Tomato Soup, NoDak style

[Dawgluver]

I look forward to your experiment, Z!

 

[taxlady]

I look forward to your experiment, Z!

Me too.

 

[taxlady]

I just made a half recipe of this soup. I used pasatta instead of diced tomatoes. I left out the sugar. It was quite tangy. I added the sugar afterwards, but less than called for in the recipe and that was perfect. First taste of the soup: not bad. By the time I had finished the first bowl, I was hooked. Had a second bowl of soup immediately. Oh yeah, this is really good.

 

[Dawgluver]

Glad you liked it, Taxy! I agree, you can play around with the sugar. I didn't use the whole 2 T.

I think I'll have to make another batch tomorrow. And off to my friend the Google to look up pasatta.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

...Will have to work on my tempering technique, just didn't want to dirty another pot.

When I temper the sour cream I add to Stroganoff, I just keep adding a small amount of the pan sauce to the carton of sour cream. If it was a new carton, I moved what I needed for the Stroganoff to a bowl. When the carton/bowl feels warm enough in my hand, I add it all into the pan. Never curdles for me, and if I'm lucky enough to be using the carton I haven't dirtied anymore dishes either.

...I read the title as "Tomato Soup, No Dak Style." Three separate words. It just dawned on me. North Dakota Style....

I just figured it was a recipe from Korea...

 

[taxlady]

I find that when tempering anything, it works best if I pour the tempered liquid slowly back into the pot while whisking, not just while pouring the hot liquid into the liquid that needs to be tempered.

 

[Kayelle]

Taxi, I had to look up pasatta too. Good idea, as no need for the stick blender. Did you use baking soda?

 

[taxlady]

Taxi, I had to look up pasatta too. Good idea, as no need for the stick blender. Did you use baking soda?

Yup, I used a little pinch, since it was just half the recipe. It seemed to eliminate the acidity, but left it very tangy. A little bit of sugar was just right. I'm really not fond of sweet with savoury, so I often leave out sugar. And yes, using passata made this recipe extra easy.

 

[Kayelle]

Good report Taxi....... so the the question of needing both BS and sugar has been solved!

 

[Zhizara]

I look forward to your experiment, Z!

My experiment was a total failure.

First fail - I tried using unsalted diced tomatoes with a can of regular tomato sauce.

Then, because I used evaporated milk, I didn't scald it first. It broke.

I didn't mind the taste of the broken milk, so...

I added tomato paste, V8, Another can of regular diced tomatoes and another can of tomato sauce.

It still didn't taste good.

I finally decided to just dump it. I wasted so much food, but I wasn't about to eat it, and didn't have room to store it anyway.

PFffffffft!

I'm going to make Kathleen's Onion Soup today. It comes out perfect every time.

I'm still going to make tomato soup, but not CREAM of tomato soup. I should be able to lighten the salt, by adding water or low sodium chicken broth.

I think I figured out that just like boiling pasta without salting the water, you can never get it to taste right.

I think that's true of tomato products. They need to be cooked with salt.

I'll keep a lookout for LOW salt instead of NO salt.

I love it that I can get low salt chicken broth. It works very well.

 

[GotGarlic]

You can always add your own salt, a little at a time, until it tastes good.

 

[Dawgluver]

Sorry your experiment didn't work, Z. I really like the recipe as written, the only thing I messed with was the dairy and sugar. I will probably try it with half and half and skim milk, and leave out the yogurt next time.

 

[Zhizara]

I tried adding salt, GG, but there were too many other things wrong, like the curdling. It just didn't taste right and I had added too many other groceries trying.

This time I decided to cut my losses.

I will try the non cream tomato soup eventually, but I've got a fridge with so many thing going on right now like oyster stew which tastes good, but looks funny and another batch of onion soup that I need to eat, etc., etc., etc.

 

[Kayelle]

I made this wonderful soup last night exactly as written, with a pinch of soda, but I used only 1 tsp of sugar, NOT 3 Tbs.
I blended it with my stick blender, and made sure the cream was HOT before I added it.

It was perfectly delicious with no breakage... Beautiful recipe Dawg!

 

[Dawgluver]

Awww, thanks Kay! It's a keeper in my files too. So easy, yet so good. I cut back on the sugar too. I think the original called for 2T of sugar.

I may have to experiment with canning it, as Bookbrat suggested, though it's so easy it practically makes itself.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

The last 4B's restaurant in Missoula closed it's doors about 5 years ago, but not before everyone had their recipe for the tomato soup. They just could not compete with Denny's and Perkins. Which is too bad, all their foods were made from scratch. Don't know how I missed this thread, but I love, love, love this soup.

 

[Kayelle]

Awww, thanks Kay! It's a keeper in my files too. So easy, yet so good. I cut back on the sugar too. I think the original called for 2T of sugar.

I may have to experiment with canning it, as Bookbrat suggested, though it's so easy it practically makes itself.

You're right Dawg. As I now see, it called for 2 Tbs. of sugar. That's always been my turn off for tomato soup. There's no good reason for that sweet, (ie nasty canned T. soup) One tsp. of sugar is plenty.

 

[taxlady]

I forgot the sugar the last time I made it. I used canned tomatoes that time (instead of passata) and it didn't need it. Maybe it's because they use low acid tomatoes that won't eat through the BPA free can.

 

[Addie]

Check the link I put in the first post, Z. Easier on the eyes.

4bs Old Fashioned Cream Of Tomato Soup Recipe - Food.com

Do the tomatoes HAVE to be diced? I have never had a can of diced tomatoes without coming across some tomato skin. Can I buy even whole tomatoes and crush and cream them myself?

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I thought as much, but then why add soda to soup? When a teas spoon of sugar will do the same?

Sugar will balance the sour flavor of the acid, but will not change the PH of the soup. Baking soda is an alkali and neutralizes the acid. The tomato acid will react with the milk and cream proteins, causing them to curdle (acids produced by the organisms added to dairy is what creates the curds for cheese making).

By increasing the PH of the tomato soup, the soup is less likely to break. But be aware that heat will also cause milk and cream to break. The soup should be fully cooked, then removed from the heat before adding the cream and milk.

Summary: add a pinch of baking soda to neutralize acidity, and control the heat. If you do these things, your tomato soup will be perfect every time.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North