Tomato Soup

MY EYES!!!

Dicing 5 shallots is no fun for me. The flavor, of course, is essential. (And even though this recipe called for 5, I was only able to use 4, thanks to my very long finger nails getting in the way of my knife blade. Fun times.) But I really need to find me some goggles.

This recipe was kind of a pain in the butt. It took me 2 hours total. I definitely should have managed my time more wisely today, but that's certainly not the soup's fault. I would make this again in a heartbeat, though, as long as I have the time. I made 2 changes--omitted one shallot (on accident) and all of the thyme. Because I hate thyme. I will never ever use it again ever. The next time I make it, I might use less red pepper flakes. I love the spice, but everyone else might not. But considering I'm the only one eating it this time around, I'm very happy with it.

I'm not taking a photo yet, because since the soup took 2 hours, I didn't have time to make my croutons. So if I have time tomorrow to make them, I'll then take and post a photo of the soup.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention: I used my immersion blender to blend it. I did not follow the ridiculous steps below.

Tomato Soup

3 28 ounce cans whole, peeled tomatoes, juices drained and reserved
2 Tbsp brown sugar
5 shallots, minced
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1 1/2 tsp thyme
1 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
3 Tbsp flour
3 cups chicken broth

Heat oven to 450

Line 2 baking sheets with foil. Open cans of tomatoes and pour them into a strainer over a bowl separating the tomatoes from the juice. Use your fingers to open the tomatoes and scoop out the seeds (you can trash them). Place tomatoes flat on the foil lined baking sheet and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake for 30 minutes. Let the tomatoes cool.

Mince shallots. Set aside.

Heat butter in a stock pot on medium until foaming. Add shallots, tomato paste and spices. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots are soft, about 10 minutes.

Add flour to the shallots and cook until combined, about 30 seconds. Gradually add reserved tomato juice, chicken broth and roasted tomatoes. Bring the soup to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer on low, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Remove the pot from the heat and strain the soup to separate the solids and the liquids. Put the solids in a blender with 2 cups of the liquid and puree until smooth. Return the puree and the liquids to the pot and return the pot to the stove. Heat on low for 5 minutes until everything is hot and combined. Correct seasoning with salt, pepper or brown sugar.

Tangy Pork Cutlets

I had high hopes for Tangy Pork Cutlets. I just KNEW they would be a big hit. But they were quite the opposite.

Obviously, this isn't my photo. I decided to blog about this dish after we were done.

I didn't mind them, especially the bite I took that was nice and tender. But I think the mistake I made was using light olive oil instead of butter. (There really is no substitute for butter, folks.) I was attempting to make this dish a little healthier--doctor's orders--and it just didn't work out like I had hoped. The mister took two bites and said, "No, thank you." 

The prep is super simple, so that was nice. If you're going to try your hand at this, definitely don't cook these as long as suggested. Pork gets tough quickly. I also wouldn't cover them. They get all moist that way, and you lose the crispiness.

The flavor was fine. I didn't really get "tangy" but maybe that's just me. If you try these, please comment and let me know!

Tangy Pork Cutlets

3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 large egg, beaten
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
1 pound pork cutlets ( 1/4 inch thick)
2 cups crisp rice cereal, crushed
4 tablespoons butter

Combine the lemon juice and egg in a shallow dish.

Combine flour, salt and lemon pepper in a shallow dish.

Coat pork with flour mixture. Dip in lemon juice mixture, then coat with cereal.

Heat butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook pork in melted butter until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Reduce the heat to low. Cook, covered, until pork is tender, about 21 minutes.

Buffalo Chicken French Breads

Before I say anything about this recipe, I just want to report that my Soul Sister, who is visiting from Oklahoma, called this dish a "resounding success". *nods*

This dish is incredibly easy the way I did it, and wouldn't have taken 30 minutes, except for the fact that I was prepping and cooking another dish at the same time, while chatting with my SSF. As always, the original recipe is below, but tell you of the changes I made. The cool thing about this particular occasion is that all of the changes were intentional! 

The major change was I used packaged grilled chicken pieces, instead of cooking chicken breasts in a skillet myself. Since they were already cooked, I just had to warm them. I know, I know...not the healthiest way to go. But I was looking for simplicity, and these pre-grilled chicken breast pieces are always a win around my house. The second change is that I didn't garnish with cilantro (blech!) or extra wing sauce.

The results: as I mentioned at the top of this post, this was a very successful dish. It's NOT low-fat, and while you could use reduced-fat cheese, why? The texture was awesome because it was soft and gooey AND crunchy! A few warnings, though: some people are very picky about their wing sauce. If the wing sauce isn't right, there goes the dish. Some people also aren't huge fans of Gorgonzola. To be safe, use less than the recipe calls for. (And actually, you could use whatever kind of cheese you want. There's just something wonderful about the blue/Buffalo combo.) Lastly, some ovens don't bake evenly (imagine that). As you can see, mine made the corner of the pictured piece a lil brown. So watch your bread carefully.

30-Minute Buffalo Chicken French Breads

1 loaf of french bread, cut in half
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
2/3 cup buffalo wing sauce + extra for drizzling
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 tablespoons ranch dressing
12 ounces fontina cheese, freshly grated
6 ounces crumbled gorgonzola cheese
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped

Place an oven rack in the middle of the over and heat your broiler to the high setting. Place the french bread, cut-side up, on a baking sheet and set in the oven for 2 minutes, then rotate and broil 2 minutes more, just until slightly golden. Remove and let cool.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add olive oil. Toss chicken with salt and pepper, then add to the skillet and cook until browned on all sides, about 10-12 minutes. Once cooked through, add garlic and stir for 30 seconds, then add in buffalo wing sauce and butter. Stir to toss and coat.

Brush 1 1/2 tablespoons (or more if desired) of ranch dressing onto each cut side of french bread. Top with 2-3 tablespoons each of buffalo wing sauce, then cover equally with a light sprinkling of fontina. Add the chicken, spooning out all of the sauce in the skillet. Cover with remaining fontina and gorgonzola. Broil on high (on the same center rack) for 5-6 minutes, watching closely and rotating the pan once or twice during broiling. You must watch closely because all broilers differ! It may take your oven 3-4 minutes or closer to 8. Just cook until the cheese is melted and slightly golden and the bread is somewhat crunchy.

Remove and top with another drizzle of buffalo wing sauce and then cover in green onions and cilantro. Cut into pieces and serve!