sprinklefingers

i’ve talked about tomato-cheddar soup here before. i’ve actually talked about it a lot. because it’s so good it’s worth talking about. a lot.

last night though, we were having grilled cheese (and salami!) sandwiches and i really, really wanted some soup to go along side (instead of the salad i had previously planned to serve. it was 29 degrees here yesterday and salad just wasn’t going to cut it.)  anyways, i got home and dug through the pantry to see if i could find the makings for an easy tomato soup…and lucky for us, the last time i was at the market i over-bought canned tomatoes. sweet! soup!

i called my kid (who is 3, remember,) into the kitchen to help with dinner prep. [whenever this happens he ALWAYS insists on wearing an apron and a chef’s hat. he also has his own set of knives and a set of pastry tools so he gets those out for good measure, regardless of what we’re making.] he helped me chop an onion until he could no longer stand the stinging eyes. then he helped me pour olive oil and plop butter into the soup pot. THEN his father came home. and the kid turned to me and said, “mommy, this was fun, but dad’s home. and we’re going to go play santa & his sleigh. daddy is going to be all the reindeer and the elves and i’m going to be santa. can you find some wrapping-up paper for me?” and with that, he was off.

i was left to figure out easy tomato soup on my own.

easy tomato soup
serves 4

you need:

• 2 T olive oil
• 2 T unsalted butter
• 1 yellow onion, chopped fine
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 14oz can PLUS 1 28 oz can whole, peeled plum tomatoes
• 1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 t kosher salt
• 1/2 t freshly ground pepper
• 3/4 cup half & half

to make the soup:

1. heat the olive oil and butter in a nonreactive soup pot over medium heat.
2. add the chopped onion and minced garlic and let cook until golden but nowhere near burning.
3. add the 2 cans of tomatoes and the stock.
4. put a lid on the pot and let boil for 15 minutes.
5. remove the lid of the pot and let simmer for 15 more minutes without the lid.
6. using an immersion blender or traditional blender, puree the soup until no large pieces of onion or tomato remain.
7. reduce the heat and stir in the half & half. stir until completely incorporated.
8. reheat soup if needed and add the salt and pepper.
9. if your soup is too acidic for you, try adding a few dashes of sugar, it will take the edge right off.

and, yes, i really did forget to take photos of the finished product. again. i blame it on trying to find wrapping-up paper for a certain 3 year old.

i sound like a broken record, but you really should make some pumpkin butter. i do realize i’ve only been talking about pumpkins & apples lately, but i can’t really help it. i’m up to my eyeballs in fall flavors and i kind of love it.

that said, i came up with yet another delicious use for pumpkin butter. this time - pancakes. yes i’ve said in the past that you can simply mix pumpkin butter into your pancake batter to make magical pumpkin pancakes, but this time i worked out a recipe that is pumpkin butter specific. perfect.

before we get all into the food i want to tell you that i used this recipe as a chance to teach my 3 year old kid how to separate egg whites from yolks. a few weeks ago he finally mastered cracking eggs (two-handed only. we’re working on the one-handed crack currently,) but the whole separating thing was very tough for him - as a result i laughed until i cried and made the mother of all omelets with the cracked (but not separated) eggs.

it was only after we used around a dozen eggs (and ate the omelet) that i thought to have him crack the eggs into a bowl and then reach in with his hands to (gentle!) ease out the yolks. now he’s an egg separating fool. or he just likes to get messy. it’s a toss up.

so, yes. you need to separate eggs in this recipe and then whip the whites until stiff. as the final step of preparing the batter you fold in the egg whites. the result? a light, fluffy almost lacey pumpkin pancake. seriously good.

light-as-air pumpkin butter pancakes
serves 4

you need:

• 1 1/4 cup AP flour
• 3 T vanilla sugar
• 2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 cup 2% milk (or whole, but NOT skim)
• 1/3 cup heavy cream (or 1/2 & 1/2)
• 3/4 cup homemade pumpkin butter (or a flavorful store-bought version)
• 4 large eggs - whites separated from yolks
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 2 t vanilla extract

to make the pancakes:

1. in a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
2. in another bowl, whisk together the milk, heavy cream, pumpkin butter, egg yolks, melted butter and vanilla.
3. in another bowl (or using an electric mixer (hand held OR stand)) whip the egg whites until they are very white and somewhat stiff.
4. pour the milk mixture into the dry mixture and stir until almost combined.
5. fold in the egg whites and mix just until everything comes together.
6. set the batter aside while you heat your griddle to 375 or medium-high heat.
7. coat your griddle with a generous slather of butter and then ladle out the batter - about 1/3 cup or more per pancake - making sure you pour it directly into the center of the puddle you’ve started so you’ll end up with round ‘cakes.
8. let pancakes cook until bubbly - then lift up an edge and make sure they are golden brown. if not, don’t flip - let go a bit longer. these pancakes are much more delicious if they are completely cooked and not at all gooey on the inside.
9. set the cooked pancakes on a cooling rack in a warm oven until serving time.

we like these, like most things, with sausage.