different. You will notice the changes I've made with an * next to them. Also the recipe calls for one type of plum but I had 3 different types that I wanted to combine to see what it would taste like. The three plum varieties are Black Plums , your standard sweet and juice dark plum. The second type is a local Czech variety that is slightly sweet and slightly tart but still delicious called Damson Plums. The last or third type is Empress Plums also slightly tart and a bit dry. You will also notice that the recipe suggest topping the Granita with fresh fruit, I think it's a great idea I just ran out of fruit but maybe next time. Well on to the recipe, enjoy!



Plum Granita with Summer Fruit (adapted from epicurious.com )

Ingredients:
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 whole allspice
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise *(substituted with 1tsp. Vanilla extract* )
1 1/2 pounds plums, preferably red-fleshed (about 7 large), pitted, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
*plus 1 Tbs. Plum wine

Fruit Toppings:
1 peach, pitted, thinly sliced
1 nectarine, pitted, thinly sliced
1 plum, pitted, thinly sliced

Instructions:

Combine water, sugar, allspice and cinnamon in heavy small saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat and simmer until liquid is reduced to 3/4 cup, about 2 minutes. Cool syrup completely.

Puree 1 1/2 pounds plums in processor. Press enough puree through sieve to measure 1 1/2 cups. Strain syrup into puree and blend well.** I used all of the plum puree including the skins because I didn't want to be wasteful- But be warned that this may make the Granita a bit more tart so compensate with more sugar if you like** Transfer mixture to 9x5x3-inch glass loaf dish.

Freeze plum mixture until flaky crystals form, stirring every 30 minutes, about 4 hours. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover; keep frozen.)

Spoon granita into 4 glass goblets. Top with peach, nectarine and plum slices and serve immediately.

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Thutilinanga Indonesian Chili Fried Eggplants/Aubergine

Eggplant also know as Aubergine is one of our favorite vegetables. Well technically it is a fruit but people use it as a vegetable. These veggies are in the same vegetable family as tomatoes, sweet peppers and potatoes. I know it's kind of weird thinking that all these vegetables belong in the same family. Eggplants/Aubergine come in a variety of shapes and colors but I think to most of us in the west we are most familiar with the long almost pear shape purple varieties. People in Asia are also familiar with long skinny, round and small eggplants. Since I've only had the long pear shaped I could not tell you how and if they differ in taste. Maybe some of my readers could enlighten me ?

Eggplants are very good for our bodies, have you ever noticed that the darker fruits,vegetables and greens are usually the best and healthiest options. They are a good source for Vitamins B1,B6 , dietary fiber, potassium, folic acid, magnesium, cooper, niacin, antioxidants and the list goes on. In studies Eggplants have also proven to lower cholesterol as well as help manage type 2 diabetes and their GI is 15 - quite low. In addition to being very beneficial to our bodies I find Eggplant to be a very versatile vegetable that will absorb any type of spices and sauces well so it makes a great cooking ingredient.

The recipe I'm sharing with you today is from one of my Indonesian cookbooks our FDG so kindly brought for me from Indonesia. ( I spoke about it here ) I'd like to tell you that my photo doesn't do the dish justice, Even though it doesn't look so pretty it really was delicious so delicious that I've made a several times now. I followed the recipe pretty much as in the book but one time I changed a couple of things, please see the notes. The eggplant was soft with a little bit of spiciness from the chili and all the flavors really came together. I hope you try the recipe and see how flavorful it tastes.

Ingredients:

(serves 2-3)

2 medium eggplants ( aubergine)*

2 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 red chili, thinly sliced ( or any color you have)

1-2 tsp. ground chillies

2 Roma tomatoes, quartered

1/4 tsp. salt

2 medium eggs,lightly beaten

6 3/4 oz or 200 ml thick coconut milk ( I have also substituted with vegetable broth)

In addition I have on occasions also added the following ingredients:

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 small piece of ginger, finely chopped

(*The recipe book calls for 4 Aubergines, they are refereeing to long and thin Asian Aubergines but instead I have used 2 large and thick western Aubergines. *)

1. Slice off both ends of the clean eggplants then slice them in half cutting widthwise. Take each half and slice into quarters lengthwise. Heat the oil and fry the eggplants until they have browned , making sure to turn so they fry on all sides. In the mean time slice the onion, chili and cut the tomatoes into quarters. Once the eggplants are browned and soften through place on a serving platter or large plate and set aside. In the same pan fry the onions until they are translucent then add the chili and fry for another 3 minutes. Next add the tomatoes, ground chili, and salt giving the ingredients a good stir. Fry until the tomatoes have broken down.

