Tomato Soup

Really this red and really better than can soup from a can

I was sick earlier this month eating bread and soup for 7-10 days. Campbells Tomato soup became dinner on more than one occasion. The soup has a nostalgic but salty sodium and tinny flavor. I discovered this weekend that it doesnt take much to make a soup that blows Campbells lingering memory out of the way in 30-45 minutes. I also discovered the line between tomato soup, tomato sauce and bbq sauce can be a tricky one to walk. I used canned tomatoes, with summer a distant memory. You could easily roast fresh tomatoes if your climate or season allows.

Tomato Soup

1 red pepper

1 large onion, chopped

2 tblsp vegetable oil

36-38 oz canned crushed tomatoes (one big and one normal sized cans)

12 oz vegetable or chicken broth

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/4 tsp cayenne

1/4 tsp sriracha

1/2 tsp smoky Hungarian paprika

1 tsp sugar

4 drops liquid smoke (optional)

2 tblsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Core and de-seed red pepper. Wrap in foil and roast in 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes until cooked. Remove from oven, and let rest for 10 minutes. Remove skin, and chop. Meanwhile saute onion in oil until translucent in a large stock pot. Add roasted pepper, canned tomatoes, broth, spices, and sugar. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Puree in batches in a food processor or blender until smooth. Return pureed soup to pot and liquid smoke, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir, and its done. Serve with grilled cheese, bread, or whatever comforts.

Vegetable Hunting in Early Spring

I spent a solid 3 weeks consuming bread, cheese, meat, sugar, and dairy. Less of a craving, and more situational testing out recipes (scotch eggs, mac & cheese with bacon, shepards pie, mushroom pot pie, rolls, crackers, and more obscene baked goods Ill show you later) and cooking for a big dinner party. This week I decided to veg out at the Grand Army Plaza farmers market in Brooklyn. Its been a cold and wet spring in the New York City area, but you can still make a weeks meal from the goods at the market. Cheese, meat, yogurt, flours, grains, legumes, pickles, jam, bread, cookies, and doughnuts are popular 52 weeks a year at the market. Hard vegetables and and hardy leafy greens are out too. Here is some of the veggie porn for your viewing:


Mushrooms, as expensive as meat but hardy and full of minerals and fiber. Dont chop the character of these unique shrooms as an ingredient in other dishes. Saute them in butter or oil and let them stand on their own feet as a beautiful entree or side dish.

Spinach, cool weathers great irony, green gift for salads, layered in lasagna and pastas, soups, frittata, or simply steamed and tossed with sauteed garlic.

Potatoes are everywhere, parsnips are fewer found, but sunchokes (aka Jerusalem artichokes) are harder to find. Sunchokes with a smooth, nutty tuber taste can be lightly steamed and then sauteed in butter (really all farm fresh veggies are excellent this way), sliced and fried into chips, pickled, or roasted with other root vegetables like parsnips or carrot.

Apples are around most of the year too. Its a New Yorks specialty. Winesaps are my favorite orchard apple; crispy, tart with just a little sweetness. Perfect for eating raw. These winesaps reminded me of the kind I used to pick growing up in Ohio.

Radishes, turnips, kohlrabi, and daikon of all shapes, sizes with varying spicy flavors. These groundlings make awesome pickles, are great shredded or chopped into salads and slaws, sliced into discs for dip, or try a savory Asian daikon cake.

I also saw an abundance of carrots, squash, cabbage, leeks, onions, herbs, and ornamental flowers. Just a few stands had pea shoots. More of those plus ramps will be on their way soon. And oh I cant wait for my CSA to start up too.

Rainbow Cookies

Happy rainbow cookie will make you WORK

Rainbow cookies nearly defeated me. To make them requires almost 1 lb almond paste, 6 eggs, 2 lb of butter, lots of steps to make the batter, 3 rectangle pans to bake, many steps to assemble, and so much patience. Multiple steps means multiple ways to screw up, and once youve messed up a few steps youre going down a creek without a paddle. You can see the struggle in the photos, but I did not give up.

The cookies tasted fine, but not perfect. I found the recipe in the May 2o11 issue of Bon Appétit. You may also notice my cookies are yellow, red, and blue rather than the Italian reg, white, and green. I made the cookies to match my composting diagram for Prospect Farm. I brought the cookies to Compost for Brooklyns Block Party to highlight the layers of trench compost. Each cookie acted as a mini trench compost diagram. A cute idea that some appreciated, and had some asking is this made of dirt?

Rainbow Cookies
2 tblsp plus 2 cups unsalted butter, at room temp
6 large egg white
6 large egg yolks
1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
12 oz almond paste (not marzipan), chopped
2 3/4 cups plus 1 tblsp flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp red food coloring
1/2 tsp yellow food coloring
1 tsp blue food coloring
3/4 cup orange marmalade
4 oz bittersweet chocolate

Whip 6 egg whites until soft peaks form. Add 1/3 cup sugar and continue to beat until firm peaks form. Chill. Meanwhile line three 9 x 13 inch rectangular baking pans with foil, allowing foil to overhang length-wise. Grease foil and sides of the pans with 2 tablespoons of butter.

Add 1 cup of almond paste and sugar to a mixer and beat at medium speed for 5 minutes. Increase speed to medium high and slowly add 2 cups of butter. Beat until fluffy. Add in yolks, one at a time until combine. Add salt and flour, being careful not to over mix. Fold egg whites in two additions by hand with a spatula. Lots of work, eh? Take a breather.

Uggh, I hate artificial colors, but its a tradition.
You can use green in place of blue to, so Italian.

Preheat oven to 350. Divide batter into 3 bowls. Add 1 color of food coloring to each bowl, and fold until evenly colored. Now youre ready to bake. Transfer each colored batter into one prepared pan. Spread evenly, and place in oven. Bake for 9-12 minutes. Rotate pans half way. Remove cakes from the oven when batter is just set.

Yellow layer will go up, over, and on top of the marmalade covered red layer

Meanwhile melt marmalade. The recipe suggests you strain the peel parts out, but I think its fine to leave it in. Brush half of the marmalade on top of the red layer. Lift the yellow layer up using the overhanging foil. Flip top-side-down over the red layer. Peel foil back. Brush the top of the yellow layer with remaining marmalade. Lift the blue layer up using the overhanging foil. Flip top-side-down over the yellow layer. Do not peel the top layer of foil. Place a cookie sheet on top of blue layer. Carefully flip all layers on to the cookie sheet. Place another cookie sheet over the red layer. Weight down with cans, and chill for 4 hours or up to one day. Congratulate yourself on completing the hardest part of making rainbow cookies. You are out of the woods.

Ready to chill? The layers are.

Melt the 4 oz of chocolate over in a double boiler (or a heat proof bowl such as stainless steel or tempered glass, over boiling water) or in a microwave. Whichever you prefer. Remove cake layers from fridge, and peel back top layer of foil. Brush half the chocolate over the red layer.

Take your time, and the results will line up neater then mine. Less trimming equals less waste.

Place uncovered in freezer for 15 minutes to harden the chocolate. Remove from freezer. Place wax paper on top of chocolate layer. Replace cookie sheet over waxed paper, and carefully flip so blue layer is now up. Peel back foil on the blue layer. Brush remaining chocolate over blue layer. Freezer, uncovered for another 15 minutes until hardened. Cut the cookie into 1/2 - 3/4 inch slices. Serve! Finally! I kept mine in an airtight freezer container until they were ready to be served.