Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Eat My Words -- And My Roasted Garlic and Tomato Soup


“So Little Gold for So Much Work” – Gary, Blog Appetit husband, when he realized there would only be two and a half servings of soup.

I like making soup. My husband likes eating soup. Any soup product that results in less than eight servings with something left over for the freezer (the frozen soup is henceforth somewhat confusingly known as “liquid gold”) is considered unfortunate.

This soup was designed to use my “use it or lose it" veggies: a bit less than a pint of tired cherry tomatoes; two very soft large tomatoes, and a beginning-to-wrinkle red bell pepper. I decided to make a roasted garlic and tomato soup and served it with grilled cheese and avocado sandwiches made in the panini grill. There were just enough veggies for soup for two with a bit left over, which Noah, the future pastry chef, slurped down.

(By the way, this soup was very easy to make, so Gary was a bit inaccurate in his assessment of the soup-to-work ratio.)

Roasted Garlic and Tomato Soup
2-3 Servings

This recipe can be easily doubled. The roasted garlic is a predominant taste, so if you are not garlic fiends like us you may want to use significantly less.

Olive oil spray or olive oil
6-8 peeled garlic cloves, whole
Pint basket (more or less) of cherry tomatoes
2 large tomatoes, sliced in half
1 red bell pepper, seeded, cored and halved
Quart of chicken or vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup chopped fresh basil and/or parsley

Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Spray baking tray with olive oil spray or grease lightly with oil.
Spread garlic and vegetables on the tray. Large tomatoes and pepper should be cut side down. Spray or lightly grease tops of vegetables.
Roast, stirring garlic and cherry tomatoes occasionally until tomatoes and peppers are softened and blistered and the garlic is browned, about 25 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool a bit. Put into a large pot with any juices from the baking pan, add stock and salt and pepper. Cook over a medium heat until vegetables and garlic are cooked all the way through and are very soft.
Take off the heat and puree with an immersion hand blender or in batches in a regular blender.
Add chopped herbs and reheat. Serve topped with some fresh chopped basil or perhaps a bit of chopped ripe avocado.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Newly Minted See's and Other Good Things to Read

I've been a busy little poster and wanted to share what I've created for you over at Sugar Savvy.

My latest piece is the weekly See's Candies tasting. This week in The Chocolate Box -- See's Candies Mint Chocolate Truffle. Take a bite into my review here.

Those of you who appreciate good chocolate might also enjoy my exploration of the San Francisco Chronicle's roundup of emerging artisian chocolatiers in the Bay area. Enjoy it all with photos and ordering information but without calories here.

From things that delight to things that go boo in the night, check out the candy frights being offered for Halloween in this article. You still have time to order if liquid candy blood, gummy fingers and peppermint "battys" are on your Halloween menu.

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Where the Boys Are

What's up with the Blog Appetit Boys?

Noah (aka The Future Pastry Chef) is putting together a resume to apply for a food service related job. He hopes he gets one where he gets to use a knife. He has started his sophomore year of high school. When bored he bakes. Last night it was brownies at 11 p.m. From our bed, we heard him exclaim sometime later that they were "delicious." I did wonder what kind of dreams I would have going to bed with the house full of chocolate baking smells. The only dream I remember is about running for a ferry, so I don't think the chocolate wafting upstairs gave me sweet dreams!

The older one moved into his college dorm three weeks ago and started his freshman year at what has been called the best public university in the U.S. (not that I'm proud of him or anything.) He is just 20 minutes away from home, but we all treat it like intersecting universes. He has his world, we have ours and we sometimes interconnect. We are lucky he calls us often and includes us in what's going on his life and laundry. He has taken some forays into cooking and asked for a pot and a can opener. Well, it's a start.

Noche the cat misses his special someone and is making up for it by being especially affectionate to those of us who remain at home. He is sleeping in the college boy's empty bed, but who wouldn't? With a memory foam mattress and a down comforter, its the cushiest place in the house.

Friday, September 08, 2006

Is the Normandie See's Worthy?


The Normandie was a very special ocean liner. The French Line's prestige ship combined good (Art Deco) looks and luxury appointments with top performance and was considered the greatest passenger ship of its time.

The Normandie is a dark chocolate covered buttercream candy made by See's Candies. Will it live up to the image and performance of its famous namesake? Click on over to Sugar Savvy to read my my post and rating of the Normandie.

Friday, September 01, 2006

See's The Time to Try a Maple Nut Buttercream

Life might get busy here at Blog Appetit and prevent me from posting as often I would like, but there is always time for chocolate. And for writing about See's Candies once a week. See this week's contributions to The Chocolate Box at Sugar Savvy about See's tasty Dark Chocolate Maple Nut Buttercream.