Cream of Tomato Soup

I made this with my fresh tomatoes from the Farmer's Market when Melanie was in town. We were talking about soup and she mentioned that she liked tomato soup. I told her to come on over for lunch and I would make some. There is nothing like homemade soup and I refuse to eat soup from a can (I will use cream of whatever soups in dishes that I make, but not to eat plain). Homemade soups take more time than opening a can, but the results are so worth it. If you love soup, do yourself a favor and make some from scratch! My picture was super blurry, so no picture--sorry!


Cream of Tomato Soup from Neiman-Marcus' No Jacket Required

4 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil
1 yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1/4 teas minced garlic
3 ripe tomatoes (4 to 5 if small), coarsely chopped
3 tbs tomato paste
4 tbs flour
2 1/2 cups chicken stock (this is about 1 1/2 cans if using canned stock)
1/2 teas sugar
salt
1/2 teas thyme
white pepper (best to use freshly cracked)
1 cup heavy cream

Heat 2 tbs butter with olive oil in saucepan. Add onion and garlic, saute 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and tomato paste. Cook 2 to 3 minutes. Add flour and mix. Add stock, sugar, salt, thyme and white pepper. Simmer 15 minutes. Pour into blender and blend. Strain through a fine sieve. Pour in saucepan. Add cream and bring to a boil.. Reduce heat and simmer 2 to 3 minutes. When ready to serve, stir in remaining butter, bit by bit.