Restored. . .
>> Monday, July 5, 2010 –
cooking,
cooking techniques,
tomatoes
After a weekend of fun and sun, and beer, I got home today feeling a little, how do we say? Funky? Yes, funky. I felt the funk. I was all funked up! So with that I knew that my body was asking for something specific, something restorative.
While browsing the kitchen staples it occurred to me that I am overrun with tomatoes (yes, I am Sherlock) and I can only eat so much tomato and cucumber salad.
I peeped in the freezer and found a half gallon of chicken stock, so hey I made some tomato soup.
But before I dispense with the recipe, let's take another look at that word "restorative." The word restaurant comes from the French word "restaurer" which means "to restore." A restorative several centuries ago was generally a soup or stew that was served in these early restaurants.
Today's restorative takes into account the long lineage of cooking history and pairs it with the simple tomato, a food source as old as time itself. And in this version, we leave the heavy thickener of roux behind and rely solely on the tomato itself, a smidge of heavy cream and a light cornstarch slurry to add the necessary body to the soup.
Garden Tomato Bisque with Thyme and Basil
5-6 lbs. Tomatoes, chopped
1 medium onion, large dice
1 stalk celery, medium dice
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar
3/4 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 gal. chicken stock
1/2 - 3/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. Thyme
1 tsp. Thyme
1 Tbsp. Basil
Salt and Pepper, to taste
(Optional: a little sugar to balance the tomato acid if the tomatoes aren't ripe like these)
Add a bit of butter to a pot of adequate size and saute the onions and celery for 6 to 8 minutes over medium heat.
Add the garlic. . .
and saute for 4 minutes more.
While this cooks, core the tomatoes and chop them anyway you please. No need to get fancy here, just need to open the babies up so all that good flavor comes out.
Add the tomatoes, thyme, basil and bay leaf, saute for a few minutes until the tomatoes begin to release their juices. Add the red wine vinegar (or substitute 1/2 cup of white wine), Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.
Add the chicken stock.
Bring the mixture to a boil and as with all boiling operations, a nasty scum will rise to the top which we shall ladle away, right? The French call this "depouillage" which sounds so much more beautiful than the English "skimming the scum." Oh well.
Let this cook for about 30 minutes or until you get a reduction of about 1/4 the volume. Remove from the heat and in batches, blend in your blender to puree the soup. Now, here I will diverge a bit from typical French cookery. I only pulsed my tomato mixture for a few second for each batch. I like to have all the "debris" in my soup, but should you require a finer mixture, simply blend longer. If you want it to be ultra fine and smooth, pass the pureed mixture through a fine sieve Like a good Frenchman would, which will remove all of the skins and seeds, but also a lot of the body of the soup.
Alternatively, you can peel and seed the tomatoes beforehand, which is a real pain in the nether regions, but you will still have the benefit of the pulp of the fruit that adds body to the soup. I like it full of stuff, seeds, skins, whatever, it's a personal choice.
Return the mixture to the pot and over medium heat, add 1/2 to 3/4 cups of heavy cream. Let this cook for about 10 minutes longer until it reduces further and thickens.
Check the consistency and if it is lacking, mix equal parts of cornstarch and cold water to create a slurry.
Bring the mixture to a boil and add the slurry a little at the time until the desired consistency is reached.
Serve your soup with garlic croutons or even better make some grilled cheese mini-sandwiches to go with it. Or even a step further, mix 1 part of gorgonzola with two parts butter, smear that on some crostinis and bake in the oven until brown and bubbly. Add a few tender basil leaves to your soup and you have food fit for a king or a partygoer in need of the recuperative powers of soup. Enjoy!
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Bring the mixture to a boil and as with all boiling operations, a nasty scum will rise to the top which we shall ladle away, right? The French call this "depouillage" which sounds so much more beautiful than the English "skimming the scum." Oh well.
Let this cook for about 30 minutes or until you get a reduction of about 1/4 the volume. Remove from the heat and in batches, blend in your blender to puree the soup. Now, here I will diverge a bit from typical French cookery. I only pulsed my tomato mixture for a few second for each batch. I like to have all the "debris" in my soup, but should you require a finer mixture, simply blend longer. If you want it to be ultra fine and smooth, pass the pureed mixture through a fine sieve Like a good Frenchman would, which will remove all of the skins and seeds, but also a lot of the body of the soup.
Alternatively, you can peel and seed the tomatoes beforehand, which is a real pain in the nether regions, but you will still have the benefit of the pulp of the fruit that adds body to the soup. I like it full of stuff, seeds, skins, whatever, it's a personal choice.
Return the mixture to the pot and over medium heat, add 1/2 to 3/4 cups of heavy cream. Let this cook for about 10 minutes longer until it reduces further and thickens.
Check the consistency and if it is lacking, mix equal parts of cornstarch and cold water to create a slurry.
Bring the mixture to a boil and add the slurry a little at the time until the desired consistency is reached.
Serve your soup with garlic croutons or even better make some grilled cheese mini-sandwiches to go with it. Or even a step further, mix 1 part of gorgonzola with two parts butter, smear that on some crostinis and bake in the oven until brown and bubbly. Add a few tender basil leaves to your soup and you have food fit for a king or a partygoer in need of the recuperative powers of soup. Enjoy!
