Tomato Basil soup, Artichokes with lemon (shrimp) butter, Corn Scallop and Herb baked pork chops.

Tomato Basil soup, Artichokes with lemon (shrimp) butter, Corn Scallop and Herb baked pork chops.

I will start with my Tomato Basil soup,
1(10.75) can condensed tomato soup
1 (6oz) can tomato paste
2 (8oz) can tomato sauce
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1c. water
about 1T. chopped garlic
12 large basil leaves (fresh)
2T. Extra virgil olive oil.
salt and pepper to taste...please, please use fresh ground pepper and kosher salt in my recipes :)

(I also make my own crutons to go in my Tomato basil soup, its simple. Take a loaf of sourdough bread from your local grocery store and cut with a bread knife into cubes, make a mixture of butter, olive oil and garlic salt and lightly toss the bread cubes. Put into the oven and bake until nicely toasted.)

I've now chopped my garlic and I'm going to have my oil ready in my pan at a medium temp. (if you cook the garlic at too high of a temperature it will become brown and bitter.) after about a minute I will add all the tomato, water and then my basil. allow to simmer about an hour stirring frequently.

now on to making my artichokes, Clean and steam 3 artichokes. (You can get instructions on various websites if you are not familiar.) The butter sauce you will need 2 sticks unsalted butter (softened), 8 to 10 cooked shrimp, 1T minced garlic, zest of 1 lemon, salt and pepper to taste) and about 1T olive oil blend in processor and then melt to dip artichoke leaves in. Butter will be fluffly and creamy.

The corn scallop is so simple, take 3 cups of corn, mix with 2T all purpose flour, 1t. sugar, 1t. salt, fresh ground pepper and 1/2 c. milk. The bread that is leftover from your croutons, dry out in the oven and blend in the food processor with salt and pepper for your bread crumbs. about a cup is good. use 1/2 breadcrumbs to line the bottom of a small baking dish, fill with corn mixture and top with remaining bread crumbs, bake uncovered for 20 minutes.

And now for the beautiful pork chops, 4 thick, boneless pork chops in a large baking dish with a cup of water in dish, you will top the pork chops with salt, pepper, fresh oregano, thyme sprigs, 2 bay leaves and chives. Bake at 375 for 30 to 45 minutes.