No Soup for You! Week and the "Ultimate" Cream of Tomato Soup

Happy 40th Post, everyone!  I actually did not commemorate my 1-year anniversary in April, so I thought I would celebrate a different milestone.  I noticed when I logged in that I had written 39 posts, so this one is my 40th.  It's been wonderful writing about the food I've cooked and the experiences I have had in the kitchen over the past year.  Let's hope this year averages closer to a post a week!

Now, to the topic at hand:  soup.  My No Soup for You! week continues with one of my absolute favorite soups.  Growing up, I loved Campbell's Tomato soup more than anything in the world.  I'd make an entire can and armed with saltine crackers and lots of black pepper, I would eat the whole thing myself.  Marshall's not such a huge fan.  He's said, on more than one occasion, that Campbell's Tomato Soup tastes like the sauces used for Chef Boyardee.  While I've never actually had Chef Boyardee, I can't exactly tell him that it doesn't, but this sounds like an insult so I take offense.  So, when I saw the special "Soups & Stews" issue of Cook's Illustrated earlier last year and it contained a recipe for cream of tomato soup--excuse me, ULTIMATE cream of tomato soup--I knew I had to make it and show Marshall that tomato soup can be creamy and delicious.

I was not led astray, nor would I expect any less from my new favorite cooking magazine.  While there were far too many steps in this recipe than I care for, the result was far better than I could have imagined.  It was meaty, sweet, and silky smooth.  The flavor was the most savory I have ever tasted coming from tomatoes, but it still retained that lovely sweetness that comes from tomatoes, as well.  I think a lot of that sweetness comes from the use of whole canned tomatoes, plus tomato paste.  Of course, there is sugar in the recipe, but it is a means to caramelize the tomatoes as they roast in the oven.  I will say this, though, that step is a pain in the ass.  I ended up with what I feel was far too few tomatoes, by the time I was done seeding them and laying them out on a cooking sheet.  I also didn't seem to get the kind of caramelization that I was originally expecting, so I have a feeling I might've overcooked them.  However, this did not detract from the end result.  This soup was definitely the highly sophisticated city relative of its Campbell's canned country bumpkin, but both are equally warming of the soul.  They say chicken soup is the food of the soul, but my soul'll take tomato soup any day.

Bonus time!
So, what does everyone think of when they think tomato soup?  Grilled cheese, right?  Right.  Well, with a sophisticated cream of tomato soup like this, we needed a sophisticated sandwich.  American singles and white bread were not going to cut it with this bowl.  I turned to this one sandwich that Marshall and I absolutely adore.  It's sweet and salty, buttery and just incredibly delicious:  Ham, Manchego, and Fig Tartines.  Leave it to my Gourmet magazine (RIP) to have a last page of the September 2008 to hide these gems of sandwiches.  The French tartine is an open-faced sandwich, but the recipes on this page are far from the original.  This particular sandwich that we enjoyed with our tomato soup leans more toward the Iberian Peninsula, with the ham and manchego cheese.  The fig, too, is very Spanish, and I could definitely see something like this on a tapas menu somewhere in Spain.  I don't know if I could fully explain the richness that is this sandwich.  The baguette, toasted, mingles with the fig (mixed with butter, of course) and infuses the sharp cheese and finally there's this salty jolt from the ham (in this case prosciutto; serrano would be your true Spanish alternative).  The sweet and salty was a great companion to the rich and savory tomato soup.

If you're feeling homesick, but want still want to wear your tiara (or monocle), this is your meal.

No Soup for You! Week continues...Up next time is my personal all-time favorite soup for eating and freezing:  Lentil (Italian-style)!

The Cure for the Boring Turkey-burger: Danish Chicken Burgers

I knew there was always something I didn't like about cooking with ground turkey.  Turkey has a very unique flavor, compared to other poultry.  It certainly cannot be a substitute for chicken and I definitely cannot substitute anything that was originally made with beef with turkey (like meatloaf, although I do have a post about a turkey meatloaf waiting in the wings).  I just cannot get past the flavor of turkey.  It overpowers everything and definitely is something that must stand alone.  Well, unless you roast it whole, drizzle with giblet gravy, serve it with mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce, then, well, it works (umm, I love Thanksgiving dinner; it's the one time of year that I greatly invite the turkey to my table).  Otherwise, I just don't have an affinity for that particular bird.

