Red Pepper Soup

We had the most wonderful soup for dinner... Cream of Red Pepper. Who knew that there was such a thing? Lovely, aromatic, spicy, but a little sweet... sublime. The flavor was robust, but oh so smooth. After the first spoonful, we were sorry that we had ordered an entree as we would have been thrilled with nothing more than a tureen of this wonderful soup.

This recipe did not give me the same results as the soup we enjoyed at the restaurant, but it was very good, and I think it would also be a great jumping off point for a pasta sauce if you cut out the beef broth and added a little basil.

3 large red bell peppers, halved lengthwise, seeded
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 (28-oz.) can (3 cups) Italian plum tomatoes
1 cup dry red wine
2 cups beef broth
1 tsp teaspoon dill weed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup sliced green onions

Lay pepper halves, cut side down, on broiler pan. Broil 3 to 4 inches fromheat about 15 minutes or until skin is completely blackened, OR lay whole peppers directly on stove top burner, turning with tongs until completely blackened. Place in plastic bag; let stand 10 minutes to steam. Peel pepper;finely chop.

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; cook until
tender. In blender, puree tomatoes and chopped peppers. Add to
onion. Blend in wine, beef broth, dill weed, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Use stick blender at this point and puree, or serve as is. Garnish with sliced green onions and a dollop of sour cream if desired.

Mom's Magic Thai Soup

I came up with this after having "Tom Yum Ga" at a Thai restuarant. I loved the soup and I noticed that my sniffles had disappeared... I knew that I could not dash out and pick it up everytime I wanted it, so I played around with flavors for awhile till I came up with this. Now when one of my kids, (and many of my friends) get a cold, they ask for this soup. They like to say that there is not a virus around that can stand up to the heat.

4 cups chicken stock
1 jalapeno, sliced (double this if you are brave!)
1 serrano chili, sliced
2 green onions, sliced
Juice of 1 lime
1 or 2 tbl of lemon grass, you can get a tube in the produce section of most major grocery stores(or a couple of stalks if you cannot find pureed)
1 Tbl Fish sauce (optional)
1 can straw mushrooms, drained
1 diced tomato (optional. This will reduce the heat, but it gives a nice flavor and color)
Few sprigs of cilantro, or about 2 tbl chopped, (more or less to taste)
handful of raw shrimp, OR 1 nice chicken breast sliced thin into bite size pieces

Bring the stock to a simmer and add about half of the peppers, onion and cilantro and add the lemon grass. Simmer for about 10 minutes, then strain and discard the veg. Put the strained stock back on to simmer and add the rest of the ingredients, continue to cook until the shrimp are pink, (or the chicken is done.) Garnish with a little bit of fresh cilantro and serve.
You can make it without any shrimp or chicken, and one time I even made the basic soup in a coffee pot at work, some of the girls in the office had a cold and volunteered to buy the ingredients if I would make them the soup.