Broiled Red Bell Pepper Soup and Hearty Meatballs

Last week I made broiled red bell pepper soup and ate it alongside some beef heart meatballs. To date this has got to be my favorite type of soup, and I'm usually picky about soup since I usually prefer density with my sustenance. I know I would usually write out the recipe myself, but since little to no adaption is involved, why?

The soup came out perfect, though I think I need to ticker with the ingredients a bit to optimize it. I used garlic powder instead of minced garlic, and I have to say that I noticed no different in the end-result and will continue using this shortcut. This is also the first time I've ever used basil in a dish, so I was disappointed to find that it had little to no impact on the final product. It looks great as a garnish, but I still don't know what it tastes like. I need to try another dish to get a sense of its flavor profile, so perhaps I might try a tomato soup in the future.

Most significantly, I've learned again how the quality of the ingredients can make a difference. There's a big taste difference between conventional and organic cream, and organic cream certainly tastes better, so I was disappointed by the weak creaminess of the soup, though not in texture. Unless you plan on purchasing them fairly consistently, I'd actually recommend staying away from things such as sea salt and organic cream because you'll be eternally dissatisfied with the other alternatives from then on out. Such wonderful taste you cannot forget!

I did goof up on the meatballs. All I did was take about 3/4 a pound of beef heart and add an egg and a tsp of salt to it before portioning and pan frying it. It tasted pretty good, especially when dunked in the soup, but they didn't hold together very well. I should have added in some coconut flour to hold in the moisture; while it does seem like an odd choice from a taste perspective, beef heart is strong enough to override any coconut notes if the flour is only incorporated to the bare minimum. I'll give that a shot next time.

All in all, this is a soup I'd like to add to my regular menu again. I especially love poaching eggs in it.