I learned recently that Rachael Ray had a talk show that she’s winding up after 17 years. I did not know this! I am actually a fan of Rachael Ray’s and have some of her cookbooks. Her repeated insistence that she is not a chef, has never been trained in anything, and has been unqualified to hold every job she’s ever had is a refreshing blast of candor. Her Oprah-fueled rise almost (almost) makes up for the national scandals that are Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz, the two other Oprah acolytes whose fall is long overdue.

Rach (this is how I refer to her) is one of the best things to come out of upstate New York. She was born in Glens Falls, which is a lovely town not far from Lake George. When she was eight the family moved to the town of Lake George, where her father managed the Howard Johnson’s. I do not have time to research this but I’m almost sure that I read that the Lake George HoJo’s was the last one left in the US. She moved down to New York and worked in another iconic and sorely missed institution, the Macy’s Marketplace. In the 90s it was briefly an attempt to bring a British-style department store food hall to pre-Whole Foods Manhattan. I absolutely loved it and would stop by at least once a week, despite not living nor working anywhere near there. It didn’t last long though and I don’t know why. When Macy’s attempted to promote her out of the Marketplace she went back upstate where she became a buyer at Albany’s Cowan & Lobel gourmet market. Lots of her customers were ill at ease in the kitchen, she discovered, so she began offering cooking classes, making meals that took 30 minutes or less. This is still one of her specialties. A local TV station gave her a slot, Oprah or one of her minions got wind of this, and the rest is history. She now presides over a huge empire with cooking shows, a cookware line, cookbooks, guest appearances, the woman never rests.

Over the course of her career (she turns 55 in August) she’s turned out hundreds, if not thousands, of recipes. Her hamburger output alone (another specialty) could fill my FYCE slots well into the next decade. When I went looking around for something to send her off with I was surprised at how often this tomato soup recipe came up. I don’t know if it made a recent appearance on one of her shows or what. Maybe it’s notorious, like Sandra Lee’s Kwanzaa cake? At first you think, “I am being trolled,” but if you think about it’s very common to add salty soup crackers to provide crunch, and the popcorn you add here is cheesy, which makes it even better. This recipe looks a little daunting for a Rachael Ray recipe but it’s not, it just take a few more ingredients than most of her other offerings.

Ingredients

1 large onion
2 large cloves garlic 
2 tablespoons butter 
EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil; this is a famous Ray-ism)
Salt and pepper 
1 teaspoon (scant 1/3 palm full) pimenton, smoked sweet paprika
1 teaspoon oregano or marjoram
1 teaspoon red chili flakes 
1 teaspoon sugar or acacia honey 
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock 
1 can (28 ounces) stewed tomatoes (tomatoes with celery, peppers and onions) 
1 can (14 ounces) diced fire-roasted tomatoes 
1/4 cup yellow or white cheddar powder 
2 tablespoons dry dill 
1 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 cup popcorn kernels 
1 stick butter, melted
1/4 cup heavy cream, optional 

How to:

Gather your ingredients.

Peel onion and chop, crush the garlic and chop.

In a soup pot over medium to medium-high heat, melt butter into EVOO, 2 turns of the pan. Add the onions and garlic to the pot, season with salt, pepper, pimenton, oregano or marjoram and red chili flakes. Partially cover and soften 5 minutes.

To the soup pot, add sugar or honey and stock and bring to boil for 5 minutes. Add stewed tomatoes and fire-roasted tomatoes, simmer 10 minutes more.

Combine cheese powder with dill and celery seed.

Pop the popcorn in paper bag, rolled up at the top, about 1/4 cup at a time, on high in microwave, about 2 1/2 minutes. (Or cook corn in 2 tablespoons oil in covered pot over medium-high heat.) Transfer popped corn to a large bowl and top with melted butter and a little salt. Toss with cheese and dill topping.

Puree the soup with immersion blender. Stir cream if using into soup and serve. Place soup bowls alongside the soup. Garnish with popcorn.