Tomato Soup with Bacon and Blue Cheese

I first had this soup at a church banquet.  It was creamy, flavorful, soothing, and wonderful.  I was quite surprised to learn that it had blue cheese in it since the strong flavor of the blue cheese wasn't detectable.  My husband, who dislikes blue cheese couldn't taste the cheese either.  The cheese, however, does add creaminess to the soup.  I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as I do.  It combines four of my favorite ingredients - tomato, bacon, blue cheese, and garlic!  Enjoy!

Tomato Soup with Bacon and Blue Cheese
2 tbsp butter
1 leek (green and white parts)
1 carrot
4 cloves garlic, coarsley chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
48 oz crushed tomatoes
32 oz chicken broth
5-6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
4 oz blue cheese
6 tbsp heavy cream
6 leaves basil
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped


Coarsely chop the carrots and leeks.

Melt butter in a stock pot or dutch oven over medium heat.  Add leeks and carrots and cook until carrots start to get tender.  Add in the garlic and cook until some of the garlic turns a light tan. 

Add the chicken stock, tomatoes, salt, pepper, and bacon.   

Bring to a boil and let simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hour.  You want to reduce the broth a little, but make sure not to reduce it too much.  I let it reduce about 1/2 inch .

Remove from heat and add the basil, parsley, cream, and blue cheese. 

Using a "boat motor," blend the soup until creamy and there are no chunks remaining in the soup.  You can also use a food processor or blender to cream the soup.  If you do this, cream the soup in multiple small batches.  Return to the heat and heat just until the soup is simmering.  Serve with any bread of your choice.  Enjoy!

One final note:  I used my home grown peeled, seeded, crushed tomatoes that I had frozen in the freezer.  The original recipe calls for 3 lbs of fresh tomatoes.  If you choose to use fresh tomatoes, the recipe calls for peeling, seeding, and quartering them, placing them on a baking pan, and seasoning with some salt and pepper.  You are to then roast them in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes.  I'm not sure this is necessary as the soup I made tonight tasted the same as the soup made with the roasted tomatoes.  If I didn't have my own tomaotes, I would have used half Muir Glen's fire roasted crushed tomatoes, and half regular crushed canned tomatoes.  The type of tomatoes you use is your choice and what makes cooking so fun! 

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

This is my mother-in-law's recipe that she created for a Cattlewoman's cook off.  She didn't win, but I think it is pretty wonderful.  I really like this recipe because it doesn't have any bell peppers or tomato products in the sauce.  Sorry I don't have any pictures for this recipe.  Enjoy!

Sweet and Sour Meatballs
For the meatballs:
1.5 lbs ground beef, venison, or a mixture of the two
1 c bread crumbs
1 c milk
1 egg
1 medium onion, grated (this hides the onion from people who normally wouldn't eat it)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp dried sage
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder (or if you have the minced garlic in a jar, then about 1 tbsp)
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

For the sauce:
1 c sugar (Splenda works perfectly if you want to cut back on calories or for diabetics)
3/4 c apple cider vinegar
2 c water
1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple
1 tsp salt
water and cornstarch to thicken

Using a mixer (or your hands if you want), combine all the meatball ingredients and mix until all ingredients are evenly distributed.

I hate rolling the meatballs and frying all of them.  You can do this if you wish, but I prefer to bake the meat.  There are two ways I do this, depending on my level of ambition.  If I want to make actual meat"balls", I use a melon baller to make uniform balls, place them on a jelly roll sheet (the one with an edge), and bake them in a 375 degree oven until they are cooked through.  If I don't want to spend all the time making the balls, I evenly spread the meat mixture into a jelly roll pan, then cut 1 inch squares using a pizza cutter.  Leave the meat in the jelly roll pan to cook it, again in a 375 degree oven until it is cooked through.  The meatballs will then be meat squares, but the flavor doesn't depend on the shape of the meat!

In a dutch oven, or a large sauce pan, combine all the ingredients for the sauce and turn the heat on low.  Add the meatballs once the sugar is dissolved, cover, and let simmer for 1 hour.  Gently stir periodically, but be careful not to break apart the meatballs. About 10 minutes before serving, in a small bowl, mix about 2 heaping tbsp of cornstarch with enough water to make a thick liquid.  Slowly pour the cornstarch mixture into the sauce and gently stir.  Let it return to a simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the sauce is thicker.  Serve the sweet and sour meatballs over rice.  Enjoy!

Basil and Garlic Cream Sauce

This sauce makes you want to close your eyes and pretend you are in a beautiful and expensive Italian restaurant somewhere in Italy.  You smell garlic, basil, sweet cream, and white wine.  Heaven in a pan!

This sauce is so easy to make, it just takes some patience.  I serve it over fresh store bought ravioli.  The flavor of the ravioli should go with garlic and basil, so feel free to experiment.  I especially like it on a sundried tomato and artichoke ravioli.  Enjoy!

Basil and Garlic Cream Sauce  (for Two)
10 basil leaves (You can use a few more if you want a stronger basil flavor.)
2 cloves garlic
1/3 c white wine
1 c heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp cold butter
salt and pepper to taste

In a blender, food processor, or using one of those small "boat motor" blenders, puree the basil, garlic, and wine until the basil and garlic is smooth.

Pour basil mixture into a small sauce pan along with the cream.  Turn the heat on low and let the mixture reduce by about 1/3, stirring occasionally.  This is where the patience comes in because this should take about 30-40 minutes.  Don't turn the heat up to speed up the process.  Let it simmer.  Let the flavors mingle.  Play on facebook while you wait.

When the sauce is reduced, remove it from the heat and let it set for a few minutes.  Then whisk in one tablespoon of butter at a time, letting the sauce absorb the butter before you add the next tablespoon.  Adding the cold butter a little at a time will allow the butter to be incorporated into the sauce without it separating into sauce and fat.  At this point, taste the sauce and add salt and pepper as you feel is needed. 

Pour sauce over cooked ravioli and savor the experience!  Enjoy!