duck-shaped pain

4 large bell peppers -- preferably red, but other colors will do as well

1 large Anaheim pepper or 1 small can diced green chiles

3 tbsp. butter or olive oil [1]

1 large red onion, thinly sliced

1 small head garlic, cloves peeled and thinly sliced

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. dried oregano

3 tsp. flour

4 1/2 cups vegetable broth [2]

2 tbsp. tomato paste

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

salt and pepper

1. Turn on broiler. Slice bell peppers (and Anaheim pepper, if using) in half, remove stems and seeds, and place, skin-side up, on cookie sheet or broiler pan. Place under broiler and roast until skins are black. Remove, and place all pepper halves in bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, let steam for 15-20 minutes or more. Remove charred skins from peppers using a small knife or your hands, discard skins. Slice peppers into thin strips, set aside.

2. Melt butter or oil in large soup pot under medium heat. Add onions and garlic, cook 8 minutes until onions are transparent and soft. Add cayenne, thyme, basil and oregano, cook 1 minute more.

3. Add roasted peppers to pot, stir. Lower heat, cover pot and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.

4. Remove cover, add flour, stir to incorporate, and cook for 2 minutes.

5. Pour in broth, add tomato paste. Cover and cook soup for 15 minutes.

6. Pour soup mix in large bowl. Puree soup in batches (a food mill works better, but a blender is much faster) and return to soup pot. Add cilantro. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for another 10 minutes.

(Note: if you happen to have fresh thyme, basil and oregano on hand, you can chop up a small amount of each and add them at the end of the recipe, when the cilantro is added. This will reinforce the flavor of the dried herbs added at the start of cooking.)

I usually eat this soup with good bread and salad, but last night I served it with simple quesadillas, and that was very satisfying as well. This recipe makes a lot of soup, be warned -- you'll be eating it for several lunches to come. It also tastes better when accompanied by soup weather.

In related topics, I have fallen in love with a new coffee -- the Organic Mountain Harvest coffee from The Steaming Bean Coffee Company up in Telluride. I've tried other coffees of theirs before, but this is the best one by far. And my local grocery store now carries their coffee, so no searching far and wide or driving to Telluride for it anymore. Double yay.

I went to Sam's Club yesterday to see if they had any decent deals on blank recording tapes. They didn't, but that didn't stop me from spending money there. I bought two big cucumbers and a Thai cookbook. I'm used to standing in line behind people with a lot of things -- people come to Sam's Club to buy enormous amounts of goods -- but I was not prepared to be behind someone buying approximately 2,000 hot dogs (250 packages). Something like that cannot go unquestioned, so I found out that the guy was buying them for a family cookout (that's one hell of a family!) later that day. The part that amused me the most was that he was buying only one bottle of ketchup and one jar of mustard to go along with the 2,000 hot dogs -- "I think that will be enough," he said. Also -- no buns! Interesting.

[1] Please use REAL butter, if you go down that route. This soup is much too good for margarine.