1.01.2012

Per Son Matthew's Request...

or a New Years Resolution of sorts,
if you will...
When asking son Matthew what his Christmas gift wishes were,
he requested a book filled with my recipes.
This idea came about a week before Christmas
and it just wasn't enough time to put one together,
yet I knew it was something both of my grown children
would enjoy.
So call this an early, weekly Christmas gift to Erin & Matthew
and also
a New Years Resolution
all rolled into one...
A Resolution to try one new recipe a week,
and if it earns a smiley face
from the Gervais' household,
I'll post the recipe on the blog
and hopefully
my kids will have 52 new recipes to add to their recipe books,
courtesy of Mom's test kitchen!

It's a cold & windy start to 2012 here on the Iowa plains....wow, hold onto your hat!  Looks and sounds more like March, then January...
very very windy and no snow yet on our ground.
They are calling for temperatures of 61 degrees for Thursday...
no complaints from this girl!

There is a nip in the air though, with the wind, and in general is a good soup day.  Today's new recipe try is called Tomato-Basil Parmesan Soup.  A recipe I found while perusing on Pinterest that has earned a smiley face...love the  mellow taste of tomato (not too strong) and the nice texture of the carrots and celery...delicious!

TOMATO-BASIL PARMESAN SOUP

Add two (14oz) cans of diced tomatoes, with juice to large soup kettle.  Mix 4 teaspoons of chicken bouillon into 4 cups of warm water and add to tomatoes.    Finely chop 1 cup each of carrots, celery and onion; add to kettle.  Finely chop 1 T. fresh oregano and 1/4 cup fresh basil; add to soup mixture. 
Place over low heat and cook down for approximately 1 hour, or until vegetables are soft.  Take a potato masher and slightly mash down the tomatoes and veggies to smaller pieces (this is optional and was my personal preference)
Melt 1/2 cup butter.  Add 1/2 cup flour. 
Stir to mix.
Stir constantly for about 3 minutes.
When mixture starts to turn a golden brown, take off of burner.
Slowly stir in 1 cup of hot soup into butter/flour mixture.
Stir until well mixed.
Add another 3 cups of soup to the mixture and stir until smooth.
Add mixture back into large soup kettle and stir until well mixed.
Add 1 cup parmesan cheese.
Stir to mix well.
Pour in 1 pint (2 cups) of Half & Half
Stir, mixing well.
Add freshly ground pepper and salt to taste.  I thinned down the soup slightly with 2% milk, just before serving as I prefer a slightly thinner based soup and it was delicious!
Enjoy!
And a recipe card for you to play...
this allows you to print, save or share!
Click to play this Smilebox recipe
Create your own recipe - Powered by Smilebox
Make a free recipe card design

15 comments:

Anna said...

Thank you soooo much! I am soup freak and the recipe sounds delicious!

Denise said...

Love soup too...My thanks to your son for his great request!

Susan said...

What a wonderful idea. One of my niece's favorite Christmas gifts was a cookbook with the family's favorite cookie recipes. I'm looking forward to all the new recipes.

Patty ♣ said...

Oh Brenda! I have had the Eagle's nest up on the screen, and listening to the wind is making me so cold!
I think this is a perfect day for your soup! I am going to look forward to the recipes. Love that your son asked for this gift.

Peggy Lee said...

Thank you for the recipe. We are to have cold days ahead even though it's sunny and 60 degrees here today. Very very windy though.
I hand wrote a recipe book for my son and his wife when they got married. I also put a picture of me in the front writing the recipe for his birthday cake. They loved it!

Anonymous said...

I am so excited. I have made some of the other recipes that you have posted and they were a hit with my family. Thanks so much for sharing.

Penny said...

Oh, I think I am going to be as excited as your children. This is such a wonderful idea! Thank you so much for sharing the recipes, this one looks delicious. What a nice compliment to you for your son to want this as a gift, sounds as if he knows what he has in a mom.

Laura said...

What a great and sweet idea! Will need to start something like that for my boys with recipes I know they already love.

Mary said...

What a wonderful idea!

The recipe looks great...just might have to give it a try one of these cool days. Thanks for sharing!

Carol E. in AZ said...

Looks good! It was in the 80s here today! Too warm too soon if you ask me. But great for stitching! :) Happy New Year!

tarheelchris said...

What a great new soup recipe! My husband and I love to eat soup and a nice piece of some great bread for dinner on these cold winter nights....Happy New Year to you, and thanks again for the recipe!

Mary @ Neat and Tidy said...

This recipe gets better and better sounding the further I read. I'll look forward to each one you share; thanks.

TheCrankyCrow said...

This is a great idea! I'm going to love it as much as the kids! This soup sounds wonderful - I wasn't hooked at first, but when you got to the cheese and the cream...oh yummmm... ;o) Perfect soup weather here....snowing, blustery and down right miserable! Wishing you a week filled with smiles....Hugs ~ Robin

TheCrankyCrow said...

PS - don't know if I'm doing something wrong or what, but there's no recipe in the smile box thing....The box winds and cranks, but it's blank after that??

karen said...

This soup sounds wonderful and it's going into the "try" box. I've also made a few of your recipes before and they were wonderful. I'm going to try and do a new recipe each week. My kids have asked for the same thing and what a great way to try new things to add to the old favorites for their stashes. Thanks for the inspiration.

Karen