Tomato Soup Everybody Can Enjoy

It’s hard being the sole cook in the family. Having to come up with nutritious, delicious meals that both adults and kids will eat is not as easy as it sounds. And what about the shopping? Sure, it’s great if I have time to stroll around a store, but normally I shop during my lunch break. If speed shopping where a sport, I’d win gold. Did I mention I do it 2 or 3 times a week? I’ve found that if I buy for the whole week, a lot of food goes to waste. So I shop for only 2 or 3 days at a time. Then I get home from work and have to throw it all together. Anyone else in the same boat?

If it were up to me, we’d probably eat rice and a spicy stir-fry 6 days a week. But that wouldn’t go over very well with the boys. Nor is it a varied diet, is it? Once or twice a week I ask Sonny what he’d like for dinner. Allowing him to choose gives me a little break from having to come up with something. Even if it’s something I don’t feel like eating, I’ll make it. A kid has got to be allowed to choose every once in a while, right? Today he wanted tomato soup, and even though I wasn’t in the mood for it, I threw one together. To keep it interesting, I added a few Mexican spices. I got the inspiration off the back of a commercially available tomato soup, of all places.

When I make tomato soup, I like to use the sweetest tomatoes available. Unfortunately, tomato season isn’t until July or August. My own tomatoes won’t even be ready until August or even early September. Rather than use overpriced, bland, grocery store tomatoes, I used fire-roasted canned tomatoes. I think they worked out great, adding a little extra complexity to the soup.

Tomato Soup with Mexican Spices
feeds 4 to 6

• 1 tsp chile powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin, toasted
• 1 tbs dried (Mexican) oregano
• 3 large cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 28oz cans fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1 ½ cups vegetable or chicken stock or water
• salt as needed, about 2 tsp
• honey as needed, about 2-3 tbs

In a large pot over medium heat, add about 2 or 3 tbs of olive oil. When it’s hot, add the onions and fry them until they are well caramelized. It may take about 15 minutes or so. Don’t skimp on this step because the onions are a large flavor component of the soup. Canned tomatoes, even good quality ones, are not very sweet so the caramelized onions need to make up for this. Add the garlic and spices and continue to cook for about a minute more.

Put the onion mixture and tomatoes into a blender and process it until smooth. To get a smooth soup, strain it through a fine mesh strainer back into the pot. I never waste solids; I always freeze them and use them later in something. Put the pot back on the stove, add the stock or water and season with salt. If the soup is too acidic for your taste, add honey (or sugar) as needed. Bring the soup to a boil then let it simmer for 10 minutes or so. Ideally you would make this soup a day or so in advance to allow the flavors to meld, but we still enjoyed it the same day. For an extra touch, you could sauté up some Mexican chorizo and add it in.

Serve with homemade Mexican crema (or sour cream), grated cheddar cheese, chopped cilantro and crusty bread.


This soup freezes beautifully, so if you make more than you can eat, freeze it for a day when you don’t feel like cooking.

There's Nothing Like a Sunday Family Dinner

Last month, at our Girlfriends Only retreat, one of the Girlfriends threw out the idea for a monthly family dinner. We’d rotate homes and get the kids together to play while the mamas and papas socialize. For those of you who don’t have small children, I’m using the term socialize very loosely. Potlucks can be quite chaotic and stressful. What we’d really be doing is chasing the kids around, trying not to spill our cocktails. Nevertheless, the idea of Second Sunday was born.

Yesterday was our first monthly Second Sunday Family Potluck. We had 5 families in attendance and one Dan Marino (not of the Miami Dolphins fame, but no less fun and charming). Our hostess was Girlfriend L, who has the perfect home for entertaining. Besides being tastefully decorated, it has a TV room where we set up the Wii for the kids and papas. Virtual bowing, tennis, baseball and boxing. At one point, I walked into the room and heard a papa cheer, “Hit him in the stomach!”

[Here’s where I throw out some free advertising: the Wii is a requirement for any gathering where there are kids to entertain, regardless of whether they are aged 4 or 40. As Girlfriend L remarked, “I hardly noticed the kids were here at all!” Thank you, Nintendo.]

The theme this time was Mexican food. Can you guess what I brought? Carnitas, of course. I also brought homemade crema, roasted tomato and chipotle salsa and sugar cookies, which we let the kids decorate.

As if a sugar cookie didn't have enough sugar. It seemed like a great idea until the kids were bouncing off the walls. Click here for the easiest sugar cookie recipe in the world. I mean, even I didn't screw them up.

