The weather is finally fallish here, so there's a breezy nip in the air. Autumnal things going on with me right now: a delicious chicken soup is simmering on the stove, I just finished eating the last of my cream of tomato soup, there are pinecones and other seeds all over our kitchen table, I just harvested a bit more late summer bounty, I have my first cold of the season, AND there's a tiny, no teeny tiny, little beetle crawling all over the table right in front of me. I wonder if he came in on the produce, acorns and such, or me?
So about the soups...being chilly and a bit under the weather, all I want is warm liquids going down my throat. Last night I made us grilled cheese with tomato soup. I was going to take the lazy way out and buy some Campbell's, but I couldn't find one with lower sodium (and did you know there's high fructose corn syrup in there? Now is that really necessary?) so I opted to make my own. Rachel Ray's recipe worked well with a little tweaking. She's so hit or miss, but with the reviews and people's suggestions I felt pretty confident it would be good.
Here's what I did:
Sauteed half and onion until it was translucent and just starting to brown a bit, added a garlic clove and sauteed a minute more. Put that in a pot with a can of no-sodium tomatoes and some chicken broth (about 2 cups?). Added a little Italian seasoning and pepper, stirred it around and brought it to a boil. Reduced the heat and let it simmer for a little while. Then I added a bunch of whole milk and let it simmer a few more minutes. Finally, I immersion blended it and we were all set to eat a delectable childhood favorite!
The soup I'm making today is from The Big Book of Soups and Stews, and it's called "Cheddar Chicken Corn Chowder." Talk about a mouthful! I've made it before and wrote "good/great" in the margin. I also wrote a bunch of notes, including one that says, "You can also make a bechamel sauce and add it." It had me at bechamel. I'm going to add the cheese to the white sauce, because, well, I have a little addiction. I'll probably make too much on purpose by accident so I can eat it on everything tomorrow. Or just eat it with a spoon. Or just drink it. On a healthier note, I used tomatoes and potatoes from our garden. Aren't they pretty? The two peeled varieties were looking a bit rough (seeing as I harvested them weeks ago), but they had beautiful yellow and pink skin before they started decaying. (ha ha ha) I'm making buttermilk biscuits to go with it. Yummy!
