When you walked out of the house this morning, you might have felt a strange sensation of shivers and goose bumps. That, fellow Floridians, is not some strange illness. You're simply cold.
The good news? This freeze will only last for a day or so. Break out the only sweater you own and warm up with a steaming bowl of soup.
BC Cafe's Brett Chiavari shared his recipe for charred onion and roasted tomato bisque. It's surprisingly easy to make and, paired with a grilled cheese sandwich, it's the ultimate comfort food for a cold night.
See also: Marc Falsetto Continues His Himmarshee Takeover With Tacocraft
Chiavari serves this soup once a month at his Davie cafe during grilled cheese night, which happens to be this Saturday, February 21.
From 5 to 10 p.m., enjoy your choice of four different grilled cheese sammies are featured like the short rib, onion ring, scallion and cheddar grilled cheese; crab cake, pepperjack, avocado and chipotle mayo grilled cheese; and pork belly, tomato jam and cheddar grilled cheese, a take on the classic grilled cheese with bacon and tomato. Plus, of course, a bowl of delicious tomato bisque.
Charred Onion and Roasted Tomato Bisque
8 Large tomatoes
3 Vidalia onions
2 stalks of celery
1 small carrot
1 cup chicken stock (sub vegetable stock for vegetarian)
1 Tbsp fennel seeds
1/4 cup sherry wine vinegar
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup cream
Salt and pepper to taste
- Cut tomatoes in halves and roast for 1 hour at 325 degrees.
- After an hour, pull tomatoes out of oven and cool.
- Peel skins off tomatoes when cool, save remaining juices.
- Place onions in oven on broil whole, do not peel. Rotate every few minutes for even char.
- After onions are black and completely charred, remove from oven and let cool.
- Once cool, peel onions and reserve onion juices, charred bits in juices are ok.
- Toast fennel seeds in a small stock pot. Then, add butter, celery, and carrots to the fennel and cook until they start to sweat and caramelize.
- Add roasted tomatoes and charred onions.
- Deglaze wtih sherry wine and reduce liquid by 1/4.
- Add chicken stock and cook for 45 minutes.
- In a blender, add tomato and onion liquid you reserved as well as all the contents of the pot and blend until smooth.
- Return to stock pot, add cream, and cook for 10 minutes.
- Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve.
Follow Laine Doss on Twitter @LaineDoss and Facebook.
Follow @CleanPlateBPB