Happy October, Yummies!  Happy Fall!  and Happy Soup Season!

This week in class we cooked a soup and sandwich (Croque Monsieurs a la Yummy which we will share next week) combo, and we chose to celebrate the very end of tomato season with some local heirloom tomatoes cooked into a classic favorite, Cream of Tomato soup.

Okay, you have had cream of tomato and you may think “Annggghh!” to trying another version.  This is not something you should be iffy about!  As one of the babysitters who brought her mini-chefs to class this week commented as she scraped the soup into her mouth, “I expected it to be good, but this is better than anything that I have had!”

My friends, I attribute that swoony hyperbole to the brandy that is added into this.  It’s a little trick my mom taught me, and oh my does it add a whole other layer of flavor to the soup.  Do not worry.  We’re not trying to booze up your mini-chef.  All the alcohol gets fully boiled off and leaves behind the most heavenly, rich, wonderful flavor.  That, along with the technique of roasting the tomatoes with some brown sugar to enhance their sweetness and cut through the acid, makes the best of the classic.  If you like things spicy, try my Curried Cream of Tomato, which is made in a similar way but has some Indian spices added into the mix.  I advise adding the brandy into that recipe, too.  I will have to go back and update the recipe to include even more deliciousness.

Note: For this recipe, we used fresh tomatoes, half heirloom and half Roma.  You can make this with canned tomatoes, a better choice than “fresh” after tomato season has passed, but try and find jarred whole tomatoes or tomatoes in a carton since the word on the street is that tomatoes canned in a traditional metal can leach all kinds of bad things into what you are eating.  We love the brand Bionature, but there are several very good brands that either come in glass jars or in cartons.

Dreamy Cream of Tomato Soup

• 8 c. tomato wedges, seeded (more or less)
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 t. black pepper
• 4 c. strained tomatoes or tomato juice
• 2 T. tomato paste
• 2 red onions, shredded in the food processor or finely chopped
• 1 t. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t. ground nutmeg
• small pinch of ground cloves
• 3 T. butter
• 1 T. olive oil
• 2 c. veggie stock (if using store bought, buy Un-chicken Stock by Pacific Foods)
• 1/3 c. brandy
• 1 c. cream

1. Big Person: Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Prepare two rimmed baking sheets with parchment or foil.
3. Because your mini-chef will not accompany you to the stove, have him or her help you measure out all the ingredients, stir the spice blend together, and generally get you all set up to make the soup.
4. Have your mini-chef arrange the tomato wedges in a single layer on each sheet and sprinkle with the brown sugar and some black pepper.
5. Place the tomatoes into the oven and roast about 35-45 minutes, till the liquid has evaporated from the sheets.
6. In a very large heavy bottomed pot, heat the butter and olive oil over medium-low heat.
7. Add the onion and the spices and cook, stirring every now and then, about 10 minutes or until the onion is very soft and translucent.
8. Add the tomatoes, the tomato paste, the stock, and the strained tomatoes, and the brandy.  Turn the heat up and bring to a boil for about 5 minutes so that all the alcohol evaporates.
9. Turn the heat down to a low simmer, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes.
10. Uncover and stir in the cream.
11. Puree the soup, preferably with an immersion blender, till completely smooth.  Season with salt and more black pepper, and cayenne if you like your soup spicy.  (With kids, it might be best to serve the cayenne on the side so that they can choose to have it spicy or note according to their own taste.)
12. Serve warm.  Enjoy!