I do, however, love chicken.  Yes, I know chicken can be bland and it's become sort of the blank canvas of the table.  You can cook it any which way and serve it with any other food.  On the other hand, I think it may be the most universally cooked protein.  Seriously, find me a culture or country or nation that does not cook chicken!  A few years ago, I think everyone in my family started experimenting with Rachel Ray recipes.  She was big on the Food Network and she really catered to the novice cook.  My husband's first cookbook was Rachel Ray's very first 30 Minute Meals cookbook.  When he lived on his own, he learned to cook on his own, and this cookbook really helped.  Each recipe was easy and the ingredients were readily available at any grocery store.  Plus, each recipe made huge portions, which made cooking for the week a snap.  My mom even picked up a few of her recipes, including this chicken burger recipe.  Before my mom made these, I had never had a chicken burger.  I didn't even know you could buy ground chicken (like ground beef or turkey).  My mom made these one night, while I was still living at home, and they were delicious!  Or, the words of the recipe's creator, YUM-O!

Unlike other burgers that I had eaten or made, they were pan-fried.  This created a delicious caramelized crust on the outside of the burger, plus it helped keep the cheese from oozing out of the burger too much.  Oh?  Did I not mention that the cheese is IN the burger?  Oh yeah, one of my favorite things about this burger is that it's a cheese burger with the cheese built-in.  Okay, I'm starting to sound like Rachel Ray, here, but it can't be helped.  These also can be served with just about anything.  This particular night we had chicken burgers with baked sweet potato fries (not shown due to poor presentation).  I also do not eat these like normal burgers on a bun, but rather with a knife and fork with a little whole grain dijon mustard, like my friend, Maille, here.  The bright vinegary bite of the mustard compliments the savory chicken and melted dill Havarti cheese.

The recipe I provide below is a modified version of the original recipe.  The thing is, her portions for her burgers are ridiculous.  I simply cannot eat a half-pound burger, no matter how delicious.  It's just too much.  Her original recipe calls for 2 pounds of ground chicken for only 4 burgers.  Yeah, I altered that.  However, even though I alter the amount of meat, the rest of the recipe is the same.  The seasonings all work with less meat.  You could easily cut the amount of cheese, considering with less meat there isn't as much space for the little cheesy morsels, but who would consciously use LESS cheese?

Picking Favorites: Grilled Caesar Salad

While some of these recipes are like my children, I am not ashamed to tell you my favorites.  This Caesar salad, which I am about to explain to you, is my absolute favorite salad to make at home.  Even with the ability that I have, I cannot fully explain the deliciousness that is this particular Caesar salad.  I also cannot pick out one thing that puts this salad above the rest.  From the charred and slightly wilted Romaine leaves, to the freshly grilled croutons, to the beautifully acidic and garlicky homemade Caesar dressing, all of them play a part in making this salad absolutely mouthwatering.  In fact, to be brutally honest, my mouth is watering right now just thinking about this salad.  It's that good, people!  Another way to show this is my favorite salad is the fact that I have made this salad over and over and over again over the past 4 years since I bought this issue of Gourmet (RIP)-- oh yeah, this is also the issue which moved me to get a subscription of Gourmet-- so that should say something.  You can easily make this into a meal by adding grilled chicken, which is what I did on this particular occasion, but it is an awesome side dish to pretty much anything.  It's great with grilled meats, since the reason behind the creation recipe was to utilize the residual heat of the grill after grilling steaks or chicken.  Honestly, I think we've actually just eaten this salad as it is as our dinner a few times.

I think I've said all I can about this salad.  I mean, at the base of it this is JUST a salad, albeit a super delicious fantastic salad.  One note of caution, which I want to tell everyone, this Caesar dressing is a true Caesar dressing, meaning it requires raw egg.  I've read other raw-egg recipes where you can boil the egg for only a minute, therefore cooking it just enough to hedge your bets against salmonella.  Gourmet suggests buying pasteurized eggs in the shell (as opposed to the scrambled eggs in the carton), which are available in the grocery store.  I was squeamish at first about using raw egg, but I've gotten used to it.  I will say, though, that if you do decide to use raw egg, which is chemically "cooked" by the lemon juice, the dressing is only good for that day.  Marshall and I tried using some and saving it for the next night, but it just wasn't quite right.  It was also super "eggy", which really turned me off.  But, I completely understand the desire to stay away from using raw eggs; it is a definite risk.  ...a delicious risk...  OK, I'll stop trying to persuade you to use raw eggs if you don't want to.  Oh yeah, if the raw egg wasn't enough already, the dressing also contains anchovies.  If you're allergic to fish, keep this in mind.  You can easily omit this ingredient if necessary.

