Peach Butter

Like apple butter, but sweeter

Of the various jam recipes, this one is probably the easiest (you make it in a crockpot, thus relieving the need to stand over a hot stove), but it takes the longest. The recipe said it should take 6 to 12 hours to cook. My crockpot must not be as hot because it took me nearly 24 hours.

Eat Rating: Awesome. Sweeter than apple butter, but just as spicy and delicious.
Difficulty: Easy to Medium. Requires food processor, crockpot and canning equipment.

(For a refresher on canning jam, see previous post on Strawberry Jam or check out this site from the USDA.)

Recipe makes about 5 pints or 10 half pints.

Adapted from Pick Your Own

10 cups of peaches, peeled and pitted (about 30 peaches)
4 cups of sugar
2 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp allspice

Puree the peaches in the food processor. You want the peach mixture to be as smooth as possible to make smooth butter.

Add the peaches, sugar and spices to the crockpot. Stir until combined. Turn the crockpot up to high. Cover with the lid ajar so that there is some room for steam to escape. (LN: A good way to do this, as the recipe suggests, is to take two butter knives and lay them across the top of the crockpot. Then set the lid on top of the knives. Just a warning, though, the heat oxidized the metal in one of my knives so now it has all these dark gunmetal-gray splotches.)

Cook the peach mixture for 6 to 12 hours. You want the mixture to reduce by about half. To test if it's ready, stir and then pull out the spoon with some of the peach butter on it. Let cool for a minute then turn the spoon over. If it's ready, most of the butter will stick to the spoon. You want it thick, the consistency of natural peanut butter. If it's not thick enough, continue to cook for another hour, then test again. It if gets too thick, add a little water.

Pour hot peach butter into hot jars, top with lids and rings. Water bath can for 5 minutes.

The butter will keep unopened for up to a year. Once opened, eat within 2-3 weeks.

Vegan Maple Banana Ice Cream

Easiest ice cream ever.

I found this on Apartment Therapy The Kitchn and frankly its pretty damn genius. As I mentioned before, I always get sad when I come across ice cream recipes that require an ice cream maker because I don't have one. But this recipe for banana ice cream doesn't require an ice cream maker or even dairy products. Just frozen bananas and any extra flavorings you might want. I added some maple syrup but CCO's brother suggested it might also be good with a little bit of bourbon.

Eat Rating: Awesome. Deliciously smooth with a very real banana flavor.
Difficulty: Easy. Requires a food processor or blender.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Adapted from The Kitchn

5 medium-sized bananas, frozen
2 tbsp maple syrup

Peel the bananas and place in a food processor. Pulse several times to break up. Through the feed tube, add the maple syrup. Pulse again until smooth. Place the banana mixture into a plastic container and freeze at least 1 hour before serving.

Peach Ginger Jam

CCO says this picture reminds him of those faces on Easter Island.

My mom was skeptical about this recipe. But she was similarly skeptical of the Strawberry Balsamic and that one turned out awesome. I think I won her over.

This jam takes 3/4 cup of fresh ginger. You could probably use ginger paste, the kind you find at Asian grocery stores if you didn't want to do all that peeling. The ginger gives the jam a big kick. No subtlety here.

Eat Rating: Awesome. (Only if you like ginger, though)
Difficulty: Medium. Requires a food processor, canning equipment.

(For a refresher on canning jam, see previous post on Strawberry Jam or check out this site from the USDA.)

Recipe yields about 3 pints or 6 half-pints.

Adapted from Mimi's Cyber Kitchen

3 cups peaches, peeled, pitted and chopped
3/4 cup fresh ginger, peeled and diced (LN: I recommend using the food processor)
1 lemon juiced (about 2 tbsp)
1/2 cup water
1 box pectin (1.75 oz or about 3/8 cup)
6 cups of sugar

Take the largest pot you own, fill halfway with water and set on a back burner over medium heat. You will use this later. Place your jars on a cookie sheet and slide into a cold oven. Turn up the heat to 250 degrees. Once it reaches temperature, turn off the oven but leave the jars inside. Place the jar lids and rings in a bowl and set aside.

Combine peaches, ginger, lemon juice, water and pectin in a large saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil. Add the sugar, then return to a boil. Cook 1 additional minute.

Use a ladle to pour some of the hot water from the large pot into the bowl with the lids and rings. This will sterilize them.

