Soups On A Cold Rainy Day.

It's a cold, rainy day today

so I'm staying in the kitchen and making two types of soups.

I had some focaccia (Maxine had made it for our pizzas last weekend.) and I brought one piece home with me. I'll be using it to make croutons for my soups.

I cubed the focaccia.

I poured in a few swirls of olive oil then added in butter. Because it's raining, I didn't go outside to cut fresh herbs. I'm Semi-Ho'ing my croutons by using dried sage and oregano. Unfortunately, I had no "fiends herbes" or "gerbils" on hand.

I minced some garlic and added that to my herbs and butter/oil. Never burn or overcook your garlic. It makes it bitter and will ruin your whole dish.

Bread cubes went in and I tossed to coat with butter and herbs. After a quick saute on the stove top, they went into a slow oven (225) and baked until nice and crispy.

About 40-50 minutes later, here are my Semi-Ho'd croutons.

Here's a quart of my chicken consomme. Now my first soup is a creamy roasted red pepper soup, or as Sandy calls it "rose pepper" soup. It's one of Giada's recipes that I've kept in my repertoire since the first time I saw her cook it. Here's a heads up, folks. I just linked above to Giada's recipe. Giada just gives you the Guide Lines. The Road Map. But if you follow along my preparation and execution, you'll see I'm just going along with a basic recipe and adjusting and tweaking as I am wont to do, depending upon my whim or upon what ingredients I have on hand. I prefer to meander off the straight line on the map and take the bold, green Scenic Route. And if you look at a road map, you'll know what I'm talking about. I'm getting lazy and unorganized in my mises. Here's just part of what I will be using: Onion Carrot Red Pepper Jar of Roasted Red Peppers

I actually had part of a red pepper in the fridge, so I'm roasting it over an open flame. I was careful and attentive towards my skewers, so I made sure to soak them for at least 30 minutes.

I charred my pepper all over. Now, I used to take my hot, charred peppers and put them in a paper bag, seal the bag, and let the steam work its magic on the charred skins.

But then, a few months ago, I was reading one of The Grande Dame Julia's tomes, and she recommended immediately dunking the charred peppers in ice water. And this method works much better than the paper bag method. It's quicker and more efficient.

You can easily rub the charred skin off with your fingers.

I chopped the carrots and onions.

Heated my pot, added olive oil and buttah, heated more, then added the carrot and onion in.

Pealed and chopped one potato and added it in. The starches in the potato will help thicken this soup.

A lull in the rain and I ran down to pick fresh thyme.

I added the stripped thyme leaves and about 2 teaspoons sugar to the pot.

I had about 1/4 cup white wine left over which I added in.

Here's the red pepper I charred.

I chopped my charred pepper and added it to the mix along with the roasted peppers of one small jar.

I had thawed out one quart of my chicken stock and poured half of it into the red pepper soup.

I brought the soup to a boil, then lowered to a bare simmer, covered, and cooked for about 30 minutes.

I got out my nifty immersion blender Mr. Hawthorne gave me for Christmas. Now, Mr. Hawthorne! Are you listening? I must give you PROPS for this gift. Dear Readers, Let me digress a bit to explain this scenario. Come gift-giving time, Mr. Hawthorne becomes totally adrift. So for Christmas and my Birthday, I give him a list with 4-5 items written down. (5 in case Dixie wants to give me a present.) These are all simple, inexpensive, modest items. Things that I want, I need, but wouldn't bother to drive myself somewhere to actually buy. And I make it very simple for Mr. H. All items can be found in one store. It's a win-win. So for Christmas 2008, my list to Mr. Hawthorne was:

• Measuring cups

My four-copper-cup set I use daily includes a 1-cup, a 3/4-cup, a 1/2-cup, and a 1/4-cup. Never understood that. I can make 3/4 cup. Why wouldn't they give me a 1/3 cup? I wanted a nice, heavy set of measuring cups which included a 1/3 cup measure.

• Silpat mats.

• Flexible, multicolored cutting boards.

• A digital scale.

Mr. Hawthorne came through with flying colors. I received all of the above and more. In addition to all I asked for, besides the very nice set of stainless steel measuring cups, I got another set of multi-colored measuring cups and spoons. And this wonderful immersion blender, which I didn't ask for, but which he knew I'd like. And he'd like too. Thank you, Mr. Hawthorne.

I'm immersion blending here and it's feeling good.

Test taste and add some s & p.

Here's my Roasted Red Pepper Soup. It has my Semi-Ho-Made Croutons in it along with some Il Villagio Ricotta Salata cheese slices. This is a very good soup. Mr. Hawthorne liked it. Youngest Hawthorne liked it. YH's friend liked. I liked it. I particularly liked the addition of croutons and cheese. You think it's going to be a tomatoey soup just by looking at it, but it's all roasted peppery goodness. Next, I'll be making a Green Pea Basil Soup.

My sloppy, incomplete mise: Frozen Green Peas (Remember folks, if you have canned peas in your pantry, I will come and hurt you.) Shallots. (I was out of onions.) Whipping Cream. Roasted Red Peppers. (For garnish.) Creme Fraiche. (For accent.) 3 ice cube sized blocks of Frozen Pesto. Once again, this recipe is a take off from Giada. It's Giada's Pea and Basil Soup.

I heated some olive oil and added the chopped shallots.

And some minced garlic.

After sauteeing the shallots and garlic for a bit, I added in the peas.

Once again, I'm meandering and taking the scenic route. Instead of fresh basil, which I don't have in February, I'm adding in 3 cubes of frozen pesto I made back in October.

Next, the rest of my chicken consomme went in.

And my trusty immersion blender went to work.

And work. And work.

After blending, I added in a bit of cream.

Here's my green pea soup, with chopped roasted red peppers on top, Mozzarella cheese, and croutons. Now, I liked this soup. Peas and basil, I like. I would have like it with peas and mint and/or parsley. BUT, it's a little on the sweet side. So I added in the creme fraiche. The tartness of the creme fraiche in the sweet pea soup really makes it pop. Bottom line. I used up one quart of my lovingly made chicken consomme. I used up Maxine's heartfelt-made-from-scratch-is-there-any-other-kind focaccia. I made two soups - complimentary soups - complimentary, if you will, both in color and flavor. Red vs green. Red, roasty, hearty, umami. Green, pea-ey, tarty, herby sweety. Savory vs sweet. I love textural, flavorful, colorful, umami/sweet juxtapositions. Don't you?