2. Next push the vegetables aside and add a little more oil to the pan if necessary, pour the beaten eggs. Cook the eggs though and break up to scrambled eggs. Stir and combine the egg into the vegetable mixture. Pour the thick coconut milk or if substituting like I have pour the vegetable broth. Stir to well combine all ingredients and allow to come to a boil.

Pour the vegetables mixture over the eggplants and serve.

The eggplant tasted much better than it looks in my photos, sorry the photos aren't very good. Both my husband and I really enjoyed them, we ate all of it. They were served on the side of Nasi Goreng for a Vegetarian dinner. ( Recipe for Nasi Goreng is here )

I leave you with another little fact about Eggplant/Aubergines , they are native to the Indian Sub-Continent and then were spread throughout many regions of the world. Funny I always pictured or thought they were native to Mediterranean areas in Europe.

* This dish can be enjoyed as a main dish or as a side dish. If you are a vegetarian and don't eat eggs I think Tofu instead of eggs would taste just as good. *

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Emeril's Crab Cakes with Avocado Emulsion

Today I am doing another recipe review that is an amazing mouth watering recipe belonging to a world famous Chef, Emeril Lagasse. Emeril is a celebrity chef in the US with a TV show, many books, restaurants around the US and has merchandise collection for sale. He is know for his Cajun,Creole and Portuguese cuisine. If you are not familiar with him you should really check him out, he is an amazing Chef. We have actually used this recipe a couple of times and both times it has resulted with heavenly results. Crab cakes are a popular American dish with unique recipes from the different American coastal crabbing industries. Crab cakes are not only popular in those areas, they are also to be found in an assortment of restaurants in the US. My husband and I searched and looked at several different recipes from different regions, but this is the one that appealed most to the both of us.

The recipe calls for fresh crab meat picked over from the shells and cartilage. Being that we are currently living in a land-locked country we won't be finding fresh crabs anytime soon. I have never seen fresh crab (nor Lobster) for sale at any of the local stores. Luckily we have found canned crab meat and have used it as a substitute. One time we were very lucky to have found canned Grade-A Russian king crab meat, which was just perfect and at a bargain price. This last time we weren't so lucky, we could only find Thai crab meat that was lower grade and smaller shredded pieces, but nonetheless worked just fine.

The only thing I changed from the recipe is that I allowed the crab meat to sit overnight before adding the breadcrumbs and frying. I'm glad I did this because it really allowed the crab meat to pick up the flavors from the spices. It is your choice if you want to do as I did or just follow the recipe as is.

One of the suggested sides to serve these heavenly crab cakes is Emeril's Cilantro-Avocado Emulsion. That is the creamy green sauce you see in my photos. The emulsion was so creamy, tangy and a bit spicy which went perfect with the crab cakes. I think that the flavors added or helped bring out the taste of the crab even more. Plus it gave the meal a fresh and light feeling to the fried cake. Which for me is a big plus since I'm not such a big fan of fried foods because of the greasy after taste left behind, the emulsion really took that away.

The crab cakes were light with and crispy on the outside. The inside felt soft with a burst of flavors, there were just simply scrumptious. The recipe was one of the best crab cakes ever! A Five Star rating all the way. Even though it was a bit time consuming it was well worth every second. This is a recipe that I would really suggest for a dinner party as a main dish or made into small pieces as an appetizer.

Here is the recipe for Emeril's Crispy Louisiana Crab Cakes with Cilantro-Avocado Emulsion.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/crispy-louisiana-crab-cakes-mango-salsa-spiced-tomato-glaze-cilantro-avocado-emulsion-recipe/index.html

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Nasi Goreng Indonesian Fried Rice

A couple of weeks ago our friend, aka frequent dinner guest (FDG), brought me a gift. Actually two gifts the first was an Indonesian cookbook from his trip to Indonesia and the second a packet of Saffron from his trip to Egypt. As you can imagine to a foodie these make the best gifts:) The cookbook is called " The best of Indonesian Cooking" by Yasa Boga and published by Marshall Caven Dish. Here is a picture of the cookbook and I checked on Amazon but it's not available, so maybe you can try to find it else where.

There are so many recipes that look and sound so good. Just flipping through the pages makes my mouth water. Honestly, I couldn't decide which recipe to try first. It was like a mouth-watering overload and I wanted to try them all at once. But I finally decided on two recipes for two dishes that we are familiar with, Nasi Goreng or Fried Rice and Chicken Satay with peanut sauce. The first time my husband and I went to an Indonesian restaurant this is what the waiter recommended to us, and we both enjoyed it very much. Today I'll share the Nasi Goreng recipe and in another post I will share the Chicken Satay recipe. This is a very easy and fast recipe to make, also a great way to use up left over white rice.

First is the recipe as it is written in the book and following it I will share my substitute ingredients in case you need them. Also I used dark soy sauce so the color on yours rice and Satay maybe lighter.