Normally when I make carnitas during the week, I throw it into my crock pot before work so when I get home, all I have to do is brown it in a skillet. Since I had plenty of time, I did it in the oven, just like this oven-roasted picnic pork shoulder. This time I used a 4.5 pound Boston butt rubbed with 1 head of mashed garlic, fresh thyme, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper. When it was done, I just wrapped it in foil and a couple of layers of kitchen towels to let it rest, and it was still warm over an hour later when we arrived at the potluck. To serve, we shredded it into a pre-warmed serving bowl and garnished with cilantro and onions. It was sooooo good.

Tender pork with crunchy brown bits...yummmmm

Girlfriend M brought a delicious chicken chili verde.

If you don’t know what crema is, it’s the Mexican equivalent to crème fraiche or sour cream. Unlike crème fraiche, it’s not really stiff but since it's made with heavy cream, it's still deliciously rich. Obviously it is great on a taco or any other Mexican dish, but I like to use it atop a slice of sweet berry pie to cut some of the sugar. You can buy crema in any well-stocked grocery store, but it’s easy enough to make at home.

Mexican Crema

• 1 pint heavy cream
• ¼ to 1/3 cup buttermilk, depending on the level of sourness you like
• fresh lime juice, to taste depending on the level of sourness (but you probably won’t need more than 1 lime)
• salt, to taste

In a medium to large bowl, stir together the cream and buttermilk. Drape it with a paper towel or clean kitchen towel and leave it on the counter overnight. In the morning, it should be thick. Add lime juice and salt to taste. Store it in the fridge in an airtight container until ready to use. It’s probably good for 3 or 4 days.

Before overnight "incubation" at room temperature.

As Sonny would say: it's magic!

Making homemade salsa is also very easy. I like using fire-roasted tomatoes, and will do it myself when I have access to sweet summertime tomatoes. During the winter, I just use a canned brand like Muir Glenn. Hunt’s makes them now too. Both are fine, and your choice might depend more on organic vs. non-organic (guess which is non-organic?).

Fire-roasted tomato and chipotle salsa

• 1 14oz can fire-roasted tomatoes, drained (reserve juices)
• ¼ large sweet or purple onion, confetti diced
• half bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped
• ½ to 1 chipotle in adobo sauce*, minced
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/8 to ¼ tsp sugar to cut sourness of tomatoes (completely optional)

I like to process my tomatoes a little so they aren’t so chunky, but this is up to you. Add the other ingredients and mix well. If you want the salsa to be more juicy, add back some of the reserved juice.



*I hate the thought of wasting a can of chipotles just to use one or two of them. What I do is freeze them. Lay them out on a cookie sheet or plate and stick them into the freezer overnight. This will keep them separate so you can take one or two whenever you need it. When frozen, throw them into a Ziploc freezer bag.

We ended with the cookies the kids decorated and Dan Marino's dulce de leche made from goat's milk. It was so good with wedges of tart Granny Smith apples. (He also made a delicious tomatilla salsa, which I must get the recipe for. Do you hear me Dan Marino?)

Mission Impossible: Finding Mexican Food in Mexico??

When we were deciding where to go for our family vacation, we had just 3 simple criteria:

1. It had to be warm
2. There had to be a beach or other swimmable body of water free of crocodiles or flesh-eating fish
3. We had to be able to get cocktail service near said body of water

Hubby pushed for Hawaii, but I have an intensely irrational fear of 4-legged reptiles and convinced him to go to Cancun instead. Yes, I know there are lizards and geckos and iguanas in Cancun, but I had a feeling I would see less of them. I realize this makes no sense to any normal person, but this is my irrational fear, and it makes perfect sense to me.

Most people think of Cancun as a spring break party town, and rightly so, but it’s also a wonderful place to take a family beach vacation during the off season. We got exactly what we asked for...mostly. We stayed here (the link will take you to my review) and I would happily recommend it to anyone. Our room had a spacious balcony with a gorgeous view of the pool and the ocean beyond. The pool had a bar where we could get yummy margaritas (or juice for Sonny). The ocean water was warm and clear (and we could get our drinks there too). We spent most of our days outdoors, basking in the sun. What more could we really ask for...?

How about some Mexican food? Who knew it would be so hard to find? Sonny was asking for enchiladas for 3 days before we could find a restaurant that served them. In the Hotel Zone, which is where most tourists stay, there are more American chain restaurants than Mexican restaurants. For heaven’s sake, who wants to travel all the way to Cancun just to eat at TGI Friday’s, Chilli’s or The Hardrock Cafe? The few Mexican restaurants in the Hotel Zone jacked up their prices so much, it cost more to eat out there than back home. Of course we could have ventured out of the Hotel Zone more often, but that would have cut into our beach time.

