I’m a fan of nailkeg and his style of gardening. I learn a lot every time he posts. I was especially fascinated by the series on growing tomatoes in the forest. Yolo County, where I live, is considered a tomato nirvana, but last year was a bust in my garden. Of course, having a laryngectomy in the middle of the growing season might have something to do with that.
This year I went a bit nuts. At the end of January/beginning of February, I started 60 seedlings (11 varieties). I gave 30 away, and planted 30 in raised beds and pots. They all thrived, and now I have an abundance of tomatoes, for the first time in years.
So yesterday, I started off making some tomato sauce in the afternoon, and ended up turning it into fresh tomato soup. Absolutely the best tomato soup I've ever tasted, and very simple to make. I chopped the tomatoes into big chunks, cooked for half an hour with a little extra water, threw them into a food processor with a bit of fresh basil from the garden, and filtered through a sieve. Added salt, pepper, and some more chopped basil, and cooked for another half hour. Added a splash of dry port, some cream, and the picture in the header shows what I ended up with. Yes, that is the soup I made (served in stoneware by Arabia of Finland).
As a cook, I have always liked the simple, clean recipes best. They show off the natural flavors of the few ingredients, without overwhelming any of them. And those flavors from the backyard can be heavenly.