Preserving the Garden

  It has been a busy week in my garden and kitchen. The weather made my work seem more like fun then work. Everyday this week there has been something that needed picking and preserving. The biggest reaping was once again tomatoes. I had another large batch and no real idea of what to do with them. I don't need more sauce for sure I have 12 quarts all ready frozen.

 So what to do with the tomatoes was the question of the day.

  I turned to the computer for the answer. I found my answer on a site called Food Foto Gallery. If you like food porn you need to visit this site it will have you drooling on your screen. Anyway I found a photo of tomato soup that looked real good so I clicked on it. The recipe looked easy enough and was made for freezing so I gave it a try.

 I cored and chopped the tomatoes and opted not to peel. 

I followed the recipe as written and well I won't follow it again. The soup is good but not the tomato soup I was looking for. The texture is off, it isn't smooth and creamy and the flavor isn't tomato enough the garlic and onion over power the taste completely. 

 Tomato soup is one of my favorites I love love a good bowl of tomato soup so I will try this again. As soon as another batch of tomatoes ripen. I am hoping cutting back a lot on the onion and garlic will help with the flavor. I also plan on using my food mill instead of the immersion blender that was recommended. I am hoping the mill will make the texture smoother and creamier. 

 While it is not the tomato soup I was hoping for the soup is still really good. It is a garlicy Italian style tomato soup that is only made better with the addition of a grilled cheese sandwich. 

 The soup won't go to waste for sure. I froze 3 quarts and enjoyed a bowl for lunch.

 This is how the recipe was originally written.

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 6 cups chopped yellow onions (About 2 very large onions)
• 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 12 cups chopped tomatoes 
• 6 cups chicken broth 
• Salt and Pepper, to taste

1. In a large  heavy pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and saute for 5-7 minutes, or until they've started to soften. Add the balsamic, sugar, and garlic and saute for an additional 2-3 minutes, or until garlic is fragrant.
2. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and bring the mixture to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in the chicken broth and bring the mixture back to a simmer. Simmer another five minutes then taste. Season with salt and pepper as desired.
4. Use an immersion blender to blend the soup into the consistency of your choosing. You can also blend this in your blender.
5. To freeze, allow the mixture to cool then ladle it into freezer safe containers or quart size freezer bags. Freeze bags laying flat.
6. Tomato soup author

 I plan on cutting the garlic and onion by at least half and I believe I am going to leave out the vinegar as well. Before adding the broth I am going to use the food mill and then slowly add the broth as the soup simmers.

   Have a wonderful weekend! Happy Labor day. Thank you for stopping by.