We did venture out of the more touristy areas a couple of times though. Guess where we went?? To Super Walmart! We meant to go to a more locals shopping area we had read about, called Mercado 28, but we got caught in a hellacious downpour and decided to take shelter in the Walmart.

Now, I normally dislike Walmarts and avoid them like the plague because they are so messy, with narrow isles so shopping is more of a pain than a pleasure. Oh, but not so in Cancun! I have to say this is probably the best Walmart I’ve ever been in and did I mention they have a kick-ass liquor section, with prices about 30-50% less than in the Hotel Zone? While hubby spent his time choosing which liquors to purchase, I spent a considerable amount of time roaming the deli/cafeteria section drooling over the different offerings (also at a fraction of the cost). We got 3 pork el pastor tacos for $1.25!!! Two delicious empanadas filled with carne molida (ground beef), served with chimichurri sauce cost us $3.00!!! They also have a very good bakery, which was probably Sonny's favorite part. Hubby and I were joking that if we hadn’t been staying so far from the Walmart we could eat breakfast and lunch (and probably dinner) there everyday.

Now it’s back to reality and cooking our own food again. I’m actually very happy to be back in a kitchen. Eating out every single day for every single meal gets old fast. And since we didn’t get our fill of Mexican food while we were in Mexico, I’ll need to get down to business here at home. First up is chicken stewed in red sauce. This dish is similar to mole, but without any seeds and chocolate. BTW, this sauce is also a great enchilada sauce.

Chicken Stewed in Red Sauce
Feeds 3-4 adults

• 3 dried chilies (such as ancho or New Mexico), seeds and membranes removed
• 4 cloves garlic (not peeled)
• ½ large onion, cut in half into 2 wedges
• 1 tsp ground cumin, toasted
• 1 x 14 oz can fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1-2 bay leaves
• 6-8 chicken thighs (or whichever cuts you prefer)

In a dry skillet over medium-low heat, toast the garlic, onion and chilies until they begin to brown, about 15-20 minutes (the chilies will take less time). Re-hydrate the chilies by soaking them in boiling water until they are soft, maybe 15 minutes. Peel the roasted garlic and chop the onion. Put the garlic, onion, cumin, re-hydrated chilies and the tomatoes into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Add salt to taste. You can run the sauce through a sieve to make it smoother or use it as is (which is how I like it). Makes about 1 1/2 to 2 cups sauce.

In a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, brown the chicken pieces until well browned on all sides (may need to be done in batches). Add the red sauce and bay leaves. When the stew comes to a boil, cover, turn down the heat and simmer until chicken is tender (about 1 hour 15 minutes).

Serve with warmed tortillas, rice, cornbread or any crusty bread of your choice. I like to put out jalapenos, pico de gallo, sour cream, chopped cilantro and avocado for people to garnish as they like. Tastes even better the following day.

Another Reason to Own a Cast Iron Wok

Mom left a couple of days ago, and I’m still finding surprises all over the kitchen. For example, I found the coating on my expensive Dutch oven burned and cracked. But this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. She once used cooking spray on my tri-ply stainless steel (expensive) frying pan when making pancakes, leaving a nice burnt film on the surface and rendering that pan completely useless. Then she made the comment that I should consider spending a little more money on a nice non-stick frying pan. It’s a good thing she is my mother and I’m supposed to love her, no matter how crazy she makes me.

Since the Dutch oven is currently out of commission, I used my wok to make chili. I would actually use my wok more for stewing and braising if only it had a lid. In lieu of a lid, I used aluminum foil. It’s not pretty, but it gets the job done.

I’ve never made chili from scratch. When I lived in Denmark, I used the Knorr seasoning packs that just required addition of ground beef. It was easy and tasty, but I wanted to try making it from scratch. For my first attempt, I used beef chunks rather than ground beef (I will be trying a version with ground beef soon). And no beans. I’m just not a beans-in-the-chili type of girl. The beef was nice and tender and the sauce was thick and well flavored without being too spicy (Sonny loved it). The key is to allow the chili to sit overnight in the fridge. I really do insist you do that part. It allows the flavors to meld and mellow.

Beef and no-bean Chili

• 2.5 to 3 lbs stewing beef, cut into 2-inch chunks
• 1 tbs cornstarch mixed with 1 tbs water
• ½ large onion, diced
• 1 chipotle chili in adobo sauce, minced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbs ancho chili powder
• 1 tbs dried oregano
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cups beef broth
• 1 tbs honey
• salt and pepper to taste

Toss the beef chunks in the cornstarch mixture and let it stand for about 10 minutes. Season with salt then brown well in about 2-3 tbs oil (this part was a cinch in the wok). Remove and set aside.

