Tomato Bisque
Summer is beginning and so fresh tomatoes are coming into season, so for mother's day I made this tomato bisque as part of dinner.  It's a bit more work but it's worth it because it's got a very smooth texture.  I like the tartness of the tomato interacting with the sweetness of the honey, the heat of the red chili flakes, and the earthy aroma of carraway seeds. 

Ingredients:
1 large yellow onion
6 ripe tomatoes
1 tbsp carraway seeds
1/2 tsp of red chili pepper flakes
1/4 cup white wine (I used moscato for its sweetness)
2 tbsp honey
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy cream or half-an-half (optional)
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Hardware:
Large heavy-bottom pot with lid
Blender, Cuisinart, or stick blender
Medium-fine strainer
Large bowl
Soup ladle
Spatula

Chop the yellow onions into a medium dice.  Cut up the tomatoes into medium-size (1cm) cubes, making sure to keep all the juices and pulp. 

Heat the pot on medium heat, and add oil to coat the bottom.  If you want more aroma, add a 1tbsp of butter.  When oil is hot, add onion, carraway seeds, and red chili flakes.  Stir well to coat oil.  Cook until the onions are brown and caramelized.  Add white wine and scrape the pan to dislodge any brown bits on the bottom.  Add tomatoes, once again stirring well to mix all the ingredients.  The tomato should disintegrate and the whole mixture should be on a good simmer.  Let simmer on medium heat, stirring occasionally.  If your tomatoes are not as juicy, add water periodically to prevent burn.  Turn off heat after 10 minutes, and let cool until you can safely handle the soup. 

At this point, you can either transfer that contents into a blender or a Cuisinart and blend there, or use a stick blender to blend in place.  Blend mixture thoroughly so no tomato chunks are visible.  Put strainer over large bowl.  Pour batches of the soup over into the strainer, and stir in a circular motion with the soup ladle to force as much as the liquid through the strainer.  Discard any solids left in the strainer.  Repeat until all soup is in the large bowl.  Return soup back into the pot, add chicken stock, and turn heat back to medium.  Let cook, simmering, for another 10 minutes.  Add honey, salt and pepper, and the heavy cream, and stir to to mix well.  Serve immediately.

This soup is also very good with a quick crouton consisting of stale bread slathered with goat cheese and quickly toasted.