Remove a few jars from the oven with a clean dish towel. Ladle the hot jam into the jars, wipe clean the lip of the jars and affix a lid. Twist on a ring till finger tight, then place the filled jar in the large pot of hot water.

Repeat until you run out of jam. You want the jars in the large pot to be completely submerged in water. Add more water if necessary. Return water to a boil, then boil the jars for 10 minutes. Remove jars from pot. The tops should pop as the jars return to room temperature. If any of the jars have not popped within 24 hours, reboil.

The jam will keep unopened for up to a year. Once opened, finish the jam within 2-3 weeks.

Couscous and Feta Stuffed Peppers

The reason I didn't have enough peppers to pickle.

I liked this recipe but I shall share a secret: I don't actually like stuffed peppers. The fillings are definitely good. I always feel like the peppers get dried out, though, and taste somewhat leathery. Half the time I just end up eating all the filling out. But this filling was so delicious, I've made just the filling another half dozen times and eaten it all by itself. If you want to do that, just skip the part about baking the pepper shells and chop one to add to the onion/zucchini mixture.

Eat Rating: Delicious, though better without the outer-pepper shell.
Difficulty: Easy.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 1/4 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup of dry couscous
5 bell peppers
1 tbsp olive oil
1 zucchini, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup chickpeas, either canned or soaked overnight then cooked (LN: CCO liked them, but I've omitted them subsequent times)
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp fennel seeds (can omit if you don't like the taste of fennel)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the tops off the bell peppers and pull out the seeds and membrane. Place the peppers cut side up on a baking sheet and cook for 10 minutes until softened. Remove from oven and set aside.

While the peppers are baking, in a small saucepan, bring the broth to a boil. Remove from heat, add the couscous and stir just until combined. Cover and let sit for 10-15 minutes.

If desired, cut the stem out of the middle of the pepper tops and chop the leftover peppers.

In a large saute pan, heat oil then add the onions, zucchini and pepper if using. Saute for about 5-7 minutes until softened. Add the chickpeas, fennel seed and tomato paste. Cook another minute. Remove from heat.

With a fork, fluff the couscous, then add to the vegetable mixture. Stir well, then add the feta cheese and mix until well combined.

Fill the pre-baked peppers with the couscous mixture. Return the peppers to the oven for 5 minutes until cheese has softened. Serve immediately.

Peach Vanilla Jam

Peach vanilla

It is finally August, which means two things: 1) Congress go away for five weeks and 2) I am finally allowed to go on vacation. Or in this year's case, staycation. My mom and I decided a great way to kick off my staycation would be to do an enormous canning project. On Saturday, we'd pick up a bushel of peaches and make jam and Sunday we'd do the same with tomatoes. We are nothing if not ambitious.

I realize now this was insane. We accidentally chose the hottest weekend in the year. Also canning requires a lot of standing. By the end I thought I might collapse. But I did end up with:
- 5 pints peach nectar
- 5 pints peach butter
- 5 pints peach jam
- 6 pints peach-ginger jam
- 4ish pints peach-vanilla jam
- 3 quarts peaches in rum

To avoid boring everyone, I'll post one recipe a week about Leah's adventures in canning. First up, peach vanilla jam.

A couple weeks ago, I was reading the Washington Post Food Section blog and saw this post on vanilla. I've always avoided cooking with vanilla beans, not so much because they are difficult but because of the expense. At my local grocery store, a bottle of one or two vanilla beans runs about $8. In the blog post, Monica Bhide mentions that vanilla beans are a lot cheaper if you buy them online. I looked at Saffron.com like she suggests and 1 lb of vanilla beans (that's 100-120) runs $20. I bought 1/2 lb of two types: Tahitian vanilla and Vanilla planifolia. (Vanilla Garlic has a good post on the different varieties of vanilla if you're interested.

Vanilla Beans

In this French-enclosure jar I bought specially of them, they'll keep forever. (Alright, maybe not forever but at least a couple years)

The Post had also done a big story complete with recipes on jam-making a few weeks back. Sadly it wasn't in time for my first jam session of the year, but I was intrigued by the recipe for Strawberry Vanilla. I googled, and came across this recipe. The jam is mostly peach with just a hint of vanilla. I think it's my favorite find so far. The recipe recommends starting 48 hours early and letting the vanilla beans sit in the sugar. You can obviously do that, but it didn't seem that necessary. I let my beans sit in the sugar for about 2 hours and the taste is plenty vanilla.