In the same pot, add a little more oil if necessary, and add the onions. When they are soft and browning, add the chipotle and garlic. After a minute, add the dry spices and meat with accumulated juices. Turn to coat the meat well with the spices. Add the beef broth, honey and salt and pepper. Bring the pot to a boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer and cook covered for about an 1 hour or so. When the meat is just tender (but not falling apart), remove the lid and simmer for another 30 to 45 minutes to evaporate some of the liquid and thicken the sauce. It's okay to turn up the heat a little, but don't blast it to save time. When you reach the consistency you want, turn off the heat and allow to cool slightly before putting it in the fridge to cool completely. Reheat the next day and enjoy!

The Baby's Here!

I want to throw out a big CONGRATULATIONS to my coworker. She had her baby on Easter day. Tomorrow I will visit her and Bundle, and I will be bringing a big serving of comfort food in the form of chicken mole (I just hope it doesn’t make Bundle gassy).

There are so many mole variations, it’s overwhelming. My coworker grew up eating a mole made with peanut butter. I’ve seen recipes with cashews while others use almonds. Some recipes call for pumpkin seeds but I use sesame seeds. There are about a million different types of chilies to choose from. I still recommend trying to make the paste yourself at least once. It can be a bit time consuming the first time, but I think it’s worth it. The recipe I use (from Foodnetwork.com; click here for original) gives a double portion, so you can freeze half for future use.

Chicken Mole

• 2 dried ancho chilies, stemmed and seeded
• 2 dried Anaheim chilies, stemmed and seeded
• 2 dried chipotle chilies, stemmed and seeded
• 1 ¼ cup golden raisins
• ¼ cup whole almonds or cashews (or even peanuts)
• ¼ cup sesame seeds, toasted
• 1 tbs black peppercorns
• 1 4-inch cinnamon stick broken into pieces
• 1 tbs dried Mexican oregano
• 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 2 onions, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 6 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 2 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 3 lbs chicken (highly recommend drumsticks and thighs)
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 tbs brown sugar
  
• salt and pepper to taste

Most supermarkets (at least here in the West) have a little section with Mexican spices, including different dried whole chilies. If you can’t find the ones listed, use what you can find. If you don’t want too much heat, substitute the chipotle with another type (and cut back on the peppercorns). I recommend using at least two types of chilies to give the dish a more complex flavor.

Some people like to toast their spices before grinding them (I use a food processor). I don’t find it necessary, except for the chilies, for this dish (because I’m too lazy). Since I use roasted cashews, I don’t toast them either. If you use almonds, you should probably toast them (and you may want to shell them, although I don’t think it says to in the original recipe).

Start by tearing the dry chilies into pieces and toasting them in a dry skillet until they change color. Put them in a bowl with the raisins and cover them with hot water until they soften. Then drain and let cool.

Saute the onions and garlic until lightly brown. Then add the tomatoes. Continue to cook for about 10 minutes. Then set aside to cool.

In a food processor, first blend the cinnamon stick and peppercorns until the cinnamon stick is uniformly ground (you won’t get a fine powder, but the pieces should be small and about the size of kosher salt; the peppercorns may not grind well and that's okay). Add the nuts, sesame seeds, oregano, and thyme. Blend until you get a uniform mixture. Add the chocolate and blend until uniform. At this point, anything that goes into the processor must be at least room temperature to keep from melting the chocolate. Add the chilies and raisins and blend some more. Then add the sauteed tomato mixture and blend until you get a nice paste. Yield is about 4 cups, but you’ll only need 2 now. Freeze the remainder for later use.

Season the chicken with the lemon juice and salt. In a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add about 1-2 tbs oil and brown the chicken (in batches if necessary). Remove and set aside. In the same Dutch oven used to brown the chicken, add 2 cups of the mole sauce and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes. Scrape up the bits at the bottom of the pot and stir as needed to keep the paste from sticking/burning. Return the chicken and add 2 cups of chicken stock and sugar. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat and simmer until the chicken is tender. Season with salt. Serve with corn tortillas or rice and other Mexican side dishes.

Alternatively, the mole can be prepared in a crock pot. I almost always do it this way. I brown the chicken and simmer the paste in a skillet the night before and stick it all in the crock pot, which goes into the fridge. I’ll start the cooking (on 8 hour setting) before I leave for work, and everything’s done by the time I come home.