FOOD FOR FALL

My favorite season is finally here... FALL! 

And one of my favorite things about cold weather is eating a hot bowl of soup.

The only thing is...I suck at making soup. It should be one of the easiest

things to make, but I always seem to screw it up. 

This soup recipe (is a bisque considered a soup?) is not exact. It is a rendition 

from a local restaurant here in KC, and I know the ingredients they use. I will have to figure out how much of what to put in.

And what goes better with soup than a yummy grilled cheese sandwich? 

"Tomato Bisque & Bacon Basil Tomato Grilled Cheese"

Part One:

Tomato Bisque

Ingredients:

Half an onion ( white or yellow)

4 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons of butter

28oz can of crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup of chicken stock

1/4 2% milk (try and use local)

1/2 cup of heavy cream

1 teaspoon of sugar

couple of pinches of salt

a few dashes of tabasco (depending on how spicy you want it)

1/4 cup of blue cheese

1/2 teaspoon of cornstarch

Directions:

• Chop the garlic & onions into small pieces.
• Cook the chopped veggies in the 2 tablespoons of butter in a large sauce pan
• Add the full can of the crushed tomatoes and stir
• Add the chicken stock, heavy cream & milk.
• Stir like a crazy person.
• Add in the sugar, salt, cornstarch
• Stir again.
• Add the Tabasco... you can add as much or as little depending on how spicy you would like it. I would suggest starting with a small amount and taste as you go. A little goes a long way.
• Then the final step is to add the Blue Cheese.
• Stir and keep on simmer for about 45 until you are ready to eat it.

Part Two:

Grilled Cheese

(If you click on the picture it will pull up the the source of the recipe)

Ingredients:

2 Slices of bread

Unsalted butter for the pan

A couple of tablespoons crumbled blue cheese ( you can use leftovers from the bisque)

Caramelized Onions

applewood bacon, cooked and crumbled

Basil leaves

Slices of tomatoes (I used Roma)

A couple of tablespoons of mozzarella cheese

Slices of Avocado 

Directions:

• Spread butter on one side of the sliced bread, and place on a pan over medium-heat.
• In the following order add the ingredients to the bread: blue cheese, caramelized onions, bacon, basil, tomatoes & mozzarella.
• Now place the second slice of bread on top. Use a flat-bottomed, metal spatula to press down on the sandwich to adhere the ingredients.
• Use the spatula to lift the sandwich in the air for a moment & add a slice of butter to the pan. Then flip the sandwich and return to the pan. Press the sandwich down again until you get the desired brown on the bread & the cheese is melted.
• After you take the sandwich off the pan place slices of avocado on the sandwich.

I thought making a grilled cheese would be a super simple task... nope. The first batch I made, I burnt the bread to a lovely charred black color. So I had to start over again.
2nd time was a little easier.

Taste Tester Tastebuds:

ME: Love this soup, but can't eat too much of it. Its a bit rich, but so yummy. The sandwich was a bitch to make, it kept falling apart...but once it was made it tasted pretty good. The original recipe did not include avocados but I think they make everything better.

CJ:  Love this soup, make it everyday. Great texture and lots of subtle flavors despite the potential to overdo the blue cheese and tabasco.  The grilled cheese was really great, especially with the soup.  However, all of the grilled cheese ingredients seemed to overpower the mozzarella.

MARY: We need to work on size portions. The bowl of soup was huge and I ate it all. Also, I don't like tomatoes on sandwiches , but this was okay with tomatoes. Good flavor all the way around.

4 out of 5 stars

✭✭✭✭☆