A number of us are following Mary of One Perfect Bite’s invitation to cook along following the list of 50 amazing women cooks who have changed our outlook on food. I am loving this whole challenge as I am always interested in learning something new. This week we are cooking with Fannie Farmer whose name of course I knew but not much more than that. We post every Friday.
So now I have discovered that Fannie Farmer is called ‘the mother of level measurements’. She is the person who standardized recipe specifications. How radical is that? She is the one who approximately one hundred years ago wrote a cookbook called The Boston Cooking School Cook Book. The fact that this book is still available now says it all. I think that Turkey could do with a Fannie Farmer. Measurements here are still in tea glasses and coffee cups. I know that these are equivalent to things we know ie cups and half cups but still, they can be very confusing to new cooks who don’t realise that.
But I am nothing if not an interested cook so I found a soup recipe that I thought would fit the bill. TT loves soup and plus he has been a bit deprived since baby Eva entered our lives and I am not at home. This afternoon I did go back home and did some cooking in my own kitchen. I knew he would love this and sure enough, this recipe is great for any soup lover, not just a new grandad!
So here it is:
½ cup chopped onion
3 big beauties= 3 cups |
· Sprinkle the flour over the butter mixture and continue to stir and cook for 1-2 mins.
· Slowly add the milk, bay leaf, sugar, and salt, and continue to cook and stir until slightly thickened.
· Add the baking soda into the tomatoes and then add to the milk. Bring just to a simmer. Remove from the heat and put through a strainer. Taste and correct seasonings. Reheat before serving.
adding the chopped tomatoes to the mixture |
again, stir |
1. I used beautiful big Çanakkale tomatoes. They’re not quite as sun-kissed as they will be but they’re getting there. The skin was thick so they peeled easily with a knife.
2. I think the main thing is to make sure that you cook the flour mixture slowly but surely. It will gradually thicken as you stir. Be patient. If you don’t do this, the taste won’t be so good and the consistency will not be right.
3. At the end I used my stick blender and then I strained it. The result was a beautiful fragrant velvety-smooth soup that really tasted of tomatoes. We loved it.
served with croutons |
Val from More Than Burnt Toast
Joanne from Eats Well With Others
Heather from Girlichef
Susan from The Spice Garden
WOW! Such inspiring post! I am so keen on reading more on Fennie Farmer 🙂 Thanks for the wonderful recipe too!
What a mouthwatering soup!So light and refreshing!Have a lovely weekend,dear!
Hi everyone! Thanks for your kind comments! I also enjoy the reading up about these inspirational women.
yes even in summer this soup is light and refreshing as you say, Lenia!
Fanny Farmer has been around so long she cooks in the old style where heavy comfort foods were the norm. I like how you have lightened it up and recreated her delicious tomato soup. So seasonal too!
Tomato soup is one of my favorite comfort foods and our garden tomatoes at home are just getting ripe. Perfect!
I am a year-round soup fan…and this version of Creamy Tomato looks fantastic! Lovely choice =)
What a perfect choice for this season of tomatoes! Soon, our New England gardens will be yielding baskets of tomatoes and we will be making cream of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for our lunch here in the grey cottage. So glad that you found a good recipe to fit your tastes in Turkey! Beautiful soup!
What a lovely soup, Claudia. I'm so glad you could find a recipe with ingredients you could find locally. It sounds delicious and it looks beautiful. I hope you have a great day. Blessings…Mary.
Thank you all for your lovely comments. It is so nice to be in touch with you. Despite the enormous distance, blogging has brought us all together :).
I read One Perfect Bite and More Than Burnt Toast quite a lot. It's a small world this blog world isn't it? These are great challenges; especially for you because you can find recipes to match what's in season here. That looks like one RICH tomato soup! 🙂
Hallo Claudia, between you and Mary I am starting to learn about Fanny Farmer (never heard of her before), so thank you! I am here for the first time, actually I love Turkey and Turkish food, one of our best friends (and our son's godfather, is from Izmir).
I am happy to follow you and learn about your life in Istanbul.
Ciao
Alessandra
I am so happy to hear from you all. Yes, Julia, a bit rich with all that butter but it does make it taste nice! And basically we have no choice here but to be seasonal! Which has totally moulded the way I cook and let's face it eat!
Alessandra, I have just had a look at your lovely blog – thanks for becoming a follower, I will follow your blog too!
Claudia
I must admit, I have never heard of Fanny Farmer before, so I am very curious to find out more about her recipes. I am a big soup lover, and such refreshing, seasonal tomato soup is definitely something for me! Will have to try it! Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
Can't wait to see/ read more aboutyour life in Turkey… 🙂 Tanja