Note: For all the peach recipes, you will need to peel the peaches. To do this easily, boil water in a medium saucepan. Drop in a peach for about 30 seconds, then remove with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl of ice water. The hot water loosens the skin from the fruit, the ice helps it separate even more and keeps you from burning your hands. The skins should easily slide off.


(For a refresher on canning jam, see previous post on Strawberry Jam or check out this site from the USDA.)

Recipe yields about 3 pints or 6 half-pints.

Eat Rating: Awesome. I had intended to give away some of my jam, but now I just want to keep it for myself.
Difficulty: Medium. Canning equipment needed.

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Magazine, August 1997

2 1/2 lbs peaches, skinned, pitted and sliced
5 1/2 cups sugar
2 vanilla beans
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 box pectin (1.75 oz -- about 3/8 cup)
1 tbsp bourbon

Measure sugar into a large bowl. Cut open the vanilla beans (for an example, see here) and let sit in the sugar for 48 hours. (LN: I let mine sit covered for 2 hours.)

When you are ready to begin cooking, take the largest pot you own, fill halfway with water and set on a back burner over medium heat. You will use this later. Place your jars on a cookie sheet and slide into a cold oven. Turn up the heat to 250 degrees. Once it reaches temperature, turn off the oven but leave the jars inside. Place the jar lids and rings in a bowl and set aside.

In a large saucepan, combine the sliced peaches, lemon juice and pectin. Heat, stirring constantly, until the peaches begin to boil, about 5 minutes. Add the sugar and vanilla beans. Return to a rolling boil, then cook about 1 additional minute. Remove from heat, stir in bourbon. Fish out the vanilla beans. (You can save these to use again, but you might want to rinse to get the peach stickiness off).

Use a ladle to pour some of the hot water from the large pot into the bowl with the lids and rings. This will sterilize them.

Remove a few jars from the oven with a clean dish towel. Ladle the hot jam into the jars, wipe clean the lip of the jars and affix a lid. Twist on a ring till finger tight, then place the filled jar in the large pot of hot water.

Repeat until you run out of jam. You want the jars in the large pot to be completely submerged in water. Add more water if necessary. Return water to a boil, then boil the jars for five minutes. Remove jars from pot. The tops should pop as the jars return to room temperature. If any of the jars have not popped within 24 hours, reboil.

The jam will keep unopened for up to a year. Once opened, finish the jam within 2-3 weeks.

On toast

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce with Pasta and Mozzarella

Better than tomatoes.

In a fit of inspiration (insanity?), I bought five pounds of peppers at Eastern Market the other day. The intention was to pickle them, but then a recipe for stuffed peppers struck my fancy. After I made those, I was one pepper short of the pickled peppers recipe. Instead I roasted them and left them in a jar of olive oil in my fridge for a few days. I thought I might try making a red pepper pesto to use up the leftover pine nuts, but then I found this recipe, which seemed perfect. Pine nuts and red pepper might be weird anyway.

The recipe calls for you to use store bought roasted red peppers. You can obviously do that, but to roast your own, heat the oven to 450 degrees and place two red peppers on a baking sheet. Cook 10 minutes, flip over and cook 10 more on the other side. You want the skins to be blackened and shrivelling. Remove from the oven and use tongs to place in a bowl. Cover the top of the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for about 15-20 minutes. Remove the plastic wrap. The skins should slide off easily. Tug the stem and the top and seeds should also remove easily. Use immediately or pack in oil in a jar and refrigerate.

Eat Rating: Awesome.
Difficulty: Easy. Requires food processor or blender.

Adapted from Food and Wine February 2008, via Kate in the Kitchen

1 lb dried gemelli (LN: I'm not even sure which one that is. I used penne)
2 roasted red peppers
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 cloves of garlic
2 sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil (LN: Omitted. I was out.)
9 fresh basil leaves, divided
6 oz. fresh mozzarella, cut into 1-inch cubes
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a large pot of water to boil and cook the pasta according to the package instructions.

While pasta is cooking, place the peppers, olive oil, tomato paste, garlic, tomatoes and 3 basil leaves in a food processor. Pulse to combine.

Once pasta is cooked, drain and toss with the sauce and mozzarella. Tear up the rest of the basil and add to the pasta. Serve topped with parmesan cheese.

