Funny Recipes: How to Make Perfect Tomato Soup Every Time
By Mark Ewbie
Cook Time
- Prep time:
- Cook time:
- Ready in:
- Yields: Depends on size of people - one can per person
Rating
Instructions
- Get a tin of soup
- Heat it up
- Serve
- Eat
Ingredients
- 1 Tin, Soup
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving size: 1 tin | |
| Calories 250 | Calories from Fat 108 |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Fat 12 g | 18% |
| Saturated fat 1 g | 5% |
| Fiber 1 g | 4% |
| * The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA. | |
This is my method for creating delicious tomato soup – every time.
Tasty tomato soup is the crème de la crème of nectarous soups, a giant among appetizing soups in terms of popularity.
From childhood winter evenings through to adult sophistication at the top eating houses – mouthwatering tomato soup stands head and shoulders above the others.
Now don’t get me wrong. I like a luscious leek and potato or a heavenly carrot and coriander. Not so much winter vegetable or pea soup. But compared to the adorable tomato soup they are bridesmaids to the main event.
Actually, pea soup is a culinary creation that makes you wonder why they bother. Revolting. Although if you can stomach the stuff I have done a recipe page on it, I Love Delicious Pea Soup, so please feel free to try it out.
This page is dedicated to the one and only soup you’ll ever really need, inasmuch as you can need a soup of course. A delicious starter or with bread and cheese, a quick main course for the culinary challenged.
Dear Reader, I give you my souper Tomato Soup recipe.
Memories
Ah yes. As a child, working in the gold mines of West Yorkshire, finishing a shift at ten in the evening.
Running home up the cobbled streets, pausing only to buy a loaf of relatively fresh three day old bread from Mr.Patels 24/7 Everything Under a Pound Mart, and getting home before Dad came back from the pub.
“What’s for tea – Mam?” I would query.
“Soup” she’d reply and there it was, sometimes heated, sometimes not, waiting for me on the kitchen table.
Always soup, she wasn’t what you’d call much of a cook, but always (or so I thought at the time) prepared with love.
Of course, too much soup can lead to the runs, so in later life I prefer to only have soup four times a week and maybe eat something more substantial, like chicken nuggets, on other occasions.
Preparation
As a cook I have learned through experience that before starting on the gig you need to get your shit together. Make sure you are relatively sober before starting, there’s a lot of dangerous equipment in a kitchen.
Clear away yesterday’s plates and cutlery – I like to push mine towards the sink or form a pile in a corner. Wipe down all surfaces with a rag or floor cloth.
Tip: If you wipe and there is still a spot of muck then a bit of spit will probably work it loose.
So, get some space in the kitchen and mentally prepare for what you are about to do.
Seasonal Ingredients
Always try to use ingredients that are naturally available at the time of year.
This creates a biorhythm to your cooking, which your guests will appreciate. It’s Nature’s calendar – of what to cook and when to cook it.
We have been eating seasonal products since probably as far back as the early twentieth century, so there is a tradition to it.
Local Produce
Sourcing local ingredients is important for freshness and food miles. If your food has been transported from the other side of the world this can have a real impact on the planet.
Shop local, be green.
Of course if you use a supermarket then you can get anything, anytime. Sometimes the planet has to take second place to my desire for tomato soup.
OK, The Cooking
This recipe has been passed through our family for generations. Up until now it has been a closely guarded secret.
Thanks to the wonder of the internet this sort of knowledge can be freely shared.
You will need…
- A saucepan – ideally large enough to contain the amount of soup you intend to prepare. If it’s too small – spillage. Too big – doesn’t matter really – but your soup might look inadequate in a maximum size Le Creuset.
- A wooden stirring spoon. Could be plastic, could be metal – but wood is best. If you don’t wash the wooden spoons very often they begin to develop their own taste.
- A gas ring, or electric. I prefer gas because it gives me instant control. Please note, trying to warm the soup with a fan heater doesn’t really work.
- A can opener. Worthwhile keeping a supply of plasters available in case of cuts, those tins can be sharp when opened.
- A tin of tomato soup. One tin per person, depending on size of tin and size of person.
The Recipe
- Open the tin of soup.
- Pour into saucepan.
- Switch on or light the heating element.
- Monitor the soup temperature. Stir occasionally. I like to wait till little heat bubbles appear, and then stir till they disappear. It’s amusing, and passes the time while cooking, which to be honest is quite boring.
Eventually the soup will be hot enough. Probably about three minutes.
Tip: Do not leave on the heat and rejoin your friends in the other room to smoke a large cannabis cigarette, returning to the kitchen some hours later. This may spoil the soup.
Serving Up
So many cooks miss out this vital element of presentation. You work hard preparing the food but you need that little bit of extra effort to wow your guests.
First pour into serving bowls, or leave in saucepan if you intend to eat it al a carte (literally meaning - from the saucepan). Easier for sharing, but may be a bit too edgy for older people to enjoy.
