Bisque Unpacked

What in the heck is a Bisque? Apparently you can go to Medieval Times and order some.  

Typically I wouldn't order a bisque because it is usually made with shellfish.  Bisque is a "thicker" soup made from a roux (equal parts butter and flour combined and liquid added later to thicken it up) but the flavor comes from roasting a type of meat in the pan first, and then adding the liquid base to the remnant in the pan, scraping the pieces left in the pan, and some drippings to make the sauce flavorful.  It also is traditionally thickened with pureed rice. Nice, right? So a soup that is thicker in nature to a smoothie has a lot of carbohydrates in it if it is done correctly.

That being said... a recipe I looked at for Tomato Bisque uses heavy cream.  Well, that will do it too.  (heavy cream with make anyone thicker- and when whipped itself half to death will make whipped cream for pie so just keep that in mind when you use heavy cream.) Making a Roux is really quite easy.  When you add butter to a shallow pan and melt it, it becomes hot.  Not a news flash. Adding an equal amount of flour to it will make a paste.  Again not rocket science.  Adding milk to it (or heavy cream in this instance) will create a creamy gravy.  Therefore if you need gravy for anything, start off with this ratio- 4 tbsp butter to 4 tbsp flour.  Then start adding milk slowly until it thickens up.  If you are having a hard time getting it thick, raise the temp!

Okay so back to the Bisque.  I'm pretty sure that Campbell's Tomato Roasted Garlic and Bacon would start with frying bacon- enough for as many as you are serving, so maybe 2 pieces each to start.  Then adding garlic to that bacon fat after you cook the bacon and set it aside.  I think too, that in the recipe I was viewing for regular Tomato Bisque, you'd add the tomatoes to the also to "fuse" the flavors.  Viola.

Golden Butternut Squash Bisque uses.... Butternut Squash. Yes! (see the picture for what it looks like)

Did you know that Butternut Squash is actually a fruit?  It can be roasted and pureed really easily, just like a pumpkin. You will not eat the seeds, stem or skin just like a pumpkin too.  Because it is a fruit, my favorite way to make it is like you'd make a piece of cinnamon toast:  Add butter to it, and sprinkle with nutmeg and cinnamon and a little sugar!  It's delish!  So while the Tomato Roasted Garlic and Bacon Bisque would be very flavorful, a Butternut Squash Bisque would be more..... yep, sweet.  Now, that being said, I have viewed quite a few recipes that use Bourbon or Apple Cider.  This makes sense to me having made a really delicious apple pie using bourbon before.  So let your mind connect new foods with things you know- like I just did with cinnamon toast, pumpkins, apple cider, apple pie and now butternut squash.  This recipe linked uses maple syrup.  Yummy.

Thai Tomato Coconut Bisque. I'm sorry but  at first I was a food snob and I critically said "ewww gross.".  BUT wait!  This could be really good.  Let's talk about why.  The coconut flavor could come from coconut milk, which is delicious! Thai is spicy to me usually- or at least that is what I think of when I think Thai food.  And then there's tomato. So a spicy tomato soup with a sweet coconut base.  That could be good.  The recipe link is actually for a Tomato, squash and coconut soup. But you will get the picture.  It does use red pepper flakes and cracked black pepper.  So I am thinking it "swings" towards spicy. If you are a Thai food addict, you can add spices accordingly and make it your own.

Lastly, Sweet Potato Tomatillo Bisque.  A tomatillo (left) is a pepper.  Looks like a jalapeno pepper on steroids from the inside but maybe a green tomato on the outside.

Let's take a minute to discuss Yam vs. Sweet Potato.  Yam has a darker skin - like orange-y pink . A sweet potato looks like a potato and has a YELLOW skin. You can see the differences below.  They are different, they do taste different.  Most people use yams. :)

Potato, Sweet Potato, Yam 

Here's a recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Tasty Kitchen. This bisque will have a mexican flare to it with chili powder, tomatillos and white beans.  I would suppose that instead of white beans you could add sweet potato by weight equal to the beans measurement and make it authentic just like Campbell's! 

So I won't be saving my $0.50 on any Campbell's bisque when I now know I can make my very own.  Everything tastes better homemade.