A truffled protest

I think the weather is playing a cruel trick on me. By moving out of the mountains I mistakenly thought I would enjoy a lingering Indian summer, a crisp fall and a gradual slip into winter. Wrong. Wrong. Wrongo. When I heard it was snowing in Park City a few days ago, I thought, ha ha suckers! Then, as if to say, not so fast Hailey, Mother Nature dropped the temperature thirty degrees and it snowed here . . . in the valley . . . in October.

So what did Heather and I do to protest this El Nino weather pattern? We bought a bottle of champagne, turned the hot tub up to 106 and made tomato soup with TRUFFLED grilled cheese sandwiches. How do you like them apples, Mother Nature?

A note about my obsession with all things truffle: I get all quivery just thinking about what I should type. I am contemplating running upstairs right now just to open the bottle to SMELL it. If there ever was a food that could induce naughty, sexy things, it most certainly is a truffle in any of its fine forms. Since I am an unemployed student, truffle oil is the next best thing. You should get yourself a bottle. Then write me an email and try to explain how enigmatically good it is.

Roasted tomato soup with truffled cheese sandwiches

soup:

4-5 tomatoes, quartered

1 onion, roughly chopped

3-4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1 cup chicken or vegetable broth, more if you want it soupier

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp salt/pepper

olive oil

fresh basil

parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place tomatoes, onions and garlic on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 45 minutes.

Let cookie sheet cool enough to handle and careful scoop veggies into a blender. Whizz up until smooth. Add the broth. Pour soup into a sauce pan and simmer over medium heat. Add herbs and any additional salt and pepper.

Garnish with fresh basil and parmesan cheese.

*You can add red pepper to the roasted veggies to add more flavor. Red pepper flakes are a nice addition, too*

cheese sandwiches:

crusty bread

your favorite cheese - we found brie on sale!

caramelized onions

apples, sliced

truffle oil

Heat a pan over medium heat. Butter the outside of bread slices. Layer cheese, apples, onions (I added some leftover basil, too) and drizzle with truffle oil. Press onto the pan with a spatula. Flip. Carefully remove and ENJOY.