I know we're only four days into 2010, but I'm ready to hand the crown over to Iron Chef Michael Symon. I made this soup over the holidays and we've all been dreaming about it ever since. I made two changes to the recipe, the first of which is that I used less sriracha than called for because I don't like things too spicy, and second, I used a different kind of blue cheese because I couldn't find Roth Kase Buttermilk Blue Cheese. If you've never tried sriracha, I recommend it for its unique flavor, as well as its heat.
This is not a low-fat soup, but, even with the cream and blue cheese, it doesn't feel too heavy. I might try to make a lighter version, so that I can eat it more often, but I don't want to mess too much with perfection! I was not able to take a picture because I can't find my camera, but the truth is that, while the soup looks good, a picture could not possibly convey its amazing depth of flavor.
If you are not vegan, give it a try and let me know what you think. If you are vegan, maybe you can help me think of substitutes or other delicious things to put in instead of cream and blue cheese.
Spicy Tomato and Blue Cheese Soup
from "Michael Symon's Live To Cook" by Michael Symon
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
Kosher salt
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1 28-oz can San Marzano tomatoes, with their juice
1 1/2 cups Chicken Stock
3/4 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons sriracha sauce
1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves
1/2 cup Roth Kase Buttermilk Blue cheese
Heat the olive oil in a 4-quart pot over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion and a three-fingered pinch of salt and sweat for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to sweat for 2 more minutes. Add the tomatoes, their juice and the stock and bring to a simmer. (I added a little more salt here too). Add the cream, sriracha sauce, and oregano and simmer for 45 minutes.
Pour the soup into a blender, add the blue cheese, and blend until smooth, working in batches if needed.
Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean pot, taste, adjust the seasoning if necessary, and reheat to serve. The soup will keep, covered in the refrigerator, for a few days.
I've seen several posts lately in which people pick a word of the year. This is much more appealing to me than making a list of resolutions, which I never manage to keep. Instead, I'll focus on my chosen word and try to make everything in my life go towards reflecting it. For at least a week or two. Maybe.
And the word for 2010 is...
Haven
Doesn't it have a lovely ring to it?
The definition from Merriam Webster is as follows:
Pronunciation: \ˈhā-vən\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hæfen; akin to Middle High German habene harbor
Date: before 12th century
1 : harbor, port
2 : a place of safety : refuge
3 : a place offering favorable opportunities or conditions <a haven for artists>
I'll talk more about why I picked Haven for 2010 in later posts, but now I am going to snuggle up in my favorite haven, my bed, and watch Julie and Julia with CMR.
Sleep tight everyone, except for those of you in other parts of the world whom I wish a good day!
A little sneak peek into Knot Sew Crafty 2010:
Lots of lovely and easy crafts. (Only a few of which will feature macaroni.)
Recipes from my favorite celebrity cookbooks. (Dumplings á la Liberace, anyone?)
More Homeschooling the '70's. (My kids don't know who the Fonz is, and that simply cannot be tolerated!)
Tales of woe from growing up Knot Sew Crafty. (Just kidding!)
And many more Mystery Giveaways!
I'm resolving to let a random generator pick my resolution!
New Year's Resolution Generator as seen on SwissMiss
Peace and joy to everyone!
As a child, I grew up in an atheist household of mixed religious backgrounds. We celebrated Christmas as a time of family and love, and we celebrated it on Christmas Eve, as they do in Germany. It was a strict rule in our house that one could not listen to the song "Silent Night" before Christmas Eve. Even now, I lunge to change the radio station if it comes on before the 24th! Today, however, is the 24th, so I am free to play one of my favorite versions of "Silent Night."
Poor Miss Willa is home sick from school today, which is really cramping my blogging/holiday-planning style! Sweet girl is lying on the couch, drinking orange juice, and watching a Spongebob marathon.
Here are some Tasties and Tediouses that are helping me get through the day.
Tasty
--This holiday greeting from the Weepies.
--Jeff Bridges. Every day should have some Jeff Bridges in it.
--SAD lights. Mine is from here, and worth every penny.
--Loving New Moon Magazine. (Haven't seen New Moon, so I can't judge.)
--Do yeux Teux Deux? It's free, and very easy to use. I feel more organized already.
--The Times Online list of 50 Great Design Blogs. Congratulations to everyone who made the list--especially Sweet Paul and The City Sage!
--Michael Symon's new cookbook.
--This post.
--In my next life, I'd like to be as brilliant as Alexander Stadler. I'd settle for having the brilliance contained in his left pinky toe.
Tedious
--This is not good. I don't want to be overrun by bugs!
--The boring selection of available Hanukkah songs. How about some musical Jews getting together and making some Hanukkah classics?
--The fact that our lot size is too small for us to have chickens!
**I recommend things because I like them, not because anyone sends them to me for free. Someone sent me a free book once, and I said that I liked it because I did. Sadly, that did not encourage anyone else to send me free stuff. I do like free stuff. Really I do. Now, you should know that if you happen to buy something from Amazon that you get to from a link on this blog, I may possibly receive an teensy percentage of the purchase price, or something like that. Nobody has ever done it, so I don't really know how it works.
Each year, I'm surprised by December,
Its frenzy I never remember,
With festivities galore,
And cranky folks at the store,
My nerves, they are burnt to an ember.
Makes me feel like throwing my hands in the air and screaming, as Frank Costanza would, "Serenity Now!"
