Second Time's the Charm

I'm not a huge fan of tomato soup, especially the plain Campbell's type tomato soup. One of my favorite types of soup, however, is the creamy tomato basil soup at the French Bakery and Restaurant La Madeline. Back in September, I tried a recipe for tomato basil soup that was supposed to be a copycat of their soup. It was good, but this recipe from Cooking Light is really good. My husband said it is just as good as La Madeline's :)


I adapted the recipe a bit, using canned tomatoes to save time, a little sugar to cut back on the acidity of the tomatoes, and extra cream cheese to make the soup creamier. I think the secret to this soup is the cream cheese! I will definitely be making this again :)

Tomato Basil Soup
from Cooking Light

4 cups chopped seeded peeled tomato (about 4 large)
4 cups low-sodium tomato juice (In place of the first 2 ingredients, I used one 28 oz can of whole tomatoes, chopped, along with all the tomato juice from the can; plus one 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes)
1/3 cup fresh basil leaves
1 cup 1% low-fat milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup (4 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened (I used a full 8 oz block)
Basil leaves, thinly sliced (optional)
8 (1/2-inch-thick) slices diagonally cut French bread baguette

Bring tomato and juice to a boil in a large saucepan. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 30 minutes.

Place tomato mixture and basil in a blender or food processor; process until smooth (I used an immersion blender - great time saver). Return pureed mixture to pan; stir in milk, salt, and pepper (I also added sugar). Add cream cheese, stirring well with a whisk, and cook over medium heat until thick (about 5 minutes). Ladle soup into individual bowls; garnish with sliced basil, if desired. Serve with bread.

NOTE: Refrigerate remaining soup in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

8 servings (serving size: 1 cup soup and 1 bread slice)

My Favorite Soup

It didn't take me very long to discover the French Bakery and Restaurant La Madeleine in Dallas. They have, in my opinion, the best Chicken Caesar Salad out there. The chicken is so tender and flavorful, unlike the typical bland chicken you find on most Caesar salads. They also happen to make my very favorite soup -- Tomato Basil. I was addicted to this soup from the very first time I tried it. I'll eat it any time of year, even during the summer.

I was raving about this soup at work when a co-worker told me that she had a copy of the recipe. I was instantly intrigued and asked her if she wouldn't mind sharing it with me. Well, before she had a chance to, my friend Aria saw me mention the soup in my Baked Potato and Broccoli Soup post and gave me the link to the recipe, on RecipeZaar. Thanks Aria!

The recipe itself is fairly simple, but is even easier because of the wonderful immersion blender I have. When we got married, we registered for the Braun Multiquick Professional Hand Blender (model MR5550MBC-HC) at Bed Bath & Beyond; at the time, it just seemed like a cool gadget to add to my kitchen. I never realized how useful it would really be until after we received it. I use it all the time now; in fact, it's probably the wedding gift that we have gotten the most use out of :) It has multiple attachments, including a wire whisk and blades for blending and food processing. Unfortunately, I don't think this exact set is available anymore, but there are definitely similar ones you can purchase that are made by Braun.

I typically substitute fat free evaporated milk for heavy cream in most recipes, but had some leftover cream I needed to use so I did not do that this time. Next time I will try the substitution and see if there is a significant difference in taste. This soup doesn't come out quite the same as what you get at La Madeleine -- I think theirs is a little thicker and must have a lot more cream in it -- but it's still a great creamy tomato basil soup recipe regardless and I will be making it again soon :)

Tomato Basil Soup
from RecipeZaar

4 cups tomatoes, cored, peeled, and chopped (approx. 8-10) or canned whole tomatoes, crushed
4 cups tomato juice (or part vegetable or part chicken stock)
12-14 fresh basil leaves, washed
1 cup heavy cream (I used 1-1/4 cup)
1/4 lb (1 stick) sweet unsalted butter
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
salt, to taste
lemon juice, optional (I did not use this)

Combine tomatoes, juice/and or stock in saucepan. Simmer 30 minutes.

Puree, along with the basil leaves, in small batches, in blender, food processor (or better yet, one of those handy hand-held food blenders, right in the cooking pan). Return to saucepan and add cream and butter, while stirring, over low heat. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with basil leaves and serve with your favorite bread.

Baked Potato and Broccoli Soup

After I saw this recipe in Annie's Eats, I knew I had to try it because broccoli cheddar soup is one of my favorites (second to Tomato Basil). My experience creating this soup reminds me of a similar experience I recently had while visiting my sister-in-law in Washington DC. We always enjoying cooking/baking together, and during this particular visit, we decided to make strawberry ice cream. While we were making it, she joked about how horrible she is in the kitchen and how she always feels like she is messing up recipes. So to make the ice cream, she started reading off the directions for the recipe while I threw everything together in the kitchen. Well, it wasn't until after I had mixed all the sugar with the strawberries to macerate them, that she read off the part about dividing the sugar into two parts. So, in an attempt to salvage the recipe, we tried to pull out as much of the sugar out of the strawberry/sugar mixture as possible (we weren't very successful). Lesson learned: even if you're in a rush, always read the full recipe before starting. So when I made this soup I followed the instructions exactly. I started out and mixed the broth and flour until smooth. I proceeded to combine the remaining ingredients, as instructed, until I got to the line that read: "Gradually stir in flour mixture." OOPS! It was at that moment that I realized I was supposed to set the broth/flour mixture aside after creating it, and I laughed at myself and instantly thought about this previous ice cream mishap :) Luckily, I don't think it made much of a difference. However, I have modified the recipe instructions below to reflect this, to help other cooks avoid the same mistake ;) And although we keep our fridge/pantry fairly well stocked, I did not realize we were out of milk until I got to that step of the recipe (we always have milk!)... so I substituted 1 cup of half and half for the milk. The only other thing I did differently was with regard to the cheese. For convenience, we buy pre-shredded cheese. I'm not sure how many cups of shredded cheese can be produced from an 8 oz block of cheese, so I just continued adding shredded cheese until the soup seemed cheesy enough for me :) I did not have any problems melting the cheese, either, despite the note at the bottom of the recipe. This soup would be wonderful in a bread bowl, or served with some sourdough on the side.

Baked Potato and Broccoli Soup
from CookingLight

Ingredients:
¼ cup all-purpose flour
29 oz (2 x 14.5 oz cans) low sodium, fat-free chicken broth, divided
3 cups peeled, cubed potatoes (about 1.25 lbs)
2 cups broccoli florets, chopped (I used frozen for convenience)
1 small onion, chopped
1 ¼ cups 2% reduced fat milk (I used 1 cup half and half since I was out of milk; another time I used skim and it was still good)
1 (8 oz) block 2% reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (I used 2-1/2 cups shredded)
2% reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, shredded, for topping (optional)
Chopped green onions for topping (optional)
Fully cooked bacon pieces for topping (optional)
Freshly ground pepper (to taste)
Salt (to taste)

*Note: Freshly shredded cheese is recommended (versus pre-shredded) for additional creaminess and even melting.

Directions:
Whisk together flour and 1/3 cup chicken broth until smooth. Set aside for later use.

Combine remaining chicken broth, potatoes, broccoli and onion in a Dutch oven (or large saucepan). Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Gradually stir in flour mixture. Cook, stirring often, 5 minutes.


Stir in milk & 8 oz. of freshly shredded cheese. Cook mixture over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until cheese melts. Add salt and pepper to taste (I found it to be too bland otherwise). Top each serving of soup with shredded cheese, green onions, and bacon pieces as desired.