Heat oil in a large sauce pan and add chopped onion. Cook for about five minutes until soft but not browned. Add chopped tomatoes, V-8 juice, chicken stock, salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Cook until hot and bubbly – about 5 minutes. Add lemon juice and basil.
Ladle half the soup into a blender and process until smooth – about 1 minute. Make sure you take the little feed top off the blender before you process hot liquids or it will explode. I take the little feed top off and put a kitchen towel over it. If your blender does not have a removable feed top then leave the top off the blender and place a towel over the opening while processing – fold the towel over a few times to make sure it is thick so you don’t get burned. Pour the blended soup into a strainer set over a large mixing bowl and process the second half of the soup as instructed above. Push the soup through the strainer and reheat if necessary. Add the vodka or tequila. Pour soup into shot glasses, egg cups or other small serving cup. Top with Horseradish Sauce and garnish with chives if desired.
Horseradish Sauce
Mix together and dollop onto soup.
Parmesan Cheese Baskets with Herbed Goat Cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare 2 baking sheets with Silpat mats or parchment paper (I prefer the Silpat mats).
Place 1 rounded tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese onto prepared baking sheet, about 4 inches apart. Gently pat the cheese into a circle of even thickness about 3 inches round with your fingers.
Bake for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted and any bubbles that form turn into a crunchy, light gold crust. Your wafers should be golden in color and lacy in appearance.
Remove from oven and let cool and harden up about 1 minute – they need to be warm and still pliable. Remove from pan with a thin spatula and place on an upside down mini muffin tin, a rolling pin or even wine corks to form into small baskets. Let cool completely and blot off excess oil with a paper towel. Can be made a couple hours ahead and filled with herbed goat cheese at the last minute.
To make the herbed goat cheese filling, mix together goat cheese, heavy cream and herbs until smooth. Can be made ahead and stored in fridge until ready to use.
Fill Parmesan cheese baskets with herbed goat cheese and garnish with additional herbs if desired.
Notes
NOTES: I like to bake one pan of these at a time, I find it easier to work in small batches – so I bake one sheet then put in the second while the first is cooling and I am forming the cheese crisps into baskets. Also, if you want just a nice cheese crisp and don’t care about a fancy basket, just let the crisps cool completely on the baking sheet then blot with a paper towel.