another thing i thought of would be to add maybe 1/2 a cup to 1 cup of a red wine to it. maybe merlot, mostly because its a good excuse to have a glass or three.

another simple one:

tomatoes (uh, roma?)
olive oil
cracked black pepper
vegetable broth
bunch of fresh basil
1 clove of garlic
a couple shallots, chopped
grated asiago cheese

cut the tomatoes in half, drizzle with olive oil and cracked pepper. put them under a hot broiler until they bubble and barely begin to blacken. move them to a pot, add the vegetable broth, basil, garlic and shallots. simmer for a while (20-30 minutes?). pour the whole thing in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. serve with a sprinkling of asiago cheese.

~james

pastrami, that does sound good.

i had a great recipe for french (freedom) onion soup. if i can find it, ill post it.

~james

Garlic is as good as ten mothers.

you sound like my wife. i tend to use garlic sparingly, but casey goes all out. when i do get fresh garlic, i like to roast it before using. i like how it milds and evens out the taste. makes it less overpowering when i do use too much.

~james

If you add just a little bread crumbs, you can use a plate. It takes much less crumbs than using fresh bread because the bread is 3/4 moisture. Also, you can get seasoned crumbs.:biggrin: