Coulis soupe de tomate et riz is a very well seasoned tomato rice soup.
I created this recipe about 7 years ago and gave it a French name because it's based on a tomato coulis. It was snowing outside and I wanted a hot but different soup for dinner, so I made this. It became a cold night soup to warm up. I love it.

When I was a kid (as an adult as well I guess), my mom always made for my sister and I, what she calls "soft rice". That's pretty much rice cooked with too much water and some salt so you end up with a kind of soup. She used to cook rice normally for lunch, add more water, and remove the excess water along with some rice when it was cooked, to eat like a soup and let the actual rice in the pot finish cooking in high heat for a couple of minutes to dry out the little bit water left so we could use it as normal rice. I miss my mother's food.


I love tomato everything (but juice) so I made a tomato coulis and mixed to my mom's "soft rice" and it became a soup.

Here I added chicken but you can add beef, pork, sausage or even fried veggies on top.

The recipe is quick and simple.
It's for 1 person with some left over if you're not that hungry.
I basically use 1 cup of rice for 1 person so you don't lack soup in the end if case you're hungry.

Ingredients

❈ Tomato coulis
- 2 medium juicy red tomatoes chopped tiny, about 1 cup (for each cup of rice, if you're making more). You can leave in the seeds and peel, no problem.
- 1/2 cup of thick tomato puree (I make mine and freeze it to be used as needed but you can use store bought)
- 2 tablespoons of dry or fresh parsley
- 2 teaspoons of ground black pepper
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 cup of minced onions (white is better), shallots work too
- 1 clove of garlic

❈ Rice
- 1 cup white rice
- 3 1/2 cups of water
- No salt, the coulis will season it

❈ Meat (this works for chicken, beef, pork and sausage)
- 3/4 cup of minced onions (white is better), shallots and green work too
- 1 clove of garlic
- Salt, parsley and ground black pepper to taste
- About 2 cups of the small cubed meat of your choice
- Lemon squeeze (optional) - just a few drops.


Directions

First do your mise en place so you have everything ready to go as needed.

Start with the tomato coulis, then the meat, and finally the rice.

Marinade the meat with the salt, black pepper, parsley and lemon before you start the coulis.


The best soup is the one you make and eat right away, that's why I do the rice last.

❈ Tomato coulis
In a sauce pan put some olive oil (I use about 2 tablespoons) and toss in the onion and garlic, let it fry a bit until it's golden.
Add the tomatoes, parsley, salt and pepper, mix and cover it.
Let it cook until the tomato breaks down completely, then cook uncovered so the water reduces by half.
Once it breaks down so much that it becomes a puree, add the tomato paste and cook for about 2 minutes.
Set aside.


❈ Meat
In a frying pan put some olive oil (I use about 2 tablespoons) and toss in the onion and garlic, let it fry a bit until it's golden.
Add in the meat and cook it until it's well cooked. I eat well cooked.
Set aside.

❈ Rice
Wash your rice in a thin colander until the water comes out more transparent and not so white.
Add the water to the rice.
Bring it to a boil and the simmer (uncovered) until you taste and feel the grains are cooked.
You should still have lots of water in it.
With low heat still on, add the tomato coulis, mix slowly.
Done.

Your soup is ready. Just add the meat on top and enjoy.
For a crunch factor, eat it with garlic bread.

Sauce au jus de viande is beef gravy.

Before you start you need to know the names of some things.

Here they are:
Fond - are the browned bits or drippings from meats or vegetables, found on the bottom of a sauté or roasting pan via the Maillard reaction.
Deglazing - is a cooking technique for removing and dissolving browned food residue (the fond) from a pan to make a sauce. The browned residue is due to either the Maillard reaction or caramelization.
Maillard reaction - is a chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars that gives browned foods their desirable flavor. Seared steaks, pan-fried dumplings, breads, and many other foods make use of the effect. It's the browning effect.
Roux - is flour that has been browned in some form of fat, usually oil, but sometimes butter, in equal parts. Some form of roux is used in order to create sauces and gravies - generally the Mother Sauces and derivatives. This type of roux is cooked off only long enough to cook the raw flour, and though there is little to no color, it carries a strong thickening power to the dish, the blond roux. A darker colored roux, or brun roux, acts not only as a thickener, but also adds additional flavor and imparts a deeper, richer color to the dishes where it is used as a base.

