Cream Of Tomato Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 (14 -16 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
2 (14 -16 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice
1/4 cup butter (preferred) or 1/4 cup oil
3 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 pinch allspice
1 3/4 cups chicken broth, low sodium preferred
1 1/2 - 2 1 1/2-2 cups half-and-half or 1 1/2-2 cups milk
salt and pepper

Preparation

Place a strainer over a large measuring cup. Drain and SAVE the juice from both stewed and diced tomatoes. Press down on the tomatoes with the back of a spoon to drain more juice. Measure 3 cups juice, discard excess or save for another use. (Bloody Mary anyone?) Set aside both juice and tomatoes.
Melt the butter in a large pot, sprinkle in the flour; stir and cook 1 minute. Add the brown sugar, tomato paste and allspice; stir.
Whisk in the chicken broth gradually; then add the reserved tomato juice and both kinds of tomatoes.
Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce to a simmer and cook 10 minutes.
Puree with an immersion blender, food processor or blender. Don't fill more than halfway if using a food processor or blender and cover with a kitchen towel before turning it on. Leave as chunky as you like and call it a bisque or puree smooth for cream soup.
Pour through a strainer into the same pot.
Heat cream/milk in microwave until steaming, stir into soup. Heating the cream/milk helps keep it from curdling.
Bring back to simmer. Do not boil after adding cream/milk - it will curdle. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper, more cream/milk or more sugar if desired.
Pureeing tomato seeds can make the soup a little bitter; adding a little more brown sugar will remove the bitterness.