The Baking Beauties » soup

Canned Tomato Soup

Jeanine Friesen — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 12:18:29 +0000

Welcome to canning season in this Baking Beauty’s kitchen. I don’t can much, but when those tomatoes turn red, I’ve got my work cut out for me. Besides making salsa, I also make this Canned Tomato Soup.

This recipe comes from my Mother-in-law, I have no idea how long she has made this soup, but when I started dating her son 16 years ago, I know she was making the soup then already. I always found the soup to be too warm though. Like, beads of sweat on your forehead warm. But, that must have been a year for strong onions, strong peppers, and a few more dashes of cayenne, because I don’t find it to be too spicy anymore.

Ever since going gluten-free, I’ve been sure to make enough of this tomato soup to fill my pantry shelves, sometimes even making enough for a few years (you never know when you will have a bad tomato crop, so better to plan ahead). This soup has become a staple in our house, and I hope your family will enjoy it as well. You are going to want to print it out, put it in a plastic sleeve to keep it free of splatters, and bring it out whenever the tomatoes start ripening.

Canned Tomato Soup

Author: Jeanine Friesen

Recipe type: Canning

Yields 8-10 pints.

Ingredients

1 1/2 ice cream pails (24 cups) tomatoes, cut into chunks (I prefer to use Roma tomatoes because they are less juicy than other tomatoes
2 cups chopped celery
4 cups onions, roughly chopped
2 large green peppers, chopped (about 2 cups)
1 small bunch of parsley, roughly chopped (about 3/4 – 1 cup chopped)
1-2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp whole cloves

Instructions

Put chopped tomato into a large stock pot. Mash them with a potato masher to extract some of the juice. Begin to heat the tomatoes on a low-medium temperature while you prepare the rest of the vegetables.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the tomatoes, and bring the mixture up to a boil over medium – medium/high heat, stirring often, being careful not to burn.
Once ingredients have come to a boil, reduce heat and allow the vegetables to slowly boil for another 2 hours, or until the vegetables are all very soft.
Remove bay leaf (if you can find it, if not, don’t worry about it). Use an immersion blender to puree the mixture until smooth. Note: If you do not have an immersion blender, you will have to wait for your soup to cool before using your regular blender. Hot liquids in a blender can be very dangerous.
Carefully scoop some of the soup mixture into a Chinois or rotary food press fitted over a large bowl. Press the juice through the press, and discard the peel and seeds. Repeat until you have pressed/strained all the soup. Reserve 2 cups of the soup mixture. Return the rest of the soup to the stock pot
In a medium bowl, whisk together:
/4 cup cornstarch
/4 cup granulated sugar
/4 cup salt
/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
Add 1/2 cup melted margarine, and the reserved soup.
Slowly bring the strained soup back up to a gentle boil. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture, and continue to boil until the soup has thickened.
While the soup mixture is reheating, place your canning jars in a large canner with enough water to cover them by at least 1-inch, and bring to a boil. Boil for at least 10 minutes. Also place your lids in a pan of simmering water, and simmer for 10 minutes. This ensures that the jars and lids are sterilized before adding the soup to them.
Lift the sterilized jars from the boiling water bath and empty them. Half should be emptied into the sink, and half should be emptied back into the pot to keep the boiling water level up.
Fill each jar with tomato soup, to within 1 cm of the rim. Wipe the rim clean with a paper towel dipped in boiling water, and place the lids and rings on top of the jar. Return the jars to the boiling water bath and boil them for 20 minutes, well covered in water.
Remove from waterbath and set jars on a dry towel, free from drafts. Allow to cool completely before checking that each jar has sealed (the lid is pulled down slightly, and no longer “pops” when you push on it). Label and store in cool, dark place. It is best to used home canned goods within 12 months.

Notes

To serve the soup: Empty the contents of the jar plus an equal amount of milk into to a saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until soup is hot & steaming. We like to serve ours with tortilla chips, shredded cheese & sour cream for a quick, simple tortilla soup.

Baked Potato Soup

Jeanine Friesen — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 12:32:19 +0000

The evenings are starting to get cooler here already, and we all know that autumn is just around the corner for us. We’re enjoying the hot days that we get now, knowing that in a few short weeks, we will have forgotten all about the heat and humidity that we had this summer. On rainy days, it is usually quite cool already. And on those cool days, when you can open the windows & let the cool air blow through the house, there is just something comforting about being able sit around the table with your family and enjoy a nice, hot bowl of soup.

This Baked Potato Soup is pretty flexible, you can include the ingredients you like, and omit those you don’t care for, much like when you top your baked potato. If onions aren’t your thing, omit them. And if you don’t like bacon, don’t add it. It is totally up to you to make this recipe to suit your family’s tastes.

Baked Potato Soup

Author: Jeanine Friesen

Recipe type: Soup

This Baked Potato Soup is pretty flexible, you can include the ingredients you like, and omit those you don’t care for, much like when you top your baked potato.

Ingredients

3 bacon strips, diced (optional) – If omitting bacon: 2 Tbsp oil and 1 Tbsp butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 cups gluten-free chicken broth
2 large baked potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 cup half-and-half cream
1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce
shredded cheddar cheese
minced fresh chives

Instructions

In a large saucepan, cook the bacon until crisp. Drain, reserving 1 Tbsp of the drippings. Set bacon aside. (If not using bacon, add oil and butter to the pan in place of the drippings)
Saute onion and garlic in the drippings (or oil and butter) until tender. Stir in cornstarch, salt, basil and pepper; mix well. Gradually add the chicken broth. Bring to a boil and boil and stir for 2 minutes.
Add the potatoes, cream, and hot pepper sauce. Heat through but do not boil.
Garnish your soup with the bacon, cheddar cheese and chives.

