The Tomato Soup Dilemma.....

Well.... There are always those moments when you are so sure you have it all figured out. Then something happens that throws a big ol wrench in your plans. That happened this last Friday when Bakerista, Burgermeister and I had planned our meal. Waffle Iron grilled cheese (grilled ham for Burgermeister) and tomato soup. It had been a busy week, so we were going to be lazy and buy the tomato soup. Looking back, how dare I? But as I said, I was feeling lazy. Anyhow, somehow the soup was forgotten in the grocery shopping and all the cars were in use. It was lunch time. What do we do? We make it of course. Oh wait. There are no tomatoes. Canned or fresh. None to be found. I was sure that there was no way to make tomato soup without tomatoes. But, I was wrong. I put on my creative cooking cap, (hair in a messy bun) and figured it out. There may have been no tomatoes. But there were cans of plain tomato sauce. There was onion, garlic, cream and chicken stock. Miracles do happen. So I chopped half an onion, cooked it in olive oils with two cloves of garlic. Then I dumped three cans of plain tomato sauce in the pot. Then I added chicken stock. Here is the trouble. I don't know how much. Just until it looked right. Then I brought it all to a boil. Salt and pepper where added as well as 1/3 cup of one part heavy whipping cream one part half n half. I poured that in and let it simmer for about 30 minutes. Then I fried five strips of bacon, chopped them up and tossed them in there with about half the grease. Normally I would have pureed it in the blender, but Bakerista loves onions so much, I didn't dare rob her of the chunky onion goodness. I was very nervous about how this soup would turn out. I tasted it. "Little jig of happiness" SOOOOOO GOOD!!! Consider me very happy. My students liked it, Fusty liked it. Moms liked it. Overall a potential wrench induced disaster turned into a success. I was reminded of something that my favorite author G.K Chesterton said. "An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered." That statement has shaped the way I look at the many "wrenches" that have been thrown into my plans over the years. That is something I daily try to instill in Bakerista and Burgermeister. So instead of a life full of frustration and discontentment, they will have one full of laughter and gratitude. I am currently taking a break from studying Shakespeare's Henry V play to write this blog post. Burgermeister is answering review questions for Logic and Bakerista is answering questions about the proper composition of English sonnets. Just a usual morning for us. I am grateful for the routine, yet when the wrenches get thrown by a kind and winsome Creator, I hope my response is to burst out in laughing gratitude rather than irritation. This is not really a recipe post. It 's more of a story post! Next post I am going to share the story of the infamous "Valentine's Day Party". And my Chesterton quote was certainly put to the test that day. That post will have many recipes attached to it. Trust me. So many.

The Italian Stallion...

No. This post has nothing to do with Rocky Balboa or horses from Italy for those of you who sadly have no idea who this 80's film hero is. It does however have a great deal to do with Italian food. I love Italian food. If there is one place in the world I want to go it is Italy. This coming from a girl that has never been to Hawaii. I love all things Italian. Thankfully so do Bakerista and Burgermeister. Several months ago, the father and mother of Bakerista and Burgermeister as well as their three younger, rather precocious brothers, handed me the keys to their house and monster car and drove away for the weekend. I organized archery competitions in the back yard and used ice cream bars to bribe the younger boys into the cleanest rooms they have ever had. Because things were going so smoothly I decided to tackle homemade pasta sauce, homemade foccachia, scratch made noodles and homemade nutella cheesecake moose cups. Burgermeister was gone, so only Bakerista was there to help me. It was a challenge but in the end a major success as the third oldest informed me that it was a "masterpiece in my mouth." Fist in the air in victory, for he is hard to please in the food department. So when we decided to do Italian this past Friday, Bakerista requested (demanded) that meal again. So while my students sat under the weight of Algebra and Chemistry tests I was in the kitchen. The youngest of these five children decided to don an apron and chef hat and help me. His name is Fusty. Well, that isn't his real name, but that is what we call him. No clue why. Fusty was in a very helpful mood and before you knew it the seven year old was standing on a stool blanching tomatoes. It took over four hours and nine rounds of dishes, two of which Fusty did on his own, before the meal was done. But as the four of us sat down to a bowl of scratch made pasta and marinara with foccachia and gruyere cheese dip it was more than worth it. So, here is the process that Fusty and I went through to produce this Italian delight of a meal.

Pasta Sauce:

I don't really have a recipe for you. I totally made it up. I tend to do that. It went like this. Blanch 5 tomatoes. Peel the skin off. Mash them by hand in a bowl. Cut up an onion and four cloves of garlic. Toss some olive oil in a pot and heat it up. Throw the onion and garlic in the hot olive oil. Cook em for a few minutes. Then toss some dry basil, oregano and crushed red pepper flakes in there. Cook it until the onions are done and the garlic is a bit crispy. Breathe in the smell like Fusty and I did. Now toss in your tomatoes. Look in the pot like I did and realize you need more. Run over to the cupboard, grab a can of tomatoes and toss it in there. Bring it to a boil. Cook it on low with a lid on there for a long time. Like an hour. Then put it in a blender. Blend it. Realize it needs some salt and pepper and two dollops of tomato paste. Consult the seven year old and throw in a teaspoon of sugar. Perfect. Leave it on low till you are ready to eat it.

