A Familiar Dish, With a Local Twist!

During our family vacation on the Leelanau Peninsula of Michigan, our family took turns cooking.  When it was our turn to cook, Amanda and I decided to make a fresh, summer version of tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches using only local ingredients. We had a beautiful loaf of sourdough bread from our trip to Niagara, which was a great start to our shopping, but we still needed to track down the best cheese, tomatoes, herbs, and summer vegetables that the area had to offer.  The hunt was on for great local ingredients!

Black Star Farms near Suttons Bay is one of the only places on the Leelanau Peninsula that makes its own cheese, so we just had to go.  They also have a nice café where we stopped to grab lunch.  The wood oven pizza with roasted vegetables was crisp, light, and perfect for a summer day!

The owners of Black Star Farms studied cheese making in Switzerland, and they specialize in making a cheese from the Swiss Alps called Raclette.  They use local cow’s milk to make the Raclette and age it for three months, resulting in a rich cheese that is springingly firm and creamy with fresh, grassy overtones and a gentle, mature tanginess.

Raclette cheese is traditionally used to make the French-Swiss dish “croute au Fromage” where toasted, crusty bread is rubbed with garlic, drizzled with a touch of fruit brandy, and topped with the melted, gooey cheese. If Raclette is good enough for Europe’s fancied-up version of grilled cheese, then it was the perfect choice for our classic American one, too!

Farm stands litter the roadside in Michigan’s Leelanau Peninsula. Hand-painted signs boast the freshest local cherries, blueberries, corn, and peaches during this time of year. Even at the height of summer in late July, we were still a little early for tomato season, so we had search extra hard find a farm that specializes in tomatoes!

At the Ugly Tomato Farm just north of Maple City, owner Bill Walters grows over 71 varieties of heirloom tomatoes.  To get a jump on the season, he starts his tomatoes indoors in the spring.  Then, in June, he moves the plants to outdoor pots so the tomatoes can develop their sun-drenched sweetness.

We tasted some yellow cherry tomatoes that were as sweet as candy and burst in our mouths with a tantalizing pop.  Some small ribbed red heirlooms had a tender flesh and cool, earthy juiciness. The medium, oval shaped tomatoes were grown hydroponically in coconut-shell husks to give the tomatoes a hint of coconut flavor!

Bill is passionate about growing tomatoes and works hard to deliver some of the best around.  “A typical day around here starts at 5 in the morning,” he said.  Our tomato soup benefited from his labor of love.  Bill sold us some beautifully ripe, only slightly bruised tomatoes–at a bargain–that were perfect for tomato soup!  We also scored some fresh red onions, squash, corn, garlic, and basil to flavor and enhance the soup.

To make the soup, we grilled all of the fresh vegetables to develop some extra caramelized sweetness and give the produce a smoky, grilled flavor.  The tomatoes, onions, and garlic came off the grill and went straight into the pot to simmer. We then pureed the mixture into fresh soup that tasted like a warm, summer gazpacho.  Grilled zucchini, red onions, and corn  were diced and marinated to garnish the soup and to add texture and variety to the dish.

Summer Tomato Soup (Feeds: 6 people)
5 lbs	Tomatoes, ripe
2 ea	Spanish onion, thick slices
1 Tbsp	Olive oil
1 head	Garlic
2 Tbsp	Salt
2 Tbsp	Sugar
2 tsp	Pepper
-Slice the head of garlic in half lengthwise and wrap in aluminum foil with the olive oil. Place the foil packet on the top rack of the grill and cook until tender, about 30 minutes. When cool enough to handle, squeeze the soft garlic into the soup pot. -Grill the tomatoes and sliced onion until tender and slightly charred, then add them to soup pot. -Add salt, sugar, and pepper to the pot and simmer the soup until tomatoes are very soft, about 1 hour. -Puree in blender until smooth, or use immersion blender. -Taste the soup and adjust seasoning if needed.
Source: ChefsOnTheRoad.com

Grilled Vegetable Soup Garnish (Feeds: 6 people)
2 ea	Zucchini, sliced thick
1 ea	Large red onion, sliced thick
1 ear	Corn with husk, soaked in water
1 Tbsp	Olive oil
1 bunch	Basil, chopped
2 tsp	Salt
1 Tbsp	Sugar
1 tsp	Pepper
-Grill the soaked corn until husk is charred, peel the corn and cut off the cob. -Grill the sliced zucchini and sliced red onion until tender and slightly charred. -Dice the zucchini and red onion into medium dice and toss with corn, chopped basil, olive oil, salt, sugar, and pepper. -Serve the tomato soup and divide the grilled vegetables evenly between the bowls, garnish with sprigs of basil, serve.
Source: ChefsOnTheRoad.com

It is very rewarding to re-imagine a classic meal like tomato soup and grilled cheese using fresh, seasonal, local ingredients.  Our journey to find the best ingredients the area had to offer was an adventure all its own and helped introduce us to new places, ingredients, and people who have something in common with us: they are passionate about great food!