I've overcome my fear of tomato soup…
I used to hate tomato soup. I didn’t like it as a kid. There was no comfort for me in a can of Campbell’s Tomato Soup. The only thing I liked about that was the Andy Warhol print of it. I’m not a fan of tomatoes in general, so why would I like tomato soup? I like them in smallish quantities and mixed with other things. It took years for me to be able to eat them diced on top of a taco. I still don’t like big chunks in a soup or chili. Bloody Marys have no appeal to me…no matter what the occasion. I will NEVER like them on a sandwich (see my wet bread issue below).
Anyway…I hated tomato soup until a few years ago. Charlie, the daytime manager/pastry chef/electrician/plumber at the restaurant, changed my mind about tomato soup with his version of it. Actually, I think the baby grilled cheese bites that his soup is garnished with changed my mind. I started eating his tomato soup because of the grilled cheese bites…but I’d hardly call them a garnish when I eat them as I fill my soup cup with about a dozen of them. The soup is actually the garnish.
I also hate crackers and bread in my soup. I hate wet or soggy bread. If I order a sandwich without tomatoes on it and they put them on anyway, it kind of pisses me off because there’s a pretty good chance the nasty tomato juice has already soaked into my bread. But I’m okay with wet bread in tomato soup. Soggy grilled cheese bites taste delicious in tomato soup. It makes no sense. I make no sense.
A few months ago, I tried Panera’s Creamy Tomato Soup with asiago cheese croutons. Guess what? I liked it…croutons and all. Their croutons stayed fairly crunchy in the soup…even after about 10 minutes of
soaking in it. I’ve ordered it every time I’ve been to Panera since that day.
I guess I kind of like wet bread and tomatoes now. I’ve come a long way with my picky food habits. Five years ago, I would have never thought to attempt eating such things…let alone making them myself at home.
On Monday, it was cold and rainy. I was still a bit sick from my weekend cold. I was craving tomato soup…for probably the first time in my life. Normal people have craved it their whole lives…but not me.
So I made creamy tomato soup with crunchy Parmesan and garlic croutons. I did a pretty good job of making the soup taste the way I wanted and the croutons were exactly the way I wanted them. They retained their crunch for quite some time after I submerged them in the soup.
The soup itself has celery, onions, basil, red pepper flakes, white wine and half & half…and a touch of Parmesan. Then I used the immersion blender to puree it. I love using the immersion blender for soup.
I should put together the recipe for this. But I’m too lazy to do it right now…instead I want to eat some chocolate mousse.
More pictures soon….of cookies and bread and pesto and pork and coffee cake.
Thursday, 22. May 2008 12:36
I love tomato soup with grilled cheese. I would love this recipe if you have it! Nice blog by the way!