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.
Debra She Who Seeks says
If you add potatoes, cabbage, green beans and more carrots to that basic recipe, you’d have my fave vegetable borscht soup. Leave it chunky too. Yum!
Violet Vixen says
I have a similar recipe and it has you add Kefir (or plain yogurt) in it instead of (I am sure MUCH better) 40% cream
Violet Vixen says
Red Velvet cake in that book?
Suzie Ridler says
Debra, that soup sounds fabulous!
VV, yes, yogurt can’t really compare it’s true. BTW, there is a red bundt cake with white frosting so I think that’s a yes!