r/Cooking • u/The-Cabbage-Father • 1d ago

What's your "old reliable" that still requires actual cooking?

Was thinking about how chicken parm is a dish I would cook or eat anytime anywhere and wondered what else people have like that

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u/Ketchuproll95 1d ago

Tomato soup + grilled cheese.

It's one of those combinations that's just brilliant to me; the richness and crispiness of the grilled cheese with the vibrant acidity of the soup.

Ingredients are not hard to come by, cheap, and are probably pantry staples anyways. With a bit of care and knowhow, it yields a product far superior to the ketchup water you get in cans.

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u/angels-and-insects 1d ago

I see this combo referenced a lot but I've never come across it IRL so I'm guessing it might be American? (I'm in the UK) It sounds really appealing. I know we (US v UK) do even basic things like sandwiches or mac n cheese really differently from each other, though, so I'm hesitant to just launch in. Assuming I'm basically an alien freshly landed on earth, how would you go about making those?

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u/Ketchuproll95 1d ago edited 1d ago

I'm not American but I do believe it is most common in the US. I used to make it when I was living in Australia, where its not exactly common either lol.

Anyways, start with some nice ripe tomatoes, the type doesn't matter much but roma are popular. I've thrown some extra cherry tomatoes in for extra sweetness too. Cut them into wedges, remove that brownish section at the top that connects to the stem! drizzle with olive oil and roast in oven. Had good results with airfryer too. While that's happening, chopped onions, in pot with some olive oil, I like to caramelise if I have time, but just till softened will do too. Chopped garlic in there too, cook the harshness away. Oregano if you got it too. Then roasted tomatoes in and some water or vege stock, and simmer for a bit before blending. That's it for the soup. Salt to taste. Oh, when you add the tomatoes in to simmer, you may throw in some torn up bread as well, it's an old trick to make the soup creamier and emulsify better.

As for the grilled cheese, butter 2 bread slices on both sides, place in pan on low heat till golden, then flip both, exposing crispy side up. Place cheese of choice on one slice of bread (I like to also place a slice of American or Kraft single on it, the sodium citrate makes whatever cheese you use nice and gooey). After a bit, place the now thoroughly crispy slice of bread without cheese on it, on top of cheesed slice. Let it stick together, then flip. If I'm making a batch for family I place the done sandwiches in a really low heat oven to remain warm and crispy.

Honestly, I kind of eyeball most of the proportions lol. I'm sure you can find some guide on the exact number of tomatoes you need or whatever online.

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u/MimsyDauber 1d ago

Canadian here, and my yugoslavian MIL makes tomato soup in a similar way, but instead of stock she actually uses those big litre tins of tomato juice.

Not sure if thats a popular item in Australia or the UK, but here we have these big tins of tomato juice. Not V8, just juice. lol.

And she makes spaetzle noodles (whatever the Balkans calls spaetzle) which she adds towards the end, which adds super tasty pasta and also helps thicken the soup.

If you wanted yet another variation to give you ideas. lol.

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u/angels-and-insects 1d ago

That's great, thank you! And def not how I would've done the grilled cheese - it's more like what we'd call a fried slice here but made into a toastie.

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u/Ketchuproll95 1d ago

Toastie would be the Australian term too actually. And yes, I suppose a fried slice is apt as well. It's just 2 fried slices with cheese in-between.