Now that you know these names you can start the recipe.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon of olive oil
3 tablespoons of butter
4 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons of minced shallots or onions
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon of rough chopped fresh thyme
3 cups of beef broth/bouillon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Note: if you are making any kind of beef you can sear it with 2 tablespoons of butter and keep the fond that the Maillard reaction created to sauté the onions and garlic. Just remember that if you are searing the meat already salted and peppered you definitely need to watch the salt because your broth is probably already salted. I almost never need to add it. Leave it to the end after you taste the end result.

Directions

Sear both sides of the beef in olive oil, until you get the Maillard reaction and form a fond. An actual saute pan is better. Nonstick pans don't allow the fond to form properly.

If you aren't using home made or canned liquid broth you need to mix it firs
1 cup of beef broth/bouillon = 1 cup boiling water and 1 teaspoon instant beef bouillon granules/powder (or 1 bouillon cube).

So, boil 3 cups of water and add the 3 teaspoons of beef broth/bouillon (or 3 cubes), mix it well and turn it off.

If you use beef broth that is already salted leave the salt for last because you might not need it.


In a hot frying pan add the olive oil then add the shallots and garlic to sauté. If you have the fond from searing the meat, then add the oil, shallots and garlic straight in and deglaze the fond while you sauté.


When golden add the thyme and the pepper. If you used the fond to sauté, it should look golden brown but not burned.


Drop the sauté in the beef broth/bouillon and mix.

The roux.
Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour to create a roux.
Mix 6 to 8 minutes until you have a brun roux (dark brown).
Medium heat is best.


Add the roux to the beef broth and bring it to a boil.


After it starts boiling lower it to a simmer and cook it for about 20 minutes.

Note: If you want it even thicker add a mix of corn starch and water to it and mix until you reach the thickness you want.
Too much will make it gelatinous.
I add 2 tablespoons of corn starch to 1 cup of water and mix until I have no lumps, then add it slowly to my sauce while mixing, giving it time to work so it's not over the thickness limit I want.
But for this gravy I have never needed to thicken it, since that is the roux's job.

If you don't know the difference between a boil and a simmer, here it is:
Rolling boil - cannot dissipate the bubbles when stirring. You should never use rolling boil for protein (it becomes leathery).
Boil - when stirred the bubbles dissipate for a second. Bubbles break in different edges of the pan. Still too much to boil protein.
Simmer - low heat when no bubbles break the surface with lots of steam. Used for slow cooking.
Poach - no bubbles break the surface with very little steam that stays inside the pan walls. It is best heat to boil protein because it keeps the moisture and gets it fully cooked.

For a while now I have been wanting to make oven roasted veggies to see how they would turn out.

So here it is.

First prepare the tin foil pouch for both veggies and beef.
You will need a big piece of tin foil so you can close the four corners together and still leave room between the foil and the top of the food.


You will need 2 big garlic cloves, one for the beef and one for the veggies.
Go nuts on the elephant garlic!


For a big meal for one person, you will need:
2 small potatoes
2 small carrots
1/2 medium onion, and green beans (which you can add as much as you like).

You can also use other veggies, I chose the ones I like to eat together.

Slice the potatoes but not too thin.


For the beef, you will need the one clove of garlic chopped (I like in big pieces), parsley, salt and black pepper (as you like).

Marinade the beef with them and olive oil.

I used 2 pinches (small) of salt, 3 of black pepper, 3 of parsley, and 2 teaspoons of olive oil.

I also add half a lemon. Just squeeze a few drops on top of the meat.

