Monday, September 13, 2010

Tomato & Smoked Shellfish Soup (Trina)

Tomato & Smoked Shellfish Soup

Recipe from 1 Stock, 100 Soups
by Linda Doeser

Recipe 75

You can find this recipe on page 168 of this wonderful cookbook
about taking 1 basic recipe and making 100 kinds of soup

These are the ingredients you will need for this recipe:

Basic Vegetable Stock
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Shallot
Sherry Vinegar
Sugar
Dijon Mustard
Tabasco Sauce
Smoked Oysters or Smoked Mussels
Salt and Pepper
Croutons, to serve

Serves 6


This soup was fairly simple to make. All you do is chop up the veggies and mix in a large bowl with the stock and the other ingredients.


I didn't have time to peel and seed fresh tomatoes, so I used some diced canned tomatoes.  I was also out of dijon mustard, so I substituted a yummy roasted red pepper one.  Add salt and pepper to taste and mix it together.


I have never dealt with smoked oysters before.  I have eaten the oysters that come in a regular can, and I dip them in egg and flour and fry them at Christmas.  However, these oysters in a tin were a little different.  I get a little weirded out by cold shellfish.  I am easily bothered by textures when something is cold.  I rinsed the oysters and tried to remain optimistic. 


I mixed it all together and let it chill overnight.  I toasted some bread to make croutons, and when I was ready to serve, I chopped them up and put some on top of my soup.  It looked kind of pretty.  I really, really, tried to like this soup, but I just couldn't do it. I am not having the best luck with cold soups.  Maybe I am not a cold soup kind of gal.  So I don't get discouraged, my next one will be a hot soup with no shellfish!  And, if you are not as neurotic as me, you may like this soup.  I just get weird about things.  Anyways,

Happy Cooking!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Peach Freezer Jam (Jenn)


Peach Freezer Jam

Recipe 4 from Farm to Fork
By: Emeril Lagasse

You can find this recipe on page 303


These are the ingredients you will need for this recipe:

2 3/4 cups finely chopped peeled and pitted ripe peaches (about 2 1/4 pounds)
6 1/2 cups of sugar
2 pouches (1box) liquid fruit pectin
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 vanilla bean



I am using Heirloom Fay Elberta Peaches! These Peaches are from a local farm.  They were purchased from Chaffin Family Orchards . Check them out!



They are very yummy and super juicy.

Combine Peaches and sugar in a bowl and stir to combine.



Smash your peaches to a consistency you will like.
Add other ingredients and stir. Make sure mixture is not grainy.


Spoon jam into jars. The color is so incredibly pretty! It smells so delicious.
Cover the jars and let stand for 24 hours at room temperature to set.


You may store the jam for 3 weeks in the fridge or up to a year in the freezer.
Makes 8 half pint jars. I made a double batch and did many different size jars.

I will be using some of my jam for cookies at Christmas.