cream of roasted tomato soup with parsley croutons

02 Friday Dec 2011

Tags

comfort food, parsley, parsley croutons, roasted tomato soup, tomato, tomato soup

A colorful and robust soup! Perfect ‘comfort food’ on a cold winter’s day. Roasting the tomatoes first gives this soup a deep, sweet flavor. Use ripe but firm tomatoes so that they don’t get soft too quickly. For a lower-fat version, use milk or more stock instead of cream. I didn’t make the croutons this time around but did include the recipe as they are delicious. Today I served the soup with a dollop of arugula pesto and some warm naan bread.

Cream of Roasted Tomato Soup with Parsley Croutons

For the Soup:

3 lbs tomatoes

extra virgin olive oil

8 small shallots

2 to 3 cups chicken or vegetable stock

5 sprigs fresh parsley

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 small carrot, chopped

1 fennel bulb, chopped

5 sprigs fresh tarragon

1 cup heavy cream

For the Parsley Croutons:

12 thin slices baguette

extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, cut in half

½ cup shredded Teleme or Muenster cheese

¼ cup fresh parsley

Soup: Heat oven to 4oo degrees (F). Cut the tomatoes in half cross-wise and squeeze gently to remove the seeds, scraping them out with your fingers if necessary. Coat the tomatoes with olive oil and place them, cut side own, on a non-stick (or parchment-lined or foil-lined) baking dish. Roast for 35 to 45 minutes, until the tomatoes are very soft and their skins are dark. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Melt butter in a medium sized saucepan and sauté the chopped shallots and fennel until they are soft, about 12 minutes. Add 2 cups of stock and the tarragon and parsley. Simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. Remove the herb sprigs and add the roasted tomatoes. Puree the soup in a blender or food processor. Add the cream and return the soup to a simmer. If the soup is still very thick, thin it with more stock. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm until ready to serve.

Croutons: Heat oven to 400 degrees (F). Brush both sides of the bread slices with olive oil and put them on a baking sheet. Rub the top of each slice with garlic and sprinkle on the cheese and parsley. Bake until golden brown, about 5 minutes.

To serve, ladle the soup into warm bowls and float two or three parsley croutons on top of each bowl. Enjoy!

eggplant parmesan

24 Thursday Nov 2011

Posted by Delena Rose in cook

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

eggplant, eggplant parmesan, mozzarella cheese, parmesan, tomato

I needed to use up the last of the greenhouse tomatoes that were ripening on the counter. Instead of canned tomatoes, I just added chopped fresh tomatoes. A delicious cheesy dish for a dark, early winter’s evening.

Eggplant Parmesan

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

½ cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 can diced tomatoes

1 small can tomato paste

2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves

1 teaspoon dried basil leaves

8 ounces mozzarella cheese, sliced

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 large eggplant

2 eggs, slightly beaten

½ cup dry breadcrumbs

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

1- ½ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup olive oil

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet. Sauté the onions and garlic, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, basil, salt, pepper and sugar and bring to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon. Red. Cover and simmer, for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Lightly grease a 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Wash the eggplant, do not peel. Cut crosswise into ¼ inch slices. In a shallow dish combine the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water. Mix well with a fork. In another shallow dish, combine breadcrumbs with the Parmesan cheese and mix well. Dip eggplant slices into egg mixture, coating well. Then dip into crumb mixture, coating evenly. In a medium skillet, add 1 tablespoon of the oil and sauté eggplant slices a few at a time, until they are golden brown and crisp on both sides. Add more oil as needed.

Arrange half of the eggplant slices in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the top half with the remaining Parmesan cheese. Top with half of the mozzarella cheese, then cover with half of the tomato sauce. Arrange the remaining eggplant slices over the tomato sauce. Cover with the half of the tomato sauce and mozzarella slices. Sprinkle the top with the rest of the Parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 25 minutes or until cheese melts and the top is browned. Serves 8.

