Fall and Winter Cooking

At the end of the garden season, you'll have several pounds of heirloom tomatoes in various conditions, not suitable for slicing. What to do with them? Fresh tomato soup! For 4-5 servings: take 5 pounds of tomatoes, wash and trim or cut out the bad spots and drop in boiling water 1-2minutes, plunge in ice water, slide off the skins and remove to a chopping board. Chop the tomatoes and set aside. In a soup pot, melt 1/2 stick of butter with a medium chopped onion and 1 clove of garlic, minced. When the onion and garlic are translucent, add the chopped tomatoes. Use an emulsion blender if you like the soup smooth or if you're like me and prefer it a bit chunky, use a hand-held potato masher. Add kosher salt and pepper, and 1-2 tablespoons of brown sugar. Add 1 teaspoon of baking soda and fizz! Let it simmer a few minutes. Now add 8-10 ounces of heavy cream, a few shakes of Tabasco sauce, and it's done! To thicken, you may add a bit of chicken stock. Otherwise, top with fresh basil and some croutons!