I’d like to blame my haziness up there on what I have lovingly named “the plague” that has hit 3/4 of our family of late (and in the same breath be grateful that we were spared worse), but I can’t. It’s not the never ending cold that drags us right down to the ground every day by 3:00, 4:00, 5:00 p.m. and has been our house guest for over a week now. It’s not winter (it’s been a beautiful winter). I just have to face the facts. I’m old and my brain and body have been put through a lot in the last 8 years. So the girl that once could remember just about anything any time…she’s a photo in the album.
Why am I writing this?…. Oh yes! So this is all because of leftovers. I’ve got some leftovers in the fridge and I can’t remember when I made them. Martha Stewart’s voice is in my head with her “good thing” suggestion of using some fabulous Martha Stewart Labels (I think I saw them at Staples last week), perhaps the chalk labels, or the re-writeable ones, and putting the date on each thing. I’d love to. Sounds fabulous…. I probably won’t though.
So, can I or I can I not use this soup today is the big question… and then it comes to me in a flash of accidental brilliance, balanced with just the right filter….Instagram! I Instagrammed that soup! So after logging on because I can’t get to my phone right now. That only took about 15 minutes because I forgot my password… There it is…my soup… with a nice little 4d right next to it. Problem solved. The soup is still good, and will be just the thing to mix with the rice and beans that need a little extra moistness for dinner tonight!
Thus starts my day…the dishwasher is running. The OJ has been squeezed. Now I can continue my social media work.
Now just because I think its only fair to share…here’s a basic recipe for the soup.
Tomato Soup with Lots of Other Stuff
Ingredients:
- 1 carton of crushed, puréed or diced tomatoes
- a butternut squash
- water or chicken stock or vegetable stock
- a white sweet potato
- onions
- garlic
- 1 or 2 bay leaves
- a cup of Sherry
- olive oil
- salt
- garlic salt from Sofra Bakery (optional)
- smoked salt from Soluna Garden Farms (optional)
Cut everything up that needs to be cut. In a soup pot, sautée the onions for 5 minutes or so. While that’s sautéeing if you haven’t already you can peel and cube the butternut squash and sweet potato. Throw that in. Add the sweet potato and butternut squash to the pot. Sautée that for 5 minutes and season it all with salt (I use Kosher salt or Maldon sea salt. Usually Kosher at the beginning and finish with Maldon at the final tasting). Cover the veggies with the stock or water. Add in a cup of Sherry. Bring to a boil. Then immediately lower the temp. Throw the lid on the pot and let it simmer for about 40 minutes until all the veggies are soft. Throw in a little of the garlic salt and smoked salt.
Take out the bay leaf. Either purée everything with an immersion blender or in a regular blender. Be sure to not fill the blender to the top and leave the lid slightly off and cover the top with a kitchen towel so you don’t explode hot soup everywhere (not that I’ve ever done that…I just might have heard about it on tv or something 😉 ). Serve with some fresh out of the oven bread or if you like some croutons or oyster crackers…or any cracker in fact. We had ours with Iggy’s Bread of the World croutons.
Bon appétit!