Cream of Tomato Soup #CookbookMonth

Wow! This month is flying by with all manner of blogging events! 

Did you know that October is Cookbook month?  That’s right, this is the time of year to dust off those old cookbooks and try something new!

So, some of my blogging friends and I decided to do just that.  Only we’re not cooking from just any cookbook – nope, we’re using community cookbooks!  You know those ones that churches love to put out where everyone submits their favorite recipe?

I decided to take things a step further and use a vintage cookbook I found at an antique store a few years back.  It’s a cookbook put out by the Detroit Times that full of great vintage recipes!

Want to know the best part?

The publishers purposefully left the back few pages of this cookbook blank, so home cooks could add their own recipes, and the previous over did just that!  The back (and front) of this book and stuffed full of meticulously clipped recipes from the newspaper, along with a few hand-written recipes to boot!  This really is a treasure.  I only wish the first owner had written her name in the book somewhere!

After searching through the book, I came across a recipe for Cream of Tomato Soup and decided right away that I needed to make it!  It was the last week of farmer’s market here in town on Saturday, and I came home with a pallet of iffy looking tomatoes for $5 and I needed to start using them!

I’ve made quite a few different tomato soups in the past but this one was definitely unique!  The creamy sauce played a much larger role than I was expecting, producing a very light red (pink?!?) soup that was still flavorful ad delicious and definitely tomato soup!

Add baking soda to the tomatoes was also a surprising step.  Since I’d never heard of such a thing, I looked it up.  Apparently it’s meant to reduce the acidity of the tomatoes, but modern school of thought is that a pinch of sugar will do a better job.

I highly recommend this soup with a side of crusty bread and a meat & cheese tray for a light lunch!

Don’t miss these awesome community cookbook recipes for #CookbookMonth!

Apple Cake from Making the Most of Naptime
Butterscotch Blondies from Everyday Eileen
Cream of Tomato Soup from Amy's Cooking Adventures
Funeral Potatoes from Palatable Pastime
Magic Coconut Bars from Family Around the Table
Pigs in a Blanket from Karen's Kitchen Stories
Polish Noodles and Cabbage from A Day in the Life on the Farm
Pumpkin Nut Cookies from Strawberry Blonde Kitchen

Cream of Tomato Soup

Adapted from the Detroit Times Cookbook, 1933 Edition

1 quart tomatoes, chopped

¼ cup fresh basil leaves, loosely packed

1 clove garlic, smashed

¼ teaspoon soda

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoon all purpose flour

1 quart milk

1 – 1 ½ teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

Place the tomatoes, basil, and garlic in a saucepan over medium-low heat.  Cover and stew for 30 minutes.

Once stewed, cool slightly, then strain the tomatoes through a food mill to remove seeds and skins.  Stir in the soda.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a soup pot over medium heat.  Stir in the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Slowly add the milk, allowing the sauce to thicken with each addition.

Stir the strained tomatoes into the milk mixture and season with salt and pepper.  Heat through and serve with a side of crusty bread.

print recipe

Cream of Tomato Soup #CookbookMonth

by Amy's Cooking Adventures October-6-2017

Cream of Tomato Soup #CookbookMonth

Ingredients

• 1 quart tomatoes
• 1/4 cup basil
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon soda
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1 quart milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

Place the tomatoes, basil, and garlic in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cover and stew for 30 minutes.Once stewed, cool slightly, then strain the tomatoes through a food mill to remove seeds and skins. Stir in the soda.Meanwhile, melt the butter in a soup pot over medium heat. Stir in the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes. Slowly add the milk, allowing the sauce to thicken with each addition.Stir the strained tomatoes into the milk mixture and season with salt and pepper. Heat through and serve with a side of crusty bread.

Details

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 40 mins Total time: 1 hour Yield: 4 servings