Curried Coconut Tomato Soup

In her quest to seize more control of the kitchen, my daughter Claire now cooks every Monday. That actually works out great for me, since I teach until 5 on those days, and by the time I've gotten on the train and back home, it's after 6 and I'm beat. She loves it because she gets to cook whatever she feels like cooking, assuming that she has planned far enough ahead to give me a shopping list. She and Julia also both love Mondays because Claire likes to get dinner on the table early. I have adjusted somewhat to French mealtimes and usually start cooking at 6, but Claire usually has dinner ready on the table at shortly after 6, or right when I get home. Apparently French cafeteria food isn't that good, and the girls are ravenous when they get home.

And so Claire was the one who made this soup on Monday night: she didn't feel like planning, and I knew that the recipes in Melissa Clark's book are pretty easy to follow, so I gave her this task. I told her to take photos, but she forgot.

I was not there to witness the cooking process, but could piece together the following information: Claire followed the recipe to the letter. I saw the scale (to weigh out the tomatoes) and many measuring spoons out on the counter. She seems to have started the soup in a deep skillet and then realized it would have to be moved to a soup pot. And she would like to pass on this word of wisdom:

"If you have a blender full of hot soup, it's probably not a good idea to use the 'pulse' function." She did a pretty good job of cleaning up the ensuing soup volcano (fortunately, she doesn't seem to have been injured), but I'm guessing things got pretty messy in the kitchen.

So when I arrived home, the apartment smelled fabulous, but Claire told me that "the texture isn't right". I took a look and had a taste, and we did some adjusting. 

We are not big fans of the "brothy"soup, so I decided to add a handful (maybe 1/4 cup) of rice to thicken things up and add texture. Claire told me she had already added more curry powder and more coconut milk for thickness. I added a bunch of salt and also threw in a couple of sugar cubes for flavor balance.

We served the soup with toasted almonds and chopped frozen herbs and squeezed lime juice on top. It was delicious with the baguette pictured. Grilled cheese would also have been a great addition.

If you make this recipe, I recommend you follow Claire's advice and "add more of everything except the water".