Do that in a bowl and leave it for 15 minutes.

When you are ready to put it in the oven, transfer it to the tin foil pouch (I don't like to let it marinade with that lemon straight into the foil).


For the veggies, just drop them in a bowl.

Add salt (I used 3 pinches because the potatoes suck it in), parsley (4 pinches), black pepper (5 pinches), olive oil (3 teaspoons) and rosemary (3 pinches).


Mix it all up and put them in the tin foil pouch.


Put the veggies and the beef in the oven over a baking sheet and cook in medium high. Check to see how the potatoes and the beef are coming along and when they are cooked.

While cooking the veggies, make sure you check for when they are cooked.

Every time you check, pierce the potatoes.

If they aren't cooked yet, add half a cup of water, and close the tinfoil pouch well.


Now, eat!


It turned out to be one of the tastiest plates I have ever made.

=P

This is a dairy free recipe for those who don't want to have or can't have any milk.

1 can of sweet coconut milk
4 egg whites
1/2 cup of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of cream of tartar

In a mixer, beat the egg whites to a stiff fluff.
Add the sugar all at once and beat it until it becomes a frosting like texture.
Add the cream of tartar and beat for 4 minutes.
Add the coconut milk (I just pour it all at once) and fold it slowly until it is all mixed with the egg white fluff.
It needs to stay in the freezer at least 8 hours before serving.

Ingredients 

For the infused oil for the bread:
1/2 cup of olive oil
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of rosemary
1/2 teaspoon of salvia/sage
1/2 teaspoon of thyme
1/2 teaspoon of basil
1/2 teaspoon of sweet bay laurel
1/2 teaspoon of marjoram or oregano

For the tomatoes:
You will need 1 teaspoon of olive oil and a pinch (extra from the above) of the herbs to prepare the tomatoes.

Bread
Tomatoes
Sesame seeds

Directions

To make the infused oil:
Mix the oil, the salt and the herbs into a bowl about 40 minutes before you will use them.
The longer it sits there the longer it will be infused with the taste, but 40 minutes is enough.


To prepare the bread:
The bread in the picture is homemade. It is my soda bread.
But you can use any bread that isn't sandwich bread.
The best breads to make the bruschetta are the soda bread, Ciabatta and French bread.
Ciabatta is the best one by far. Sourdough bread also makes good bruschettas.
Slice the bread in a more of less thick slice and separate.


To prepare the tomatoes:
Cut the tomatoes in half and remove the center (I use the centers of it in my pomodoro sauce so I don’t waste them).
With just the out layer of the half tomatoes, cube them in small cubes. Make sure your knife is sharp or they will become puree.
Separate.
If you will take a while to make the bruschetta, put the chopped tomatoes sin the fridge because they need to be firm and not mushy.


Right before you will make the bruschetta, add about 1 teaspoon of olive oil to the tomatoes and a pinch of the herbs.



With a silicon brush, brush the infused oil on both sides of the bread .
Set them on a baking sheet and bake it in the oven until both sides are golden.
I bake them at 325F (170C or number 3), and turn them so they are golden on both sides.


Add the tomatoes to the bread, sprinkle some sesame seed and voila!



Enjoy!

Ingredients 
225 grams of unsalted butter (or the whole tablet) at room temperature
1 1/2 cups of confectioner’s (powdered or icing) sugar
1 egg at room temperature
2 tablespoons of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of Kosher salt
2 teaspoons of baking powder
3 cups (you may have to add 3 tablespoons to that) of all-purpose flour

Directions 
Cream together butter and sugar.
Add eggs and extract and mix well.
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt, add to wet mixture little by little until well incorporated.


Roll and cut cookies into desired shapes, dusting with flour as necessary.


Bake cookies at 400 degrees for 7-8 minutes until tops are appear dry rather than shiny.
Do not brown.
For the icing I use ready to mix icing power . But you can make your own too.


Enjoy!