Spicy Tomato Soup

Living in a new town and finally getting around to post again. The farmer's markets are in full swing and have been providing me with wonderful produce this summer. The latest grab was a 1/2 bushel of tomatoes. After canning most of them, I simmered the remainder for about an hour to break down all of the tomatoes into a nice sauce consistency. The next question was what to do with it? Well lunch it was, so here my recipe for Spicy Tomato Soup:

2 T Extra virgin Olive Oil
1 Onion, sliced thin
1 Jalapeno, sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Stalk Celery, chopped
1/4 C dry sherry
2 C tomato sauce
1/3 C heavy cream
1/3 C water
1/3 C jasmine rice
salt, to taste
1 t dried basil
1 t dried oregano
1 T lemon juice

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Add onion, jalapeno and celery and cook until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute for another minute. Add sherry and cook until moisture has reduced by about 2/3, about 3 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce, water and heavy cream. Add basil and oregano and bring to a simmer. Stir in rice and cover pot. Let simmer for 12 minutes. Add salt and lemon juice and serve!

The market's bounty

From the bounty of vegetables that we scored from the farmer's market yesterday we just made a great dinner that included Sauteed Swiss Chard and Turnip Gratin. Here is the recipes we followed:

1 bunch Swiss Chard, stems removed and chopped in 2" pieces
1 T Olive Oil
1 T butter
1 onion, cut halfwise and thinly sliced
1 clove garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large pan, heat olive oil and butter. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is tender. Add stems and saute until tender, about 10 minutes. Add leaves, in bunches if necessary, stirring occasionally, cook covered until tender, about 6 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve.


1.5# Turnips, trimmed and thinly sliced
1/2 C cream
1/2 C parmesan, grated
1/4 C dill, fresh
2 T salt
1 T pepper
1/2 T cayenne
2 T butter

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In 12" oven safe skillet, melt butter and cool. Add 1/3 of thinly sliced turnips, layering the bottom of the pan. Add 1/3 of the herbs and spices. Repeat two times. Cook, covered, over medium heat for 10 minutes or until turnips are lightly browned on bottom. Add cream and cook, covered for 15 minutes or until turnips are tender in the middle. Add parmesan in even layer on top and cook uncovered in oven for 10 - 15 minutes or until brown and bubbly. Let stand for five minutes before serving.