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Spicy Green Tomato Soup with Crab & Country Ham

This has become an early fall signature dish at the restaurant, and it is one of our more requested recipes. We suppose everyone needs another use for all those end-of-season green tomatoes besides frying them. This soup is equally successful chilled or hot, and you can modify the garnish depending on your preference.
Servings: 8

Ingredients

  • 5 ounces country ham julienned
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 medium onions peeled and sliced thin
  • 6 cloves garlic sliced
  • 2 jalapenos stemmed and sliced, with seeds
  • 4 green Anaheims stemmed, seeded, and sliced
  • 2 green pasilla chiles stemmed, seeded, and sliced
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 3 1/2 pounds firm green tomatoes cored and cut into eighths
  • 1 1/2 qu

Instructions

  • 1. Cook the ham in the vegetable oil until crisp and golden; drain, reserve the ham, and return the oil to the pot.
    2. Cook the onions in the oil over moderate heat until soft but not colored. Add the garlic, jalapenos, Anaheims, pasilla chiles, and bay leaves and cook 5 minutes.
    3. Add the tomatoes and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook 15 minutes, until the tomatoes soften.
    4. Remove the bay leaves, add the basil, and puree in a blender, working in batches.
    5. Season with lemon juice, Tabasco, and salt. Cool and reserve.
    6. Gently reheat the soup over medium heat and adjust the seasoning. Place crab or shrimp in warm bowls. Ladle the soup into the bowls, and garnish with sour cream, tomato concasse and caper mixture, country ham, and sliced scallions.

    This recipe is from the book Not Afraid of Flavor:Recipes from the Magnolia Grill by Award-Winning Chefs Ben and Karen Barker