Programming Note

If you read I Like to Eat via an RSS feed, you may have noticed some changes today. I wanted to make my feed a little sexier by adding the photos from my posts, so I switched to FeedBurner. Sadly I couldn't actually figure out how to do that (yet). But it did let me add my "Recipes to Try" delicious feed. So in addition to seeing my realtime list of awesome looking recipes on the sidebar of the blog, you will now get a daily summary of anything I've added to Delicious in your RSS. Let me know if you hate it and I'll consider removing it. Right now, I sort of like it.

It's a Recession! Canned Peaches

Peaches come in a can.

Eat Rating: Delicious. Very light syrup.
Difficulty: Easy to Medium. You will need one very large pot, big enough for the jars to stand straight up submerged in water.

Makes about 6 quarts.

Adapted from the Ball Blue Book of Canning

1 peck (about 11 to 12 lbs) freestone peaches, any variety
1 1/4 cups sugar
5 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup lemon juice

Take the large pot and arrange some extra rings along the bottom. Fill the big pot with water about halfway full and begin to heat. Get out two large bowls. Fill one bowl with ice water and the other with lemon juice.

Place the jars on a cookie sheet and place in a cold oven. Heat the oven up to 250 degrees, then turn off, leaving the jars inside.

Once the water is boiling, dunk the peaches one by one in the hot water for about 30 seconds, then place in the bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.

Once all the peaches have been dunked, pour some of the hot water into a small saucepan and place the tops and rings into it to sterilize. Set on a back burner on low. Keep the rest of the water in the large pot hot. You will need it later.

In a medium-sized saucepan, combine the sugar and 5 1/2 cups of water, stirring until dissolved. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to simmer.

Once the peaches have been dunked, the skins should slide off easily. (Keep the skins to make peach honey or discard.) Place the de-skinned peaches in the bowl with lemon juice, making sure to get some juice on all sides to prevent browning.

Remove a jar from the oven using a clean kitchen towel.

With a paring knife, cut the peaches in half all the way around, then twist off the pit. Remove the pit and discard. Make sure to dunk the inside of the peach in the lemon juice to prevent browning. Place the peach halves (or quarters if you'd prefer) in the hot jar. Fill it up until there is only about a 1/2 inch below the top. Slowly pour some of the water-sugar liquid into the jar until it completely covers the peaches and reaches about 1/4 inch below the lip. Wipe down the lip of the jar. Remove a lid and ring from the water and place the lid on the lip of the jar. Twist the ring until finger-tight. Using the jar lifter, carefully place the filled jar into the largest pot of water on top of the rings, being careful that it does not touch the sides of the pot.

Fill the remaining jars. You might run out of syrup before you run out of peaches. If that happens, just make another batch -- 5 1/2 cups water to 1 1/4 cup sugar.

Once all the jars are filled and in the large pot, add more water so that the jars are completely submerged. Heat until the water reaches a boil, then cook the canned peaches for 30 minutes.

Remove from the pot and allow the jars to come to room temperature. As they cool, you should hear the popping noise as the jars pressurize. Once the jars are room temperature, check that they have all sealed properly. If any have not, reboil for another 30 minutes.

The canned peaches will keep unopened for up to a year. Once opened, eat within a week. The peaches can also be drained and used in any recipes substituted for fresh peaches.

Bread and Butter Pickles

Bread and butter pickles have always been my grandma's favorite. Unlike tart dill pickles, these are sweeter, probably from the 2 cups of sugar added to the vinegar during cooking, and a little spicier than your regular pickle. They get their signature yellow-green color from tumeric added to the vinegar during cooking. Bread and butter pickles supposedly got their name during the Great Depression when people would eat them on sandwiches in the place of meat between two pieces of buttered bread. That sounds somewhat gross, but I wouldn't be surprised if my Gram ate them that way. She has, after all, been known to drink pickle juice on occasion.

B&B's are best served as a side dish or a condiment to hamburgers.

This recipe makes 1 quart.

Eat Rating: Awesome. I am more partial to these than straight dill.
Difficulty: Easy to Medium.

Adapted from Brock Kuhlman, Hill's Kitchen

3 pickling cucumbers, cut into 1/4-1/2 inch slices
1 white onion, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 cup pickling salt
1 1/4 cup white vinegar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tsp crushed red pepper
3/4 tsp celery seeds (LN: Omitted. Didn't have any.)
1 inch cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
6 whole all spice
6 whole cloves
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
1 tsp alum (LN: Omitted)

Place the cucumbers and onions in a colander sitting over a bowl and sprinkle vegetables with the salt. Let sit in the fridge overnight.

