Susie, that restaurant looks good!

Here are a couple of tomato soup recipes that we like.

Winter Tomato Soup
Source: Marie-Pierre MoineÂs French kitchen
Serves 4

2T butter
1 Spanish onion, finely chopped
1 leek, washed and sliced
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 small head celery, trimmed and chopped
6 large ripe tomatoes, blanched ,skinned and seeded (or 1 large can tomatoes)
1/2 tsp each dried thyme and oregano
2 tsp finely snipped basil
1 heaping T flour
1 quart light chicken stock
1 egg yolk
4 T heavy cream
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Ad onion, leek, carrot and celery. Season and sauté 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.

Stir in tomatoes, the dried herbs and half the basil. Cook for one minute then sprinkle the flour, stir and cook 2-3 minutes longer.

Pour in stock and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat, partially cover and cook 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Leave the soup to cool a few minutes, then process in blender or food processor until smooth. Return to pan and adjust seasoning.

In a bowl, mix the egg yolk and cream. Stir in a ladleful of the soup, then stir mixture into pan over low heat until piping hot. Stir in the remaining basil and serve immediately.

Here's a great one, Susie, that I just happen to have simmering on the stove right now. It's a signature dish at the famous restaurant in Houston.

la Madeleine's Tomato-Basil Soup

4 c. fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped, or canned crushed tomatoes
4 c. tomato juice (you can use either vegetable or chicken stock for part of the liquid)
12-14 fresh basil leaves (fresh is a must for this!), plus extra for garnish
1 c. heavy cream
8 T. unsalted butter
1/4 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper
salt, to taste
lemon juice (optional -- I keep forgetting to try this -- sure sounds different)

Simmer tomatoes with juice and/or stock for 30 minutes.

Add basil leaves. Using an immersion blender, regular blender or food processor, puree tomato mixture. (If you have a mini-Cuisinart, you might want to mince the basil in that and then add to pureed soup. Seems to work better for me.)

Over low heat, gradually add cream and butter, stirring constantly until butter melts and cream is fully incorporated.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with additional basil leaves and finish with a squeeze of lemon juice, if desired.

I sometimes grate a little Parmesan on top, too. Just wonderful with a grilled sandwich or hot French bread and a salad.

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For something a little different, one of my favorite quick to make soups that I finally wrote down!:

Spicy Tomato-Vegetable Soup with Quinoa

2 T extra virgin olive oil
One large onion
3 Celery stalks
1 Medium carrot
1 1/2 C Cabbage
2-4 Garlic cloves
1 14.5 oz can tomatoes, with juice
1 lb. fresh tomatoes
5 14.5 oz cans chicken stock OR the equivalent amount of home made chicken stock or chicken stock made from store bought chicken base, not boullion.
1 can water
1 serrano pepper, sliced in half the long way
2 t dried leaf oregano
1/4 dried leaf thyme
1 T dried leaf basil
1/4 t black pepper
1/2 C Quinoa*
Thinly sliced green onions for garnish.

Dice all vegetables into 1/4 inch pieces...if you use pre-diced canned tomatoes, they will likely need to be cut smaller as well. Heat a heavy-bottomed, 6 Qt saucepan over a medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, and when it becomes fragrant, add the onions, celery and carrot. Saute until the onion becomes translucent, then add the rest of the ingredients except for the Cabbage and Quinoa. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Bring 2 quarts of water to boil in another pan, and add the Quinoa. Return to a boil, then reduce the heat just enough to prevent it boiling over. Boil the Quinoa for 10 minutes, then drain and rinse in a fine mesh sieve. Add the Quinoa to the soup and simmer another 15 minutes. Add cabbage, bring soup to a slow boil for 5 minutes and turn off heat. At this point, the soup can be served, but the flavor will improve greatly if the soup is allowed to sit at least until it is cool before reheating to serve, and if it sits for several hours or overnight, all the better! Remove the serrano chili halves before serving and sprinkle soup with sliced green onions for garnish.

Yield: Appx. 14, one-cup servings

*If you cannot find Quinoa at the grocery store, it can often be purchased in health food stores. Rice may be substituted, but the flavor and texture will be different.

I still have the soup recipes book we compiled last year. If anyone would like it please send me an email at
sandsTAKETHISOUT_99@yahooTAKETHISOUT.com

just remove the TAKETHISOUT parts and if I don't respond in a day try again alot ends up in bulk mail but i do check it so put HEY I WANT SOUP! in the subject line lol.

Oh yeah Sands I still have that file!

This one is good too, and got good reviews on my tomato soup thread. Cut back on the heat if you are a wus like me.

TRINITY SQUARE CAFE MOROCCAN TOMATO SOUP
Recipe By :
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Soups
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 tb Olive oil
1 Onion, chopped
5 Cloves garlic, minced
1 cn Tomatoes (28 oz)
1 c Peanut butter
1 t Cumin
1 tb Hot pepper sauce
2 tb Cayenne
1 tb Chili powder
2 tb White vinegar
1 t Salt
1 t Pepper
1 tb Sugar
1/4 c Tomato paste
2 c Water
In a large sauce pan, heat oil and fry onion and
garlic until golden brown.
Place the tomatoes and their liquid in a bowl, and
crush the tomatoes with a potato masher or a spoon,
breaking them into small pieces. Add the tomatoes and
their liquid to the onions, reduce heat to very low,
add peanut butter, and stir until well combined.
Add cumin, hot sauce, cayenne, chili, vinegar, salt,
pepper, sugar, tomato paste and water, and stir until
well combined. Cook over low heat at a
bare simmering for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring
frequently. (This soup burns very easily, so keep the
heat low and don't allow it to come to a full boil.)

True to form....here's how I do it!
Into the bottom of my 6 qu Le cruset Dutch oven.
About a T olive oil
1 good sized yellow onion chopped,
4 or 5 ribs of celery, chopped
Sautee slowly until soft and add...
2 or 3 cloves of chopped garlic
Cook briefly and add about
3 cups chicken broth Simmer while you are blanching and peeling
8 to 10 fresh garden tomatoes, cut up as you add them to the pot Then add
2 roasted red peppers, peeled and cut into strips, and
1 1/2 teaspoons ground red chilipeppers...I use mild, but you may like more heat, and
2 or 3 Tablespoons of chopped parsley
Simmer for about an hour, uncovered
Correct seasonings, salt and fresh ground black pepper, and depending on how ripe and sweet your tomatoes are, fresh lemon juice, usually half a lemon will do it. And you may want to do a quick chop with the hand held blender.
Then stir 8 to 10 big fresh basil leaves, cut into a chiffonade....stir.....and serve...with or without a dollor of sour cream.
Also good with some cheese or spinach tortollini cooked in during the last 15 minutes.
Linda C

Try this recipe....

Rich and Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Ingredients:
4 tomatoes - peeled, seeded and diced
4 cups tomato juice
14 leaves fresh basil 1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup butter
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Place tomatoes and juice in a stock pot over medium heat. Simmer for 30 minutes. Puree the tomato mixture along with the basil leaves, and return the puree to the stock pot.
2. Place the pot over medium heat, and stir in the heavy cream and butter. Season with salt and pepper. Heat, stirring until the butter is melted. Do not boil.

This soup is very high in calories, but you can cut calories by using half & half in place of the heavy whipping cream. I used Smart Balance in place of butter, it cooks really well!

Here is a link that might be useful: Allrecipe Tomato Basil Soup