You may make this dish ahead and freeze it after baking. To serve, bake the frozen dish at 350 degrees (F), covered, for 45 minutes. Then uncover and bake for 15 minutes longer.

Lucy napping on the deck while I cooked this dish…

the Medicine Wheel garden

08 Monday Aug 2011

Posted by Delena Rose in garden, medicine wheel

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

artichoke, broccoli, cabbage, circle garden, dill, garden, leeks, Medicine Wheel garden, nasturtium, Northern Lights Swiss Chard, onions, pumpkin flower, sacred garden, tomato, vegetables, watermelon, zucchini

I would like to show you the vegetable garden. When we bought the cabin last fall it was just a little postage stamp of a plot with some potatoes left behind. We dug these up in October and they lasted us until March.

By November, the land was covered in snow and I spent the winter planning my garden, making endless lists and researching ‘deer- and rabbit-resistant gardening’. In May, my wonderful neighbor, K, came over with her tractor and tilled the soil for me, enlarging the garden into it’s current size. The soil is good in this spot and I was told that years ago this used to be a large garden.

Once tilled, I mapped out a Medicine Wheel design using mulch for the pathways. I added some plants and sowed some seeds. Then I spent an afternoon pounding in large stakes for the fence. My budget was very limited so I used what I could find on the land. I also found some rusty barbed wire fencing in large rolls around the property. I carefully unwound these and wrapped these around the poles, using wire to fasten it to the stakes. I did two rows of fencing, one on top of the other and wired these together. This was tricky as I did this on my own, holding the fence in place with my head while wiring the fencing together with needle nose pliers and being careful not to get scratched with the rusty wire…

I choose a Medicine Wheel design as I wanted to be intentional in my creation of a garden. This place would be set aside as a quiet place for contemplation, a source of nourishment and healing. For some reason, stepping into a circular garden invokes a feeling of reverence and quiet power.

Both the design and use of sacred space are processes that draw on both the conscious and unconscious levels of mind and spirit. We learn as we create and we change as we garden. Let the process inform you spirit. ~Peg Streep

The circle has four quadrants (which were further subdivided into pie-shaped plots) set to the cardinal directions (north, east, south and west). Each direction has a corresponding element (earth, air, fire and water). The center of the circle is a place of concentrated ‘power’ and peace. At the door of the garden is a pile of stones found previously buried in the soil. Visitors are invited to take a stone, envision a prayer or request, wish or blessing, and imagine that they are putting it into the stone. Then they can place the stone in the center bowl. As I spend time each day working in the garden, I meditate, contemplate and pray. I sing songs, I laugh, I dance, I express gratitude for the earth’s abundance. I imagine this good energy being absorbed into the growing plants.

The creation of sacred space- how we set apart and arrange a certain spot and imbue it with reverent feelings… draws us closer to nature and affirms our personal ties with the earth. Medicine Wheel gardens are places for celebrating and teaching. Some go to the Medicine Wheel garden for vision quests, prayer and personal renewal. Others see it as a place to gather together for drumming, fire ceremonies and singing. -E.Barrie Kavasch

The above shot was just taken today. I love spending time in the garden and taking care of it never feels like a chore. I feel the earth supporting my body as I kneel to work, I listen to the wind and the birds, I feel the sun and sometimes rain on my skin and all of this brings me deep contentment. Today, it was a very hot and sunny day. Here are a few more shots of things growing in the garden…

I am noticing lots of green and yellow in the pictures but very little red. I do have red beets and radishes and red lettuce and potatoes; and soon will also have red peppers, chili peppers and loads of tomatoes, if only we would get more warmer weather. In fact, everything is behind this year due to the cool, wet summer. Perhaps we will have a hot late summer/autumn in time for harvest?

This season marks phase one in the Medicine Wheel garden design. Next year, I will add raised beds and incorporate the four elements into each quadrant (a bowl of stones for earth, prayer flags and wind chimes for air, a small fire bowl for fire, and a bird bath for water). In the meantime, we have a few months of harvest ahead of us. I will show you more pictures of the garden as the summer progresses.