True Blood Cookbook’s Beautifully Broken Bisque

I made this bisque from the cookbook True Blood: Eats, Drinks, and Bites from Bon Temps that my friend Kelly sent me back in November.

“I ache for Talbot whenever I think of his warm bisque garnished with a flourish of English rose petals.” ~ Russell Edgington

The Recipe

Trim, peel and dice 3 or 4 medium beets. I personally did not use gloves. I am not squeamish or weirded out by my hands getting a little stained for a day or so. It almost seemed inappropriate for this True Blood dish to wear gloves!

Saute 1 cup of minced yellow onion in 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until softened, 6 to 8 minutes.

Add the beets and 1/2 cup chopped carrots.

I seasoned them at this point but if you want to follow the recipe, add the salt at the end. Cook, stirring for 5 minutes.

Add 4 cups of chicken broth.

Add 1 cup of water and 1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.

Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Russell recommends using an immersion blender which, for me, never works. I used a blender instead to puree the soup.

Foodie Results

This soup is extremely light and almost refreshing. I thought the beet flavour would be overwhelming but it wasn’t. My only complaint is how thin it was. I would personally cook mine down a little longer and maybe without the lid on so it could reduce more. To add some body to it, LOL, I added some heavy whipping cream to the soup when I had it the next day.

We were surprised at how subtle this beet-red soup was. Almost, delightful. I think Talbot would be proud of my results, despite the lack of rose petals.

I give this recipe four out of five wooden spoons.