A Meat-and-Potatoes Kind of Night: Chicken Vesuvio

Another intriguing recipe I found in Cooks' Illustrated "Cooking for Two" collection from 2010 was a dish called "Chicken Vesuvio".  The picture, on which I sometimes rely heavily, showed what looked like seared chicken breasts, peas and roasted potatoes.  Now, you may look at some of the other recipes I have written about and think "why would she pick this one?"  I think it boiled down to simple curiosity.  I've never been much of a "meat and potatoes" kind of person.  While I do love roasted chicken and potatoes, I certainly do not turn it to it often.  I do find that kind of meal composition to be really heavy and sometimes too much for when Marshall and I usually sit down to dinner:  around 7:30 or 8pm, sometimes even close to 9.  I cannot imagine eating a large helping of chicken and potatoes with a mere 2 hours before going to bed.  Anyway, I was curious about this dish, especially since it had an Italian-sounding name.  Turns out this dish originated in Chicago and was simply bone-in chicken with roasted potatoes, covered in a garlicky sauce with peas.  It sounds more English than Italian, if you ask me.

While it might sound like I'm completely bashing this meal, I really was surprised at how it tasted in the end.  Yes, this was a very hearty meal and something I would only think to cook on weekends or in the dead of winter.  You're left feeling very full afterward.  However, the meal itself was very tasty.  I ended up not really pairing this with anything, since I thought the peas in the dish were enough to cover the "vegetable" portion of our dinner.  I really enjoyed the thick gravy on the chicken and potatoes.  The peas did not lend much of their flavor to the dish; I'm thinking that originally it was just to keep the dish from looking too bland.  The flavor, though, wasn't bland at all.  This dish definitely reminded me of meals I had while visiting the mid-west, which definitely brings light to where it originated.  I can easily see this dish being plated up at family dinners in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.  Marshall and I both enjoyed this dish, but agreed it was very filling and something that would be revisited sparingly in the future.

Bubba Blue Be Proud: Southern Shrimp Burgers

I'm not sure if I said it any time before this, but I'll say it again and again and again:  I love shrimp.  I will eat it cooked in any fashion, too:  boiled, broiled, grilled, sautéed, baked, stuffed - as long as it's is cooked, I'll eat it (not sure if raw shrimp, even for sushi, is OK).  One of  my favorite cooking magazines, Cooks Illustrated, came out with a Summer Grilling issue last year and I've found more than a handful of successful and delicious recipes in it, some of which made it onto my blog already.  One of those recipes was for Southern Shrimp Burgers.  Funny enough, I had never eaten a shrimp burger.  I've had tuna burgers, salmon burgers and crab cakes (which are kind of like burgers, right?), but never a burger made of shrimp.  The headline in the magazine stated "In most versions of this coastal classic, the shrimp flavor is all but buried beneath excessive amounts of binding and spices.  We wanted shrimp burgers that tasted like shrimp."  They certainly succeeded.

Making the shrimp burgers was similar to making any other kind of burger, although there is a little bit of binding, since shrimp tends to be wetter than most other proteins.  What's great is that the only binding is a slice of sandwich bread (I think we used sourdough, since that's what our home considers "sandwich bread").  The rest of the mixture includes fresh herbs, mild spices, mayo and shrimp:  the perfect combination of flavors to enhance and showcase the sweetness of the shrimp meat.  They held surprisingly well on the grill, which is where we cooked them.  You can easily cook these in a pan on the stove, if you're interested in having a summery light meal in the dead of winter.  The burgers were tender and juicy, sweet and delicious.  I would definitely make these again.

I served the shrimp burgers without buns.  I would think buns, or any kind of bread-like product, would totally ruin the freshness of the burger and weight the meal down.  They were perfect fork-and-knife burgers, although you didn't need a knife at all to cut through the burger.  I made a home-made tartar sauce for dipping.  A simple mixture of mayo, capers, and fresh chopped dill.  You can certainly buy tartar sauce from the store, but when it's this easy to make, why would you?  The picture in the magazine showed the burger alongside some fresh greens.  I remember making a Tuna Steak au Poivre a long time ago that had a bitter greens salad on the side, which was great.  I figured that kind of super light salad would be perfect and it was.

I hope you give these burgers a shot.  I highly recommend using fresh, unfrozen, shrimp if at all possible.  They really aren't expensive, comparatively speaking, and you get a MUCH better flavor.  Also, again if possible, buy as local as possible.  Unfortunately, for Californians, local shrimp comes from the Gulf of Mexico, which is definitely more local than Thailand or Vietnam.  Like with all fish, wild-caught is infinitely better, both in taste and nutritional value, than farmed (shrimp aren't supposed to eat corn).  I know that when I first started preparing raw fresh shrimp myself, the deveining was the most worrisome.  It is so easy, I can't even tell you:  take scissors (kitchen shears and desk scissors work equally well) and snip the shell along the back of the shrimp (not the side with the legs) stopping right before the tail (if you want a handle) or all the way through the tail (if you just want the meat).  The snipping allows you to peel the shell easily from the shrimp meat and will cut just enough of the flesh to expose the vein.  Under running cold water, clean out the groove you made with the scissors and you're done!  Your shrimp are now ready to cook and enjoy!