Fresh Tomato Soup

This is a soup I thought you all might enjoy. It’s the freshest tasting tomato soup I’ve ever eaten. You don’t expect a tomato soup to be so chunky, but you’ll find it a pleasant change from the smooth, creamy variety.

1 cup (2 stalks) chopped celery
1 small onion, chopped
1 carrot, grated
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/4 cup butter
4 1/2 cups chicken broth, divided
1 quart fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
4 tsp. honey
1/4 cup flour

Saute celery,, onion, carrot and green pepper in butter in large heavy pan.  add 4 cups broth, tomatoes, curry powder, salt and pepper and honey; heat to boiling.  Reduce heat; simmer for 20 minutes.  Blend flour with remaining 1/2 cup broth.  Stir gradually into soup.  cook until slightly thickened, stirring frequently.  Serve hot.
Yield: 2 quarts.

Tomatoes, tomatoes

And more tomatoes…

That’s just the start of it!  Everyday I’ve been taking care of one bowl full, then going out to the garden to pick another bowlful.   They are doing so well this year, it must be all that good manure I put on the garden.  Tomatoes are so versatile, though huh?  I’ve canned several quarts and a few pints, made 2 batches of ketchup and now I’ll start making tomato sauce.  I don’t season it to make spaghetti sauce, I prefer to do that when I’m cooking.  I find having plain sauce is something I can use in more recipes.  We’ve been eating tons fresh too!

A few years ago I picked up a tomato press.  Is that what they are called?  You can use it for anything.  It’s great for making apple sauce, especially here where the apples that grow are quite small and tedious to peel and core.

No end in sight yet but I know we’ll be enjoying them all winter long!

What do you like to make with tomatoes?

Tuesday Twister

I still have a few tomatoes ripening.  We’re enjoying them in a variety of ways.  This past weekend was Thanksgiving, so turkey was on the menu and lots of fresh vegetables from the garden. Here’s a few real foods that have been twisting in my kitchen this past week.

I love tomatoes

Cultured salsa

Marinated tomatoes

Roast turkey

Double yolker

Cultured Salsa - I found the recipe over at The Nourishing Gourmet.  I’m waiting for it to ferment.  How long does it take?  It tastes pretty good already.

Marinated Tomatoes - I love tomatoes!  Found this heart-shaped tomato in my garden. 

Thanksgiving dinner - Yesterday was Thanksgiving, we had a big turkey dinner on Sunday with the family.  This is our own homegrown turkey.  It didn’t present well mostly because I forgot to tie the legs together and I had to cover it with tinfoil because the lid wouldn’t fit over the giant bird.  It dressed out at 24lbs!  It still tasted wonderful!  The gravy was to die for!  Fresh, free ranged turkey beats store bought.  We also had potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, and tomatoes from the garden.

Deviled eggs – I thought it was neat to cut this egg and find a double yolk.  So I had to show you.   Double yolks can be quite common in eggs from hens just beginning to lay.

This post is part of Tuesday Twister hosted by GNOWFGLINS.com

Bread and tomatoes

Whole wheat bread and buns

Sourdough starter

Gazpacho?

Shrimp pasta sauce

Bread: This week I made bread and buns.  I used to make it all the time a few years ago when I was involved in the local Farmers Market. I used the same recipe but I tried soaking the flour a day ahead but I could only soak about 1/3 of the recipe as the rest I had to work in dry. Not sure how I’m going to overcome that problem. 

Sourdough Starter: I also tried making sourdough starter this week.  I think it might have worked?!  It was a really warm windy day and I set it outside. By the end of the day, it was all bubbly.   I had to put it in a larger jar.

Gazpacho: I used a recipe at cheeseslave.com but modified it a bit to suit what I had.  When we went to Spain we had gazpacho and I loved it!  My attempt at it didn’t quite taste like what we had there but it was still good.  I tried to make it smooth but turned out more like a smoothy than a soup.  Still tasted good.  It’s a good food to put in hubby’s lunchbox.

Shrimp Pasta Sauce:  This is a dish I created based on pasta dishes we would have in Italy.  Saute chopped onion in coconut oil, add sliced mushrooms, lots of minced garlic and lots basil.  When the mushrooms are just about done, add chopped tomatoes and shrimp.  Heat and serve over whole wheat pasta.  You can substitute the shrimp for any seafood.

Chokecherry Wine: Not pictured but I started a batch of chokecherry wine.  Not sure how “real” this is as I used sugar, but I did use an old fashioned recipe, the way grandpa would have made it.  Doesn’t the fermentation eat up the sugar?

This post is part of Tuesday Twister blog carnival hosted by GNOWFGLINS.com