Tomato Soup with Fresh Basil Croutons and Grilled Goat Cheese Baguette

The winter cold is definitely headed to Montpellier. Thus, let the soup making and dinner parties commence. Here is my attempt at Julia Child-ing.

Fresh veggie broth
1/2 liter of water
clove of garlic
medium onion
4 carrots
oregano, basil, parsley, salt, pepper
veggie bouillon
Satay onions and garlic in olive oil. Boil all together for about an hour. The longer you boil, the tastier it will be. Strain and keep the liquid. You can use the veggies in the soup, too.

Tomato Soup (this fed 8 people)
12 tomatoes (peeled:boil in hot water transfer to cold and peel)
mushrooms
a bell pepper
clove of garlic
medium onion
veggie broth
2 carrots
salt, pepper, rosemary, basil, parsley
Satay onion, garlic, bell pepper, carrots and mushrooms with parsley salt and pepper in olive oil until tender. Add in peeled tomatoes. Add in all veggie broth. Simmer. Then pulse with a mixer. Voila!

Fresh Basil Croutons
Take very very old dry bread (that may or may not have been found in a bag outside of a supermarket) and break it up into pieces. Satay it with olive oil, basil, salt and pepper until gold brown.

Grilled Goat Cheese Baguette
Take two slices of baguette, butter one side, slather them with goat cheese, top with fresh basil, salt and pepper; make a sandwich with butter sides 'up'. Put on a frying pan, smash with plate. Turn over when golden brown. This works well with all types of cheese (camembert, gouda, emmental, brie, etc.)