Quick and Really Good Cream of Tomato Soup

So, it's a rainy day here in Austin and I asked my wife what she wanted for dinner. She said, "Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich." For her that means american processed cheese slice on (thanks to my tutelage) sourdough bread, grilled. As for the soup, it's Campbell's Tomato Soup made with (shudder) water. I can't get her off of that (I also can't convince her to add a little grilled onion or tomato to her grilled cheese much less a little cayenne or herbs). It's Campbell's or nothing. Well, tomato soup and grilled cheese seemed good to me too, I just didn't want Campbell's. I also didn't want to spend an hour making soup. So, I dreamed up this little concoction. It's tasty and soothing; real comfort food. It's fast too. Not as fast as opening a can, stirring in a can of water and zapping for 3 minutes; but pretty close.

Buy a can of diced tomatoes. The store where I go has all kinds of flavors and I picked up some diced tomatoes with roasted garlic. Grab some cream, some chicken broth or stock if you don't have some at home, an onion, some garlic and that's it. Chop up half of the onion and a couple cloves of garlic. I used my stick blender with the chopping bowl attachment. Took 20 seconds. Then saute that in some olive oil in a medium sauce pan. After they are soft throw in the tomatoes (I had some grape tomatoes on hand and roasted them in a 450 degree oven with some olive oil and salt for about twenty minutes until they started to get brown and threw them in with the other tomatoes; this is entirely optional; I just had them on hand). Add some chicken broth, about a cup, maybe more, so that you have a real chunky soup. Let that simmer for 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Then add some cream and take the stick blender to it. Get it as smooth as you like it. You can strain it if you like, but I like it a little chunky. Add some more chicken broth or cream as you like. Salt and pepper to taste. And it is yummy. Basically 15 minutes from door to table and you're done. And it is so much better than Campbell's (with all due respect to Campbell's).

Habichuelas Guisadas

So, this year at Easter, I asked my wife what she wanted for Easter dinner.  She said, without hesitation, "Ham, asparagus, mashed potatoes."  Done.

The problem for me was not the dinner, it was delicious.  The problem was the leftover ham.  See it was just me, my wife and my two sons, one of which was just 8 months old and not a big eater; not an eater at all for that matter.  When looking for ham, basically you can buy a half a ham (8 pounds) for about the cost of a few ham steaks.  So, I bought the ham and cooked it, but had a ton of ham left over and I needed to find interesting things for leftovers.

The recipe I found was Habichuelas Guisadas or Bean Stew.  This is, apparently, a Puerto Rican or Caribbean dish.  It calls for sofrito, which is a mixture of vegetables and can include tomatoes, peppers, onions and herbs and spices.  This is the base for many recipes in the Caribbean and in Spain.  You can make it yourself or buy it in the store.  I chose the latter option.

The recipe is just terrific.  This is a hearty side dish, but we eat it as an entree with a salad and good bread.  If you can't find West Indian pumpkin, just use calabaza squash.  It's great.

Habichuelas Guisadas (Bean Stew)

Prep time:  30 minutes

Notes:  You can "kick it up" a bit if you like.  I like to add onions at the beginning of the recipe and saute them with the ham.  I have omitted the alcaparrado because I can't find it in the store.

1 T. olive oil

1/2 cup smoked ham, chopped

1 cup tomato sauce

1/4 cup Sofrito (I use Goya brand)

2 cups chicken broth

1/4 lb. West Indian pumpkin (calabaza), peeled, cut into chunks (about 1/2 cup) or more

1/2 cup alcaparrado, drained

2 cans red kidney beans

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a sauce pan on medium heat.  Add the ham (and onion if you use it) and stir for about 3 minutes.  Throw in the tomato sauce and the sofrito.  Mix and cook 5 minutes.

Add the broth and the pumpkin/squash and mix.  Bring to a boil. 

Stir in the alcaparrado and the beans, bring to a boil and season to taste.

Simmer for 15 minutes or so until slightly thickened.  

Serve over hot rice.

Smoked Baked Beans

I love barbeque.  I live in Austin, Texas, which has great barbeque in its own right.  The Salt Lick is wonderful.  Artz Rib House is terrific.  Iron Works is good and County Line is also great.  I live less than 30 minutes from what is arguably the mecca for Texas barbeque, Lockhart, Texas.  There you'll find Smitty's Market, Kruez Market, Chisholm Trail Barbeque, and Black's Barbeque, all within a mile of each other in downtown Lockhart.

I grew up, however, in Kansas City, Missouri, which, to my mind, is the epicenter for all barbeque.  The style is sweet and spicy and sloppy and to die for.  Now, this is not to disparage barbeque in Texas, but I cannot find beans like they make them in KC.  When I was growing up in KC, one of the treats that we'd have, usually on a Friday night, is Smokestack barbecue.  Our family would either pile into the station wagon and eat there out on Highway 71 or Dad and I would go get carryout. 

Now, all of the barbeque at the Smokestack is terrific, but what I really loved and love to this day is their Hickory Smoked Pit Beans.  They came in a little crock with bacon on the top and were creamy and smoky and sweet and sloppy, like all good Kansas City barbeque.

The Smokestack still lives, in better digs now, on 89th and Wornall Road, but I don't make it to KC as often as I'd like.  So, to save the cost of shipping or a plane ticket, I tried to make my own humble version of their great beans.  By all means, if you're in KC, eat Smokestack beans.  But if you can't make it to KC, give these a shot.

Smoked Baked Beans

Notes:  Use any kind of canned baked beans, Van Camps, Ranch Style, Bush's.  Just use a generic sort, nothing with say jalepenos in it.  Also, this is real variable.  Sweeten it, spice it up.  Make it yours.  And by all means, get yourself to KC for the real thing.  Use a smoker or a Webber or other grill using very low, indirect heat and wood chips, preferably hickory.

32 Ounces  Baked Beans

  2 Tablespoons  Molasses

  1 Teaspoon  Dry Mustard

  2 Tablespoons  Garlic Powder

  1 Cup  Ketchup

  1 Medium  Onion -- Minced

  1 Teaspoon  Salt

  1 Teaspoon  Cayenne Pepper

 1/4  Cup  Brown Sugar

  2  Tablespoons  Tomato Paste

  2  Teaspoons  Worcestershire Sauce

  5   Slices  Bacon

Mix first 11 ingredients together in large dutch oven.  Place bacon strips over top of beans.  Place pan in a smoker and smoke 2-3 hours.  Remove from smoker.  Dice bacon strips and return to beans.  Place beans on stove over low heat.  Simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes.

What's All This Then?

By way of introduction, I'm just doing this, this blog, for fun, and to put my recipes on the web so that I can find them easily.  Anyway, I'm no chef; I just enjoy cooking, some things more than others.  I'm wild about Tex-Mex and BBQ.  I love French cooking, Italian and Chinese and Thai.  Indian food is also high up on the list, although I don't eat it often.  

I am no idealogue when it comes to food.  If it tastes good, it is good.  A good dog at a ballpark or in front of the tube on opening day is as satisfying to me as pate de fois gras at The French Room in the Adolphus in Dallas.  Both, to me, are exquisite; wildly different, but terrific.  

Also on the idealogical front, I'm not a stickler for rules, i.e., red wine with meat (though more or less that's true), or use white pepper in a white sauce (which would ruin any self respecting cream gravy).  Short cuts are great, most of the time.  Sometimes, however, the longer process makes for much better tasting food.  

In any event, I'll be posting recipes that I've made up or, uh, borrowed.  Any readers (both of you) are free to comment, throw up their own recipes, share thoughts (as long as not terribly rude), and generally have fun.

TTFN