The Mighty Tomato Soup!!!

Hello Lovely People,

Hope that you are as excited about this post as I am. For the very first time I am going to be writing and sharing a recipe with everyone. I have done it unofficially a few times but this is giving me butterflies in my tummy, in fact I was up for quite few nights thinking which one of the recipes should I share.  Should it be a complex one or should it be simple, should it be a salad, a dry dish or something of a main course, should it be Italian, Indian, Chinese………… Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnhhhhhhhhh………………..so many thoughts, so many questions. So I decided that rather than gnarling at my brain and chewing up all my nails (fingers included), why not just relax and share the first thing i cook or want to cook and then maybe it will just hit me just like that and voila, as soon as I got up today the first thing that I noticed was that it was a bit chilly, and all I wanted even for breakfast was something which would warm me up to the core.

And as today’s Monday I thought to myself why not grab some ingredients from the local farmer’s market  while my drive back from office and prepare something exactly like that. So I decided as the first dish that I want to share, I want it to be something which everybody loves and is made almost in every home: THE MIGHTY TOMATO SOUP. Now, tomato soup is something that everyone makes at home, we have it outside, and we get it in planes, trains, bus-stops everywhere. It can be Italian, Indian or American basically whatever you decide to flavour it as. And everyone has different ways of eating it too, some like it with just butter and salt, some with soup sticks or croissants, some with crumbs and some with pasta or noodles.

So, I will share the recipe of the Tomato soup which I love eating and then you can just put your own little twist to it. if you have any question that you would like to ask feel free to send me query or simply comment. Let’s start then.

Roasted Tomato and Onion Soup

Serves- 2 Large bowls/3-4 Cups

Prep time: 10 mins Cooking time: 1 Hour

What You Need:

Ingredients:

·         8 Plum Red Tomatoes

·         Garlic Pod(10-12 Cloves)

·         2 Large Onions

·         2 Cups of Vegetable Stock

·         Olive Oil

·         Salt-Pepper

Appliances:

·       Oven

·       Baking Tray

·       Blender

What to do:

1.     So before we even start with the mise-en place (French for preparing before cooking time), the very first thing that we need to do is pre-heat our oven to anywhere between 250 to 300 degree Celsius depending on the time you have at hand. If you have some time and want to slow roast the veggies than 250 to 270 degrees is fine but if you are in a little bit of hurry then anything between 280 to 300 degrees should give good results.  Once that’s been done, we can swiftly prepare our ingredients.

  2.    Brush the baking tray (if you don’t have a baking tray which is a bit deep then use a pan or even a steel bowl) with olive oil and slightly season it with freshly crushed salt(I personally like Pink Salt but it’s your choice what you want to go with) and pepper according to individual palate. This would ensure that the vegetable will all get that beautiful seasoning.

3.    Wash and dry the tomatoes. Cut them in halves, remove the core, brush both sides with the oil and just place in the baking tray, skin side up. Make sure that the tomatoes have enough surface each, DO NOT PILE THEM ON TOP OF ANOTHER. This would ensure that the heat is evenly spread.

4.    Peel the onions and quarter them (cut in four parts). Brush over with oil and lay them in baking tray.

  5.    Separate the garlic cloves and just cut the top end of the clove. We could also do it a little differently, for that just take the garlic pod and lightly loosen it. Discard any extra skin but do not peel the cloves. Now we can simply cut them in middle and place them face down. This will make it much easier for us to get them in pan.

6.    Once all the ingredients are in the baking tray, drizzle a bit more of the olive oil and season with a bit of salt and pepper. Cover the tray with foil and just place them in that beautifully heated oven.

7.    Once in the oven leave them be for a period of 40 mins (it depends a bit on your oven so try out the recipe and adjust the time accordingly) and I know it’s a bit difficult but try not to open the oven again and again to see if they are cooking. Because each time you do the temperature drops.

  8.    So after the first 15 mins I remove the foil from the baking tray and pop it back again so that it gets that shrivelled and little dehydrated look. Once it’s glistening and the room is quite filled up with the warm smell. Bring the tray out.

  

  9.    Pop a wok on the flame and quickly melt a bit of butter into it. Grab the already resting garlic pod (if it’s too hot for you then do it with the help of tongs) and squeeze them directly into the wok. Once a bit sautéed, add the tomatoes and all the juices leftover in the baking tray, sauté a bit longer and mash together roughly with a ladle.

  10.  Get your blender out, plug it in and start blending. I blend it in the wok itself but if you are afraid of splattering then pour it in a deeper dish and blend.

 11.  Now it’s the time to get our stock in the pan, you can use any stock (homemade or store bought, veg or chicken. It’s absolutely vital to keep an eye on the amount of stock you are adding as it depends on the consistency or the thickness that you need in the soup. If you want it to be runny then you can also add more than two cups. Season accordingly and let it come to a slow boil to let it incorporate in the blend.

12.  Once that’s been done, you can pour it out in a bowl or a cup or a dish as you like it. While serving it out you can choose to sieve it or if you like it with the pulp then just ladle it out.

13.  Garnish with butter or cream or chilli oil I personally like it with a bit of pesto oil and chilli flakes. If you wish you can even add a bit of crumbs to it or just simply grill a bit of bread with it.

14.  Last and the most important step. ENJOY YOUR FOOD.

BON APETIT!!!

Little Something About Me!!!!

Hello lovely people,

So first things first, before we start a very long relationship (hopefully), let me tell you a bit about myself. So, the most important thing to know about me is “I LOVE FOOD”.  And I have had an on-going battle of BULGE and let me assure you food wins every single time.  HA!

Moving on, tiny little fact: right now is the most crammed up time in my life, so why in this time have I decided to venture in a new area?  Because what this period of my life has taught me is that I just adore food; no matter what kind of day I have on other ends, I know that after coming back home if decide (and have enough strength) to cook a meal, even if it’s as simple as Dal-Chawal or a Caesar Salad, it’s going to put a smile on my face and anyone that I am sharing it with. So to put it in simpler terms I cook to maintain my sanity and I hope to find people who have similar feelings. I do hope I am not alone.

Another reason that I have started this blog is because a wise man once said the simplest key to be thinner is to make everyone else fatter. Well that, and also because, as I have already said before I really-really want to share the love I have for food. Food is not just something that is created in the kitchen, I actually believe that you can bond with friends, family and even strangers over a plate of food, good or bad. In today’s world people keep running behind so many materialistic things they want but by the end of every day what everyone needs is a platter of beautiful and soul filling food.

But, how is it going to be different than the blogs which have been out there for eons? Well for starters, I am in no way a chef and neither do I have the gadgets, ingredients or that to-die for kitchen that chefs have. I am a normal girl who loves to cook new recipes in my medium sized home kitchen and smile and dance wildly when it comes out beautifully. Also, I am a novice at a lot of things, which means that I have a lot and lot of things that I have to discover, learn, cook and EAT, of course. And what fun would it be to do all this alone. So, I want you join me in this journey to hone mine and your cooking skills too. I mean even if I am just falling down…. Falling down by myself is no fun at-all.

So, as I have already told you guys I am in no way a chef and neither is my culinary knowledge overwhelming. And that’s why I ask you guys to come and chip in…… send me a recipe and I will try it out and post how it fared. And yes the recipe will belong to you; in fact, I will accredit the recipe to you in my post. Or even if you have no recipe but do have dish in mind that you want to know about let me know and then I can cook it out for you, give you the recipe and let us know how it fared for you.

That seems to be all from my side…… hope it has piqued your interest, it surely has piqued mine.

Ciao for now…. Bon Apetit!!