A grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup: It's the lunch of your childhood, but it may be worth revisiting on a cold day like today.
Today at the Blue Moon Bakery in Brookside, it's the special of the day. Their grilled cheese is likely much better than the white bread sandwich you may have had a a kid. Theirs is a thick-cut homemade bread. It's served with tomato bisque and a handful of Fritos, just like you would have had in your lunchbox.
Tomato soup is more than just nostalgic. It's actually one of the top three most popular varieties of Campbell's soups sold. The other two are chicken noodle and cream of mushroom. And in general, canned soups are among the top 10 food items sold in grocery stores every week.
Canned is good enough for me on most days. But if you want to make something special to go with your grilled cheese, make the Pioneer Woman's tomato soup. Here's the recipe.
SHERRIED TOMATO SOUP
Makes 8 servings
1 medium white or yellow onion
6 tablespoons butter
2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 (46-ounce) bottle or can tomato juice
3 to 6 tablespoons sugar
1 or 2 tablespoons chicken base or 3 chicken bouillon cubes
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup sherry (optional)
1½ cups heavy cream
¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
¼ cup chopped basil
1. Dice the onion.
2. Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven. Throw in the onion and cook until translucent. Now dump in the diced tomatoes, and stir to combine. Add the tomato juice.
3. Next — and this is important in order to combat the acidity of the tomatoes — add 3 to 6 tablespoons sugar. Now, you’ll want to start on the low side, then taste and add more as needed. Some tomatoes and juice have more of an acidic bite than others. Next, add 1 to 2 tablespoons chicken base to the pot. Now you can add lots of freshly ground black pepper. Stir to combine, then heat almost to a boil. Then turn off the heat.
4. Add the sherry and heavy cream. Stir it together.
5. Now chop up a handful of flat-leaf parsley. Next, chop up a few leaves of fresh basil. Now go ahead and throw in the parsley and the basil, and stir together.
6. Keep the soup warm, and serve it on a cold day to people you love.
