Ultimate Cream of Tomato Soup

October 2024

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated, November 1999

I have made tomato soup using several different recipes and have written about some of them here.  Unfortunately it is not practical to compare the several recipes and my memory is not good enough to do a comparison that is not side-by-side. But I can try the recipe and write about the results so I have something to go by the next time I want to make, in this case, tomato soup.

I made just two changes to the ingredients, omitting both the brandy and the cayenne pepper. The key ingredient is two cans of whole tomatoes packed in juice. The tomatoes were drained, retaining the juice, and seeded. They were sprinkled with brown sugar and roasted to bring out their flavor. While the tomatoes roasted and cooled, the remaining ingredients were prepared. Then, diced shallots, tomato paste, and allspice were cooked in a large saucepan. Flour was added and cooked. Chicken stock, reserved tomato juice, and roasted tomatoes were stirred in and simmered to blend flavors. The mixture was strained and the solids were blended with 1 cup of the liquids until smooth. The pureed mixture, strained liquids, and cream were stirred together in a cleaned saucepan and cooked over low heat. Salt was added to finish the dish. Total time was 1 hour, 40 minutes.

We liked the soup and were impressed with its sweet and strong tomato flavor. The texture was just right for tomato soup. Diane commented that it was better than recipes that used bread as a thickener. The recipe made enough soup for 3-4 dinners for two. 

Double-Glazed Salmon

 10 June 2023

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated, September 2022, p. 8

I've been wanting to increase the amount of fish that we eat, for various reasons. Over the last few years, Whole Foods has started stocking portioned, frozen fillets of various varieties of fish. (For example, these farm-raised Atlantic salmon.) These are very convenient! They sit in the freezer so they are always available. They are pre-portioned and individually wrapped so there is no waste as we always have an appropriate amount to use for dinner for two.  Coming from Whole Foods I trust that the fish are harvested from a sustainable population. We started with haddock and cod and have slowly added to our selection, primarily salmon with both farm-raised and wild varieties available. A recent Cook's Illustrated recipe for glazed salmon was very timely, providing a quick, easy way to cook salmon. This is really three recipes in one as it includes directions for three different glazes: gingery cider glaze, lemony thyme glaze, and smoky maple glaze. 

The salmon was brined in a solution of salt and sugar for 15 minutes. During this time the glaze was prepared. (These are simple glazes which require little more than combining the ingredients in a small sauce pan on the stove, bringing them to a simmer, and cooking until thickened.) The fillet(s) were patted dry with paper towels then cooked in a small amount of oil in a skillet, flesh side down, until well browned. The fillet was flipped, brushed with glaze, and transferred to a 300° oven, and cooked to an internal temperature of 125°.  The remaining glaze was brushed onto the fish. Total time was about 45 minutes.

We've enjoyed this recipe and all three of the glazes, it is now my go-to way for preparing salmon. The primary challenge is not overcooking these thin pieces of fish. After the browning step the fish is almost done so the time in the oven can be short. The smoky maple glaze is our favorite but more because we always have the ingredients on hand, unlike the other two,  than because we prefer its taste.  We have enjoyed the other two glazes, too.