Cream of Tomato Soup

Cream, Soup, Tomatoes

Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics

  • 3 tablespoons good olive oil
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped red onions (2 onions)
  • 2 carrots, unpeeled and chopped
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
  • 4 pounds vine-ripened tomatoes, coarsely chopped (5 large)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1/4 cup packed chopped fresh basil leaves, plus julienned basil leaves, for garnish
  • 3 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt (use less – about 2 t.)
  • 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper (use less – about 1 t)
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream  (1/2 and 1/2 worked fine)
  • Croutons, for garnish

Directions
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and carrots and saute for about 10 minutes, until very tender. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, sugar, tomato paste, basil, chicken stock, salt, and pepper and stir well. Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 30 to 40 minutes, until the tomatoes are very tender.

Add the cream to the soup and process it through a food mill into a bowl, discarding only the dry pulp that’s left. Reheat the soup over low heat just until hot and serve with julienned basil leaves and/or croutons.

Orange – Almond Lace Cookies

Desserts, Orange

Bon Appetit – December 1999

Makes about 24

  • ¾ cup unsalted butter
  • 1 ½ cup finely chopped almonds
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 1 T all purpose flour
  • 2 t grated orange peel
  • ½ t salt
  • 1 large egg, beaten to blend

Preheat oven to 325.  Line large baking sheet with parchment paper.  Stir ¾ cup butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat until melted.  Remove from heat.  Stir in nuts, sugar, flour, orange peel and salt; then stir in egg.  Drop some batter by generous tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet, spacing 3 inches apart (cookies will spread).

Bake cookies until lacy and golden brown, about 15 minutes.  Gently slide parchment paper with cookies onto rack; cool completely.  Transfer cookies to paper towels.  Repeat with remaining batter, lining cooled baking sheet with clean parchment for each batch.

Mrs. Oliver’s Peanut Butter Cookies

Desserts

Virginia Oliver

makes 5 1/2 dozen

  • 1 cup shortening/margarine
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 2 ½ cups sifted flour
  • 1 ½ t. baking soda
  • ½ t. salt
  • 1 t. baking powder

Cream shortening, peanut butter and sugar together.  Add eggs.  Sift dry ingredients together and add to the first mixture.  Bake cookies on ungreased cookie sheets for 12 – 15 minutes in a preheated 315 oven.  PLEASE..make sure you don’t cookie them too long.

Lemon Squares

Desserts, Lemon

Betty Davis

  • 1 ½ sticks butter, softened and room temperature
  • 1 ½ cup sifted flour
  • ½ cup powdered sugar

Blend together and pat into 9 x 13 pan.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

  • 3 eggs
  • 1 ½ cup sugar
  • 3 T. flour
  • juice and rind of one lemon

Mix above ingredients together and pour over crust while warm.  Bake for 20 minutes more.  Dust with powdered sugar when finished.

Fritatta Primavera

Breakfast, Miscellaneous, Mushrooms, Tomatoes
  • cooking spray
  • 1 ½ cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 cup tomatoes, diced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 can (14 oz.) quartered artichoke hearts, drained
  • 1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen spinach, thawed
  • 3 whole eggs
  • 3 egg whites
  • ½ t. Italian seasoning
  • 1 cup (4 oz.) sharp cheddar cheese
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350º.  Coat a nonstick skillet with cooking spray.  Add mushrooms, onion, tomato and garlic;  sauté until tender. Beat eggs, egg whites and Italian seasoning lightly.  Combine vegetable mixture, artichokes, spinach, eggs and cheese; stir.  Pour mixture into an 8 x 8 x 2-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.  Bake 45 minutes or until firm.

Ice Box Pudding

Chocolate, Desserts

Jane Camplejohn

Going on its fifth generation as everybody’s favorite dessert.

  • 2 bars German sweet chocolate
  • 2 T. sugar
  • 3 T. water
  • 4 eggs, separated
  • large angel food cake
  • whipped cream or cool whip

Melt 2 bars of chocolate with sugar and water in double boiler.  When melted, take off burner and beat until cool.  Drop in 4 egg yolks, one at a time, and beat after each addition.  Beat egg whites until they are stiff and add to the mixture.  In a 9 x 13 pan layer bottom with half the cake, (cut into thin slices), pour half of the chocolate mixture over this.  Repeat layering, top with whipped cream and chill for at least several hours.

Brown Sugar Cookies

Desserts

Josephine Graham

  • 1 cup butter
  • 2 cups dark brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/3 T. cream
  • 2/3 t. salt
  • 1 t. baking powder
  • 2 1/3 cup cake flour, sifted
  • 2 1/3 cup all purpose flour, sifted
  • 2 2/3 t. vanilla

All at room temperature

1. Cream butter alone
2. Add sugar gradually over long time, let it dissolve
3. Add eggs 1 at a time
4. Mix dry ingredients together and add some of this to the mixture
5. Add 1/3 T. cream
6. Add more of the dry ingredients
7. Add 1/3 T more cream
Continue adding and add the vanilla towards the end.

Refrigerate.  Roll out on a floured and sugared surface and cut into shapes using cookie cutters.  Bake in a 350 preheated oven for 8 – 10 minutes.

French Bread

Miscellaneous

Evie Davis

4 loaves (Use long tubular baking pans)

In large bowl put:

  • 2 T. sugar
  • 1 t. salt
  • 2 ½ cups warm water
  • 1 package of dry yeast

Stir until all is dissolved.  Add 3 cups flour and stir with whisk until thoroughly mixed.  Add additional 3 cups of flour and mix in with hands.  At this time you have a total of 6 cups in a big, stickey, gooey blob.

Have 1 cup of lour ready, sprinkle some on counter top and dump dough out on counter.  Knead for at least ten minutes, adding flour when necessary.  (Don’t worry if you don’t use all the flour or have to use some more.  It will still work out well.)

Grease the mixing bowl with shortening, put the dough in the bowl, turn it over and cover with a damp dishtowel.  Let rise in a warm place until it is double in size, about 1 ½ hours.

Punch the dough down and form it into a nice, smooth ball.  Cut it into four equal parts.  Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into the shape of a long tongue, approximately the length of the bread pan.  Roll the dough jelly roll fashion very firmly and tightly.  Pinch the seam of the dough and place seamside down in the well-greased pan.  Slash the bread 4 or 5 times on the diagonal and brush with beaten egg white.  Place the pans back in a warm place and let the loaves raise until they FILL the pans, about an hour.  Preheat the oven to 450° and bake for 15 minutes.  Turn the oven down to 350° and continue baking for 25 to 30 minutes.

Remove the loaves from the oven and pop them out of the pans.  Lay the loaves across the pans so air can circulate around them while they are cooling.  This will make the crust crusty.

Wrap in foil to freeze.  When ready to serve, bake in 350° oven for 20 minutes, the frozen bread still in the foil.