Mahalo Apollo: Welcome Back To Pimp My Blog!

I've been reading some awesome blogs. I still don't really know what I'm doing, but I'll get better. Most of us live round lives with diverse interests and hobbies, and one fun blogging idea I came across was the weekly theme which dedicates days of the week to particular interests of blogger. The Far Too Important Blog has Book Blogger Hop Friday's, Diary Of A Fair Weather Diver has Would You Rather Wednesday, Dancing on the Bar of Life has Fuck Yeah Friday and SUNDAY PIC and Inside The Mind Of Booya has Website Wednesday. So, I'm going to dedicate Thursdays to cooking. I haven't decided on a catchy name for these culinary themed Thursdays (Or Fridays, it's late) yet, but I'm starving right now and my creativity is as low as my blood sugar.

I haven't shared much about myself. Opening up issues. I'm a PA (Production Assistant): a glamorized gofer in the entertainment industry. 16-hour work days are not uncommon. You get used to it. Plus you usually get a week or two off/month. Sometimes a whole month. Anyway! I usually run around all day and forget to eat. Working that hard builds up an appetite for something satisfying, and, if I don't have an early calltime the next day, cooking is a great way to unwind after 16 hours of going-going-going and babying the inflated egos of this one-industry town. I participate in more than one extreme sport, I named my dog after my baseball team's stadium, I party a lot and I'm not someone most would expect to have a "domestic" hobby like cooking, but most wouldn't expect me to have a blog either. However, I'm sure my fellow bloggers can relate. We're complex. Like that layer thing Shrek said. This disclosure has dragged on long enough, hasn't it? Onto the food!

Tonight, I made a fancy grilled cheese and homemade tomato soup with a swirl of my own basil pesto.

GRILLED CHEESE

Sourdough bread
Gruyere
Gouda
Extra virgin olive oil

Brush olive oil on bread. Grill until cheese melts without burning the bread. About 5 min/side on medium heat.

TOMATO SOUP

1 cup chicken/ vegetable stock/broth
1 (15 oz) can chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt and black pepper
Olive oil
Basil pesto, for garnish

Strain tomatoes (keep juice for soup!) and roast them drizzled in extra virgin olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper at 450 degrees F for 15 minutes. Cook broth and tomatoes in a saucepan over medium heat. When soup bubbles, stir in heavy cream and reduce heat to low and simmer gently 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Puree (immersion blenders simplify things). Season with a little salt and pepper to taste. Serve soup with a small spoon of basil pesto swirled in the middle.

Optional additives: celery, carrot, onion (first cook for 10 minutes in 3/4 cup of olive oil, then add soup indgredients directly to this)

BASIL PESTO

3 tbs pine nuts (lightly roasted in the oven or a dry skillet)
3 garlic cloves
1/2 cup olive oil
2/3 cup grated parmesan
3 cups of fresh basil leaves (unpacked and de-stemmed)
1/4 tsp sea salt

Chop pine nuts and garlic in a blender. Blend in olive oil, sea salt and basil until a paste forms. Stir in parmesan.

For dessert...