Place some doilies (sort of mat thing) on the table if you have a table. If you don’t have a table then – well – I don’t really know. Soup and lap spillage is a major cause of male infertility.
Pick a leaf of something, like off a tree or whatever, and sling it on top of the soup. This is not for eating, but it adds so much to the image of top host that you are conveying. I think it’s called a bouquet, might be a garnish. Place a mug or ashtray in the middle of the table so your guests can put the garnish there once they have admired it.
Grab spoons and get stuck in!
Summary
I hope you will enjoy this recipe and get as much pleasure from consuming a tin of tomato soup as I frequently do.
Nourishing, stylish, sophisticated, energy giving, beautiful and exciting are just some words I have typed in.
Enjoy my soup recipe!
.
.
Comments
Thanks Mark, it's sometimes tricky to get your knowledge of a subject across on a page, but I think I succeeded here.
Absolutely love this, Mark! Brilliant piece of writing - had me giggling all the way through! It also managed to put me in the mood for a tin of Heinz's finest, which I don't have n the cupboard.
Thanks very much Izzy. You were part of the inspiration from that fun forum thread, and I will get a credit up in a minute when I can remember how to do the link thing.
I love it! Very entertaining! Do you happen to have a recipe for chicken broth?
Beautiful hub mark! So simple and yet very funny and entertaining. I loved this hub of yours a lot! Thanks a lot for giving me a little credit. I have just got inspired by you and now i am going to make a hub on one of my family recipies. Thanks for the inspiration:)
Thanks guys!
Betty - chicken broth - maybe one day. Could have some fun with a chicken...
Jason - Fortunately my family usually ate out of tins. Anything more complicated, I will leave to the expert.
Effective use of topic and well planned. Created a desire to learn. Thanks for sharing.
Haha, from your title, I was expecting some laborious and exquisite methodology to preparing this soup, but hey, I like yours very much--no fuss and looks like a million bucks with the twig you suggest. Love your humor--that's all we need for a good meal.
By golly, it's soup for dinner. I'm thinking I can possibly pull this off.
@dallas - if I can spread the knowledge I have succeeded.
@anginwu - tips like the twig, it's a leaf actually, they make that ordinary meal into something special.
@lindajot - lol, I wish you luck. Don't give up if you don't get it first time around.
LOL. Glad you reshared this. Clearly you are a culinary genius. Or of the genus canaryus coalminus. Something like that.
Lol indeed. It's got a five star rating! And that wasn't me. Honest.
I reshared it because a slow Sunday, and I'd just put those fancy recipe capsules on. I say 'fancy'. Ingredients, cooking time, etc.
Thanks for supping at my soup page Shades...
A recipe anyone can master. I had no idea you were such a chef.
Me neither Pamela, if I am honest, which I am not.. but the star rating cannot lie.
I am hoping for some bizarre mix up in the Google rankings where this becomes the goto page for tomato soup.
I might be able to handle this one! Finally! A recipe I can create with confidence! Thank you - my family thanks you:)
Voted up and haha hilarious!
Sounds ideal for those busy people who need a speedy meal Mark, easy, tasty and impossible to get wrong (hopefully). Excellent stuff :)
A very informative hub. You just left out a few key points, such as comparisons of various soup brands or the fact that tomato soup with rice is an abomination.
Also, the best way to get your tomato soup out of the bowl is with a grilled cheese sandwich, but maybe that's a more advanced technique that you can elaborate on in a future hub.
Sounds too complicated for me, how do you use the tin opener?! lol!
I'm so glad I read this - I am still trying to learn to cook, and I need some good tips! Does it matter what kind of soup you use?
Hilarious as useful Mark, and useful to boot. Wait, when do we turn off the stove?
Did he mention the utensil you use to eat this with? Anyone? My soup is going cold as I don't know what to eat it with :(
Eric - good tip on cheese sandwich, although a little advanced as you can see by some of the other questions.
Which I will now answer.
Nell - buy those cans which have a pull open lid. No can opener required. Until it snaps off, then you need a chisel and a hammer.
Marcy. Given this is a tomato soup hub why would I suggest other soups? Yes, it matters. There is only one soup and, as indigestible and full of additives as it might be, that is the classic tomato soup.
MT - when do you turn off the stove? Depends on your heating arrangment at home. If you also use the stove to heat the room then leave it on. Otherwise, and this is an important safety tip - turn it off when the soup is hot. Remember... the stove surface, assuming you didn't cook it in the oven, can remain hot for at least ten minutes.
Hi Misty. I'm guessing it really is cold by now. You can eat soup cold. I can't. It's revolting. So next time use a spoon (like a fork without pointy bits) or pour the soup into a mug and drink like a, er, drink.
Apologies for not putting these important tips into the page itself, I'm new to this recipe game.
Thanks so much Mark, I had to resort to using an egg cup last night, so I did get to the soup before it was cold, I succeeded in consuming it this way (plus gaining a few burned fingers). Never mind, I will know next time ;)
Mark Knowles 17 months ago
This may be the most idiot-proof recipe I have come across. LOL