Pasta Noodles:

2 eggs to every cup of flour. 3 cups of flour in a bowl. Make a well. Crack in six room temperature eggs. Using one clean hand begin to slowly mix. Fusty dusts the board with flour. Pull mixed and sticky dough out of the bowl and onto the floured surface. Add some flour and begin to kneed. Roll it. Smack it. Punch it. Kick it of you have clean feet and are that flexible. This takes about ten minutes. No joke. It needs to be super smooth and elasticky. Roll it out until it's super thin. If you have a pasta cutter Lord bless you. I didn't. I cut them by hand with a knife while Fusty and Bakerista laid them out on a plate. Boil a big pot of SALT water. Boild em for two minutes. Strain and toss with that marinara. Hear the angels begin to sing in the back ground. And by angels I mean Bakerista, Burgermeister and Fusty.

Foccachia:

Take a cup of water. Pour it into a kitchen aid with a dough hook attachment. Sift two cups of flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1 teaspoon of salt together. Toss it gently into that water. Turn on the machine and let it kneed. Once its combine drop it onto a floured surface and kneed it until it is a smooth ball. Oil a baking sheet. Press the dough out until its flat and thin but has no holes. Baste it with olive oil and top it with dry herbs of your choice. Bake it in the oven at 425 for 20 minutes. Cut and serve.

Gruyere Cheese Dip:

I did follow a recipe for this one. Thanks to http://www.food.com/recipe/gruyere-cheese-sauce-187029

for the amazing recipe.

And that was all she wrote. Many thanks to Fusty and my dear students for yet another amazing Friday.

The Panini Press.....

The time line of these posts is going to be a bit helter skelter. I am starting this a bit late in the game and if I were to follow a consistent time line you would find yourself in a deluge of pumpkin recipes in the midst of March. So, I am going to give you all a recipe that Burgermeister, Bakerista and I made just this past Friday. Since the new year, with the exception of an absurdly complex Valentine's Day party (which I will write about one of these days), we have transitioned from sweets to lunches. This has exacerbated the "cheese" drama considerably. In Bakerista's opinion, a lunch without cheese is worthless. Burgermeister, who could also be called "Sensei" holds an opinion that a meal should consist of either burgers and "home fries" or white rice and "Soy Sawccccce". Yes, that is how he says it and I now say it that way too. The battle lines were drawn and me and my good intentions were stranded in the middle. This last week however, was a sweet reprieve that turned into one of our most delightful meals yet. The Prosciutto, Gruyere, Caramelized Onion Panini.  Burgermeister took his without the Gruyere and everyone was happy. In truth, I was a bit proud of myself for how good these sandwiches turned out. They were AMAZING! Sourdough bread brushed with hot olive oil and fresh garlic with layers of meat, cheese and onion in a panini press, then served with a side of hot tomato soup. "VICTORY!" The rain was pouring down in buckets, but that did not dampen the mood inside. I paired my iPhone with the bluetooth speaker and we were in business. Bakerista straddles being a "Swifty" and a "Directioner" and while I don't detest either somedays I need a break. Burgermeister on the other hand has driven me completely insane with Pharrel's "Happy". There is no happiness when that song comes on now. So to give them a bit of "culture" I allowed the music to shuffle over to Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel." I was thoroughly enjoying myself as I assembled our sandwiches while Bakerista caramelized the onions. Burgermeister was having fun too. In Bakerista's mind, I think it was too much fun. Soon he was dancing around the kitchen doing scarily good Michael Jackson dance impressions while singing at the top of his lungs. I was doubled over in laughter while his sister just looked scandalized. Sidling up to her, he paused, waited for Michael's cue and exploded with "Come on girl!" and started to try and dance with her. This merely resulted in him getting punched in the arm and front kicked. He continued to try undeterred until she chased him from the room. I laughed all through this, then changed the song and things calmed down. Once the panini's were done we all sat down to enjoy our lunch. Their responses were over the moon. Even Burgermeister loved them. Overjoyed, I pulled out my fat copy of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories and read them aloud. It was the perfect rainy day in my opinion. The recipe is below. The idea came from pinterest but the resulting recipe came from myself and Bakerista.

Yields 3 Paninis

6 slices of sourdough bread
1/2 cup of olive oil
2 gloves of garlic
1 sweet onion sliced
6 slices of gruyere cheese
9 slices of prosciutto
a panini press

Put the olive oil and garlic in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30-45 seconds so the garlic flavors will open up in the olive oil.

Melt butter or oil in a pan and cook onions until dark brown and soft.

Layer 3 slices of meat, and 2 slices of cheese on the bottom slice of your bread. Place onions on top then add the top piece of bread. Brush the top piece of bread with the olive oil and garlic. Place the sandwich top down in panini press. Brush bottom bread with olive oil and garlic. Close panini press and cook as long as Desired. Remove and slice in half. Enjoy!