Pepper Soup and Parmesan Crackers

Duarte's Restaurant in Pescadero has the second-best soup I've ever had (artichoke) and also the very best soup I've ever had, pepper soup. I've tried at least a dozen times to reproduce the pepper soup recipe and tonight's dinner was the closest yet. You cook until tender a chopped green pepper with two cups of frozen peas in three cups of chicken stock. Add a clove of garlic, 1/4 cup chopped onion, a dash of tabasco sauce and some celery seed. Put all this through a food mill (because the peas have a skin; if you don't mind this, you can use a blender or food processor), thicken with either a half-cup of bechamel sauce or 1/4 cup cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup water. Whisk over low heat until thick and warm and serve with parmesan crackers. Serves two people.

Parmesan crackers: Cover a baking dish with foil. Using a cookie cutter or a tuna can with both ends removed, put about a half-inch of shredded parmesan into the mold, press down, and remove the mold. Put under the broiler about 10 minutes, or until the cracker is brown. Cool slightly and then peel off from the foil while still warm.