Ingredients:
5 Tbs. oil
600 grams (1.32 lb. )refrigerated rice*
1-2 Tbs. sweet soy sauce

Spices (ground) :
5 shallots
3 garlic cloves
3-5 red chillies
1/2 tsp. dried shrimp paste

Garnishes:
sliced cucumbers
sliced tomato
fried shallots
fried eggs (per the book image)

Saute ground spices in oil until fragrant and thoroughly cooked. Add rice and sweet soy sauce. Mix well until rice becomes warm. Serve fried rice with fried eggs, finely sliced cucumber and fried shallots.

*Note: Use cooled rice, preferably rice that has been left overnight, to make fried rice. Newly-cooked rice breaks easily and sticks to the frying pan.

My substitutes:
Sweet soy sauce is soy sauce that has had refined brown sugar added to it. I only had dark Chinese soy sauce to use, so I added 1 teaspoon to the soy sauce and allow it to dissolve completely. Unfortunately I cannot find shrimp paste so I used 1 teaspoon of Fish sauce mixed with a pinch of paprika (for the color). I know not very authentic but it will add the fishy taste and smell to the rice that the shrimp paste would. This is something that I have been doing for a while and I haven't noticed the missing shrimp paste yet. The image in the book had sliced tomatoes along with the cucumbers, so I added them even though the recipe doesn't call for tomatoes.

Another tip to people that can't or don't eat very spicy food, use less chillies or perhaps omit them all together. But add a little paprika so the rice still has some of the color.


What did my husband and I think of this recipe ? YUMMM !!! it was delicious and my husband asked if we could have this again very soon:) I can't wait to make it again for us and for our friend FDG. Thanks again FDG for my gifts that keep on giving, hehe. Now I just need to figure out what to make with my Saffron, hmm .....

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Soups On! Tomato Cream Soup

Soups on! Tomato cream soup is just perfect for the -5c weather we are having the last few days.( And I was just starting to get so excited about the couple of warm weather days, thinking Spring was coming early this year:( , should of listened to my husband. )
This soup recipe is going to be my first "Recipe Review", the recipe belongs to John from Cooking with Passion. I actually found it last fall, and had been meaning to review it for a while. I did get around to cooking this delicious and very filling soup, as a matter of fact I've made it a couple of times, so you know I like it:) The first time I made it I followed the exact instructions that John gives, the second time I substituted sour cream for cream to make it creamier ( and because I was out of sour cream). So here it goes.



Tomato soup, adapted from Cooking with Passion
Ingredients
1 finely chopped white onion
3 finely chopped clove of garlic
4 inch piece of celery finely chopped
1 medium carrot peeled and finely chopped
5 medium tomatoes cored and quartered
1 tbsp tomato paste
Pinch finely chopped fresh basil
Pinch of salt, pepper and sugar
1 cup of chicken stock
(1-2 TB of oil, I used sunflower oil or you could use olive oil too)

1 heaped tbsp sour cream
Parsley leaf for decoration

Blender or hand held blender

1. Wash,chop, dice, peel all of the vegetables. In a large pot heat the oil and add all of the vegetable except the tomatoes, stirring to prevent them from burning. Once the vegetables are softened through, add the tomato pastes making sure all the vegetables are coated completely. Next add the tomatoes, add a pinch each of salt, black pepper and sugar, stir to combine all of the ingredients. Simmer until the tomatoes have soften and started to fall apart.
2.Add the chicken stock and a bit of the fresh basil, cover and simmer until the tomatoes have completely separated and become mushy, it will take about 20 minutes. Test to make sure all of the vegetables have cooked through, turn off heat and leave uncovered for about 15 minutes to cool down.
3. Pour some of the soup into a blender , or using a hand held blender mix in the pot. Puree soup until it's a soft and creamy mixture. You can put through a fine sieve to remove the skins and seeds. ( He also suggested removing the seeds and skin at the start of the process. I preferred to remove the seeds when I was cutting the tomatoes, as for the skins I left them.)
4. Put the soup back in the pot with a nob of butter and bring to a boil. Just before serving if you like sour cream you can add some to the soup now. (I used 2 tbs. of cream and I omitted the butter.) Serve with bread and garnish with some parsley leaf, I added dried basil instead of parsley.


What do I think of the recipe and the soup? I quite liked this soup, it's hard to get good tomato soup. But this one is exactly how I wanted it, creamy with the tomato taste but without the overly sweetened taste of tomato paste. It's very filling so if you want an easy lunch or a lighter dinner, this is it. As I said before I have made it a couple of times, and I will continue to make it on cold days like today.
Stop by Cooking with Passion for some more great recipes from John.

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