Skyrim cooking: Tomato Soup

As I mentioned before, one of my goals is to cook every food available in Skyrim. (Within reason; I don't think I'll be able to recreate mammoth roast anytime soon, nor horker loaf.) I decided to start with something simple: tomato soup.

Now, I actually didn't like tomato soup for a long time. It was one of those things that I decided I Didn't Like as a kid - I can't remember if I'd even tried it before coming to this conclusion - and this belief that I Didn't Like tomato soup stuck with me up into adulthood. However, as I've been exploring food and cuisine more I've been giving stuff I abhorred as a child a second chance - usually to discover that now I love the stuff! Mushrooms, cottage cheese, chili, spinach, sweet potatoes - they've all been redeemed in my adulthood.

So I decided this was the perfect time to give tomato soup another chance.

I wanted to use a recipe that incorporates fresh tomatoes instead of canned tomatoes because that would be more "authentic." (Never mind that tomatoes probably would not be able to survive in Skyrim's climate.) I also didn't want anything too fancy - access to exotic ingredients is probably limited in Skyrim, especially with the civil war going on! I used this recipe as a result, which has a simple ingredient list and uses fresh whole tomatoes. Because I'm new to this whole food blogging thing, I forgot to take pictures of the cooking process, and D and I were too busy eating the soup to take pictures of it once it was done. So instead I'll give you a picture of how many tomatoes I have left over from the process:

Clearly I over-estimated how many tomatoes are needed to produce four cups.

I'm glad that I gave tomato soup another chance - it was indeed tasty, although when I followed the recipe to the letter it was a bit too salty; there was already plenty of sodium in the chicken broth, so adding more salt was ill-advised. When I make tomato soup in the future, I'll follow the altered recipe that I provide below, which with a few tweaks can be made vegetarian or vegan. D and I ate it with regular grilled cheese sandwiches, but for a truly Skyrim experience you could instead use a chunk of hearty homemade bread with a bit of cheese melted on top.

Skyrim Tomato Soup

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

• 4 c chopped fresh tomatoes (about 6 tomatoes)
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 4 whole cloves
• 2 c chicken broth or veggie broth
• 2 Tblsp unsalted butter or margarine
• 2 Tblsp flour
• 2 tsp sugar
• Salt (optional)

Directions

1. In a pot, combine tomatoes, onion, cloves, and broth. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes. If too much liquid boils off, add more broth.
3. Remove from heat. Run the mixture through a blender or food processor until the mixture is smooth, with no chunks. Leave it in the blender/processor for now.
4. In the pot (which you may want to rinse out), melt the butter (or margarine) over medium-low heat. Slowly add the flour, mixing it into a smooth paste.
5. Cook the flour/butter paste until it is light brown. Gradually add the tomato/broth mixture back into the pot, stirring constantly.
6. Add the sugar. If using a low/no-sodium broth (or if you prefer a saltier soup), add salt to taste.