Place the jar(s) on a cookie sheet and place in the cold oven. Heat to 250 degrees. Once the oven reaches temperature, turn off the heat and leave the jars sitting in the oven.

Wash the cucumbers and onions to remove residual salt. Set aside.

Fill a small pot with water, bring to a boil then toss in the jar lids and rings to sterilize.

In a medium-sized pot, combine the vinegar, sugar and spices. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add the cucumbers and onions to the vinegar, then boil an additional 30 seconds.

Remove a jar from the oven with a clean kitchen towel. Using a slotted spoon, fill the jar with cucumbers and onions, leaving at least 1/4 inch of space from the top of jar. Once filled with cucumbers, pour vinegar into the jar, making sure the cucumbers are completely submerged and there is at least 1/8 inch between the top of the jar and the vinegar.

Remove lid and ring from water. Wipe the lip of the jar to make sure it is clean and nothing will mess up your seal. Place ring on lip of jar, then tighten the ring until it is finger tight.

Let the capped jar sit upright for two minutes, then flip over so the jar is sitting on its top and leave upside down for 10 minutes. Flip back over and let come to room temperature. The lid should form an airtight seal. You will know if when you push down on the lid it does not give.

Pickles are best if steeped 4 weeks but can be eaten after 10 days. Once the jar has been opened, eat within a few weeks.

Pickled Carrots

I'm not an enormous carrot fan. Probably because, like celery, I associate carrots with dieting. But when I saw all the spring carrots at the farmer's market, I felt the need to buy them.

Peel the carrots. You can either cut them into uniform sticks like David Leibovitz did or just cut off the ends and leave them in the vague carrot shape like I did.

I did diverge from him in one respect: he suggests cold packing, ie allowing the pickling liquid and carrots to come to room temperature and then packing the jars. Since I'm somewhat paranoid about contamination, I just hot-packed mine. If you want to cold pack, follow his directions.

Makes 1 quart.

Eat Rating: Good. For carrots.
Difficulty: Easy to Medium.

From David Leibovitz

1 lb carrots, peeled
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 1/2 tsp fennel seeds (LN: He says you can also use dill or anise seeds)
1 1/2 tbsp salt
2 bay leaves

Place the jar in the cold oven on a cookie sheet, then turn up the heat to 250 degrees. Once the oven reaches temperature turn it off.

Bring a medium-sized pot of water to boil, then drop in the carrots for 2 minutes. Drain carrots and douse in cold water to stop the cooking.

Fill a small saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Drop in the lid and ring for the jar.

In the same medium-sized pot, add the water, vinegar, sugar and spices. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer two minutes. Add the carrots. Cook one minute more.

Remove the jar from the oven using a clean kitchen towel. Using tongs, place the carrots in the jar. Then pour the pickling liquid over the carrots, making sure the carrots are completely submerged liquid reaches at least 1/4 inch below the top of the jar. Remove the lid and ring from the hot water and place on top of jar. Screw the ring on finger tight. Let the jar sit upright for two minutes, then flip over so it is resting on the lid. Leave upside down for 10 minutes, then flip over.

As the jar comes to room temperature, it should pressurize and seal.

The pickled carrots will keep for up to a year. Once the jar is opened, eat within 4 weeks.

It's a Recession!: Homemade Dill Pickles

"Canning is the new knitting," according Brock Kuhlman, the chef instructor at Hill's Kitchen in Eastern Market.

A few weeks ago, I took his class on pickling. It was sort of a strange class choice. For one thing, I don't love pickles. I mean I like some pickles, relish in particular. But when they ask me at the deli whether I need a dilled spear with my sandwich, I usually say no. However, I thought it would be cool and I didn't already know how to do it. In the past, I've found a lot of cooking classes to be very elementary (this one CCO and I took in the winter, the instructor spent about five minutes talking about the difference between an onion and a shallot.) This one, though, was pretty cool. He covered the science behind pickling, several different methods and about four recipes. At one point, I even got to be his Vanna White-like assistant to help with the Chow Chow.

Canning is not as hard as you think. I've done it for years with jam, but he still showed me a couple new tricks. Most important rule: when cutting the cucumbers, make sure the spears will fit in the jar. You're pretty much screwed if you're filling jars and then realize the spears are too long. I've also started always using his oven-sterilization method. So much easier than boiling the jars.

