Minnesota Cooking: Tomato Soup - Using Fresh but Frozen Tomatoes
Tomato Soup
I made my tomato soup from tomatoes from my garden. I froze the tomatoes with the skins on. When you take them from the freezer, run them under cool water and the skins will pull off. Discard the skins. Cut the tomatoes while still slightly frozen into cubes. Put them in your pan. Heat until the tomatoes boil and simmer until the pulp merges with the juices.
Fried Cheese Sandwiches
Many people look forward to dipping a fried, cheese filled bread sandwich in their soup. You will need two slices of bread and a slice of cheese. You may use one slice or you may use slices. You can use one type of cheese or mix.
My personal favorite is Colby. I like Colby because it melts and has good flavor. Slice the cheese about 1/4 inch thick. Butter the outside of the bread on both the top and bottom slice. Place your cheese between the two slices of bread. I have heard that you can butter your bread with Hellmann's Mayonnaise and it makes the bread cook up like french toast.
Place in a frying pan on medium heat. I like to cover mine so that the heat will melt my cheese faster. The butter will brown on the bread and then, flip the sandwich over and repeat for the second side. If you decide you wish your sandwich to be a little browner, just reheat the side that you wish darker. DON'T burn it. Be careful. Although, you can char the butter and it still tastes okay.
Small Pictures
Butter on bread, place in pan, medium head, check for browning, flip over, repeat on other side. Keep flipping the sandwiches until they are a deep, brown color.
Check for Browning
Lift the edge of your sandwich to see if the bottom is browning.
Thawing the Tomatoes
Take a panful of frozen tomatoes. Rinse under cool water. Remove skin. Chop. Put in pan with water. Cook until soft. Add 1/2 tsp. baking soda. Add V8. Boullion cubes. 1 bag frozen mixed vegetables. 1 can cream mushroom and 1 can cream chicken soups. Poultry seasoning.