Notes

You can either use leftover potatoes, or you can bake your potatoes in the microwave. To do that, simply scrub your potatoes with a brush to clean them, pat them dry, poke them numerous times with a fork or knife. Place across from each other in the microwave, and microwave in 2 minute intervals, flipping each time, until a knife easily penetrates the middle of the potato.

Creamy Gazpacho

Jeanine Friesen — Mon, 30 May 2011 12:12:00 +0000

This is another entry for the Real Women of Philadelphia contest. This was submitted during appetizer week. We really, really liked this Creamy Gazpacho, and I will definitely be making it again. Super simple to throw together, not to mention healthy, AND delicious! You can even have some fun serving it, you can serve it in a bowl, or even in small glasses.

Creamy Gazpacho

Author: Jeanine Friesen

Recipe type: Appetizer

Serves: 12

This bright, refreshing soup is perfect for those hot summer days. It comes together in a matter of minutes, since it uses canned tomatoes, and the cream cheese adds a whole new dimension to the soup. It makes it taste more like a cooked soup, without all the work.

Ingredients

19 ounces crushed tomatoes
4 ounces Garden Vegetable cream cheese
19 ounces small diced tomatoes with olive oil and garlic
3/4 small green pepper, roughly chopped
1/2 cup onion, diced
1 long cucumber, seeds removed and diced
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped (plus 1 Tbsp for garnish)
1 teaspoon paprika
1 pinch of cayenne pepper
2 cups of tomato juice
2 tablespoons olive oil (to drizzle on top before serving)

Instructions

In a food processor or blender, combine crushed tomatoes and Garden Vegetable cream cheese until smooth. Pour into large bowl, and set aside.
Add diced tomatoes with olive oil and garlic, green pepper and onion to food processor. Process until a desired consistency. Pour into bowl with crushed tomatoes and cream cheese.
Pulse the cucumber in the food processor until chopped fairly fine, but not mushy. Add to tomato mixture.
Add vinegar, parsley, cilantro, paprika and cayenne pepper to the tomato mixture. Stir to combine.
Stir tomato juice into the vegetable mixture, you can add up to 3 cups, if you want a thinner soup. Season with salt and pepper.
Chill for 30-45 minutes. Serve chilled. Before serving, drizzle the top with olive oil, and garnish with fresh chopped parsley or cilantro.

Creamy Asparagus Soup

Jeanine Friesen — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:37:00 +0000

I know this Creamy Asparagus Soup may not look like much, but it is so delicious. The adults loved it, the kids loved it, what more do you need to make a great soup? This soup did have the asparagus tips in there, but you know what? They sink. So, although they were there, they just didn’t want to be photographed. With spring being the time for asparagus, I hope you will give this soup a try, I think you’ll really enjoy it.

Creamy Asparagus Soup

Author: Jeanine Friesen

Ingredients

1 lb green asparagus
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups gluten-free chicken broth
1/2 cup light sour cream or heavy cream
1/4 taspoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
1 tablespoon butter

Instructions

Cut tips from asparagus, reserve for garnish.
Cut remaining asparagus into 1/2 inch pieces.
Cook onion in olive oil in a 4-quart heavy bottom pot over medium-low heat, stirring, until softened. Add asparagus pieces and salt and pepper to taste, then cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Add chicken broth and simmer, covered, until asparagus is very tender, about 15-20 minutes.
While soup simmers, cook reserved asparagus tips in boiling salted water until just tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain.
Puree soup in batches in a blender (or use an immersion blender, my choice) until smooth. Return soup to pan.
Stir in sour cream. Season with salt & pepper. Bring soup to a boil and whisk in butter.
Add lemon juice and garnish with asparagus tips.

Russian Mushroom and Potato Soup

Jeanine Friesen — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:08:00 +0000

This continues with my confession that I gave last time. I still have a problem with mushroom texture. Yep, I’m not a fan of it. Kinda rubbery. I ate this soup, and enjoyed it too, but I let my kids pick the mushrooms out.

First off, the mushrooms that I used were an “Exotic Medley” of Shitake, Oyster, Portabella & Button. There is a mushroom grower nearby, Loveday Mushroom Farms. So, finding nice fresh mushrooms here isn’t a problem.

Ingredients:

5 Tbsp olive oil (or butter)
2 leeks, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
6 cups low sodium gluten-free chicken broth
2 tsp dried dill weed
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
2 lbs potatoes, peeled & diced
1 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 cup sour cream (or half and half)
fresh dill weed, for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Over medium heat, heat 3 Tbsp oil in dutch oven or large pot. Add leeks and carrots. Cook for 5 minutes. Pour in broth. Season with dill, salt, pepper and bay leaf. Mix in potatoes, cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender but firm. Remove and discard the bay leaf.
Using a stick blender or potato masher, blend until about half of the mixture is pureed. This will give you a nice creamy soup without having to thicken it later.
Heat the remaining 2 Tbsp oil in a skillet over medium heat, and saute the mushrooms for 5 minutes, until lightly browned. Stir into the soup.
Just before serving, stir in the sour cream (or half & half, if you prefer). Garnish each bowl with fresh dill weed, if desired.

Source: Based on a recipe from AllRecipes

I nearly forgot to add, I am adding this recipe to my friend Colleen’s Weekly Recipe Swap! Be sure to swing by there every Friday for a great variety of recipes for every occasion and meal. Or, if you have your own recipes, be sure to post them on a Friday and put the link over at Colleen’s blog, the more the merrier!