The weather has been pretty chilly and rainy in Seattle, providing the perfect opportunity for tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. I love this particular recipe for tomato soup because it's creamy and hearty thanks to a little cream cheese. It works equally well with fresh tomatoes or canned tomatoes, making it convenient to make with whatever is on hand.The recipe calls for fresh basil, which isn't in season right now. I substituted dried basil, but, alas, it's just not the same. The soup is still good (and it will certainly make good leftovers tomorrow), but there's just nothing like the flavor of fresh basil.
The grilled cheese sandwiches are on the whole wheat bread I made on Sunday. The trick with making the perfect grilled cheese sandwich, in my opinion, is to use defrosted bread with plenty of cheddar cheese that is slowly toasted on a skillet over low or medium-low heat.
As Sean pointed out this evening, this method creates three distinct layers on each slice of bread: a toasty golden outer layer, soft inner bread layer and a layer of melty, cheese-absorbed bread. While I am a grilled cheese purist, preferring only cheddar cheese on my sandwich, Sean's grilled cheese sandwich has a few dashes of Tabasco to give it a bit of a kick. Eh, he seems to like it so that's all that matters to me.
What's your cold weather comfort food?
1 comment:
Mmmm, that looks and sounds so yummy! I've got to try that. Hmmm, I only need a blender. The cheese sandwiches look good too, but I have to admit, I'm not a big fan of melted cheddar. It seems too greasy in that stage. I also, try to put a few different cheeses. Also, don't forget, if the cheese isn't oozing out all over the place, then there's not enough cheese!
Post a Comment