A new friend told me this week that when reading my blog she envisions me like Carrie Bradshaw, sitting at my desk writing about some fresh drama, while a montage of me cooking family dinner plays in the background. I should like to think that if I was living some wild Sex and the City lifestyle there might be a more interesting love life connected to it. There is something really magical though about the facade of social media that makes our lives look infinitely more alluring than they actually are. That’s one of the really fun and dangerous things about being a photographer: you also become a curator. I find myself constantly trying to convince strangers that my life is by no means glamorous, while curating my social media presence and telling wild anecdotes about faking my way into fancy parties. The real truth is that I spend most of my days sitting at the Who Dat Coffee Cafe in the Marigny, with a black iced coffee staring at a blank page wondering what to write and who to email so that I can continue to afford to do family dinner, and you know… pay rent. In a similar attempt to fictionalize my life, I took some overly dramatic photos of soup this week.
Tomato Basil Soup (12-14 servings):
4 tablespoons butter
2 yellow onion
8 cloves garlic
2 dried chili peppers
2 cups basil
1 tablespoon salt
1 tsp whole peppercorns
3 28oz cans whole peeled tomatoes
6 cups chicken broth
1 cup white wine
I use an 6 qt pot for this recipe, it nearly fills the pot. Half your onions, and uncase your garlic. Heat up your butter in the pot, and on medium heat sear the onion halves for about three minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another few minutes. Deglaze the pot with the cup of wine. Add in all other ingredients, and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. I cooked this for about an hour and then removed it from heat and ladled the soup into a blender to puree until smooth. I found that I needed a big bowl to transfer the puree to, since you will need to puree in 2 or 3 batches, and then return your soup to the original pot. Add more salt or black pepper if necessary. Bring back to hot when you’re ready to serve. You can add a little heavy cream if you want it to be more bisque-y.