Buy very firm cucumbers.

Pickling salt is plain salt without the extra compounds they add in to prevent clumping. If you can't find pickling salt at the store, look for sea salt.

This recipe made me about 4 quarts (actually 3 1/2, but it could have been four). If you want fewer, you can cut the recipe in half, but it's very important you not change the ratio of water to vinegar. Otherwise you might mess up the chemical balance.

Eat Rating: These are pretty sour and very dill-y.
Difficulty: Medium. You need two pots. It's a good idea to have a funnel and a jar lifter on hand.

Adapted from Brock Kuhlman

4 pickling cucumbers
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup cider vinegar
4 cups water
2/3 cup pickling salt
16 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1/2 of a bunch of fresh dill, washed thoroughly
2 tbsp red pepper flakes
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
4 bay leaves, crumbled or torn into smaller pieces
2 tsp alum* (LN: Omitted)

Prepare the cucumbers. Wash them to remove any dirt, then cut off the ends. Cut into quarters, lengthwise to make spears. Place the spears in a bowl of ice water and soak for two hours.

About half an hour before your cucumbers will be ready, place 4 clean, quart-sized jars on a cookie sheet and set in the cold oven. Turn the temperature up to 250 degrees. When the oven reaches 250 degrees, turn it off and leave the jars inside.

Heat a small pot of water to boil, then reduce heat. Drop the rings and tops in. You will need these later.

In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the water, vinegar and spices to a boil. Drain the cucumbers and add to the vinegar mixture. Return to a boil and cook for about 1 minute.

With a clean kitchen towel, remove the jars from the oven. Using tongs, place several cucumber spears in the jar, along with a few garlic cloves and some dill, if possible. Once the jars are packed with cucumbers, set the funnel on top of a jar and fill with vinegar mixture, making sure that the cucumbers are completely covered by the liquid.

Remove a lid from the hot water and place on top of the jar. Take a ring and twist it onto the jar finger tight. Do this for all the jars, then let them sit for two minutes. Flip the jar over so they are standing on the lid. Let sit upside down for 10 minutes, then flip right-side up. This will pressurize the jar, creating an airtight seal with the lid. You can tell if it has sealed correctly because you won't be able to push down on the lid.

Allow the pickles to sit in a cool place for six to eight weeks before opening. Once opened, enjoy the pickles within a few weeks.

* Alum is a chemical used in canning to help maintain the crispness of the produce. If you buy firm produce and use the plumping method outlined at the beginning of the recipe, you don't really need alum.

Tomato Bread Soup

Crunchy and soft, all in one.

I have been sick with a cold for several days now, drinking pitcher upon pitcher of water and pots of tea. A couple days ago I picked up a few heirloom tomatoes at the farmer's market, intending to make caprese salad this weekend. Instead, I opted for Tomato Basil soup. But since I can never do anything without a little bit of flair, I opted for this tomato bread soup I had seen on Mark Bitman's blog awhile back. It's similar to French onion soup, with chunks of bread incorporated into the soup to give it some bulk. I did make one change: I held back a couple chunks of the bread and used them to top the soup like croutons, so there were several textures from the sogginess of the bread that sits for 10 minutes plus some crunch from the crouton tops.

To peel the tomatoes easily, heat a pot of water to boiling, then drop each tomato in the water for about 10 seconds. The skins should easily peel off.

Eat Rating: Awesome. I'm sensing a new staple.
Difficulty: Very easy. One pot even.

Adapted from Tomato Soup With Bread (Pappa al Pomodoro), Bitten Blog, NYT

1/4 cup olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 cups of tomato, peeled, cored, seeded and chopped (LN: This was about 3 large-ish heirlooms)
2 cups of broth, water or tomato juice
1/2 loaf of crusty bread, preferably day-old, cut or torn into bite-size chunks (LN: I used a baguette bought that morning, cubes toasted in the oven for a few minutes)
1/2 cup basil leaves torn into bits
Salt and pepper to taste

In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the oil then add the onion and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occassionally, until the onions have softened. Add the tomatoes, then cook for 10-15 minutes until the tomatoes have broken down. Add the broth/water/juice, return to boil. Add the hunks of bread, reserving a handful, and the basil leaves. Stir to combine, then remove from heat. Let the soup sit for 10 minutes to let it soak into the bread chunks.

Serve immediately, topped with some parmesan cheese and the reserved croutons.