My dad was a big smoker..well, he did smoke in his younger years, but what I really mean was he loved to smoke salmon and chicken and whatever. When he discovered a stove top smoker he loved it and gave me one for Christmas that year. What a great thing…you can smoke food at any time of year, rain or shine. One thing he did not do is smoke vegetables.
I’ve written a couple article for BowTie Inc, which publishes Hobby Farm, Hobby Farm Home, and Urban Farm, along with animal, garden and street rod magazines. They proposed an article for me to write about smoking vegetables. I love the flavors, but had never really tried it. So, I set my energies on developing some recipes. Just thinking what works with bacon gave me the beginning of flavor profiles I knew would work. This soup recipe is a result of thinking BLT…a favorite!
The smoking bags are the easiest to use. All you do is pop in the food, seal it up and roast in the oven for 30-45 minutes. The best part is the clean up…none. Other methods include the stovetop smoker or just adding some wet wood chips to the grill.
Check out the Hobby Farm Home issue on the newsstands now for the article and more recipes. The Smoked Sweet Potato Salad was my favorite!
Smoked Tomato Bisque
prep time: 1 hour 20 minutes
serves 4
4 large tomatoes, cut in half, smoked
3 strips bacon, diced
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup red wine
3 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon chipotle Tabasco sauce, or to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 cup crunchy croutons
1 cup chopped lettuce
Fry the bacon in a large soup pot until crisp. Remove half the bacon and reserve. Remove most of the grease with a paper towel held with tongs. Add the onion and garlic and sauté till soft.Add the tomato paste and cook until starting to brown on the bottom of the pot. Add the wine, scraping up the browned bits and reduce by half on high heat. Add the stock, thyme and tomatoes, Simmer about 15 minutes. Add cream, Tabasco, salt and pepper. Puree in a blender or with an immersion blender.
Drizzle each serving with a bit of cream and garnish with reserved bacon, crunchy croutons and lettuce.
