Roasted bell pepper soup is savory, sweet and spicy

How could I get anything but an A for this delicious-looking soup?

Tomorrow is my final presentation in my Soups and Seasonings with Intuition class, and I daresay I've expanded my skill set exponentially with this class (thanks chef Omid Roustaei - just in case you Google yourself again!). I feel more confident with my experimentations now that I have a lot more of the basics down, and yet I also feel more ready to think outside of the box.

And although this savory, sweet and spicy roasted red bell pepper soup might not be too far outside of the box, it's pretty darn delicious.

Creamy Chipotle Roasted Red Bell Pepper Soup
3 bell peppers
3 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1 large leek, white and light green parts sliced thin and rinsed well
2 cloves garlic, chopped
½ teaspoon chipotle chile powder
3 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups half-and-half
2 tablespoons flour
¼ cup crème fraiche, divided (optional)
¼ cup chopped chives, divided (optional)

If you’re using a barbecue or gas stove, roast peppers over the flames and turn frequently until they’re completely charred. Or if using an electric stove, cut peppers in half, remove seeds and membrane, and broil 2 inches from heat source skin-side up until the skin is black and blistering, about 20-30 minutes. Place charred peppers in a bowl, cover and let set for 15 minutes. Peel skin off and roughly chop roasted peppers.

Heat a large pot over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and swirl to coat pan. Add leeks and garlic, and cook until leeks begin to wilt and brighten in color, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in chile powder until vegetables are well coated. Add roasted peppers, broth and salt, then bring to a boil. Cover soup and simmer until leek is soft, about 10 minutes.

While soup simmering, heat half-and-half in a medium saucepan. In another saucepan, make a roux by heating the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Add flour and whisk constantly until thick, 3-4 minutes. Keep whisking, then slowly add warm half-and-half to the roux. Keep whisking until mixture comes to a boil. Simmer until thick, about 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, puree soup in a blender until it is completely smooth. Add blended soup to the thickened half-and-half and stir. Heat if needed, then serve immediately or store for up to four days.

Serve with a dollop of crème fraiche and chives, if desired.

Preparation time: 1 hour (including time to roast peppers)
Makes: 4 (12-ounce) servings
Nutritional information (per 12-ounce bowl): Calories 425; Fat 32.9 grams; Carbohydrates 23.9 grams; Protein 10.3 grams.

I'm learning Soups and Seasoning with Intuition!

So, did I mention that I'm taking a cooking class at my school? And I'm not talking about a measly two-hour cooking class where you learn the basics of Thai cooking or something like that. I'm talking about a full-on, 11-week class through our top-notch culinary program — just another kick-ass perk of working for a natural health university!

Needless to say, Mom and Charlie both were not impressed when I shared with them the big news. I bragged about the knife skills I would learn, Charlie said, "I could teach you that." I bragged about the course title, "Soups and Seasonings with Intuition," and Mom just looked at me like I was a fool to take a class when I could just teach myself to cook like she did.

Maybe I'm just too American, but I want to learn from the experts. I want to learn which foods pair well together and how to make my dishes pretty. And I want to feel confident about the food that I'm making.

So far, not so good. Sure, it's a cooking class, but it's a class that aims to teach us how to cook our own food, so we're not using recipes, we're just being given a topic and told to run with it. Week one was a vegetable broth, and although my decision to add smoked paprika to the mix was a bold one, I'm not sure if it was such a tasty one.

But the whole point of the class is to learn, and learn I already have. Our always-encouraging teacher, Chef Omid Roustaei, told us a secret that I probably should have learned from my mother, but I didn't. Every week, he takes the scraps of all of the vegetables I've been putting in my compost bin (onion skins, carrot ends, kale stalks, etc), and makes broth out of them to make his grains with or even to use as a soup base.

When I'd just cooked up my first batch and told Bryan what I was doing, he pointed out that Mom does that too, except she uses those scraps not necessarily as a broth, but she puts them in the soups she makes each day, which is why every time I have one of her soups the ingredients are different. She puts my wastefulness to shame, even after I've made this beautiful, flavor vegetable stock!