Tsk, Tsk, Tsk: Bisque, Bisque, Bisque

I really starting to think my "specialty food" has become soup. Not only is it easy because its one of those foods you can let cook all day, but it gets better when you let it sit overnight. Patience is the key to a good soup. And lately, I've become more bold with my selections in recipes. Recently, I undertook to task of attempting to duplicate the tomato bisque soup I recall having when I was younger. At a restaurant called Wild Wings located in the Reading Airport was where I had tried it (yes, I know: one doesn't normally think "airport" when you're coming up with dinner options at home). Aside from their tremendous hot wings, they had the most amazing tomato bisque soup I've ever tasted. Unfortunately, they literally closed up shop in the middle of the night and the owner left town (I wonder if it was by plane?) and the tomatoe bisque that accompanied my flavorful wings was no more.

So recently for a company pot-luck lunch, I decided to give it a whirl and attempt making something close to what I had remembered. After looking over several recipes, I had yet to find one that had the creamy bisque texture while still encorporating the chucks of tomato. So, as always, I did my own modifications to the recipes I found. After sauteeing the veggies and adding flour, I added the stock. To tell you the truth I was tempted to use my deer stock I had made a few days later but felt a bit selfish in not wanting to use that on food that would be part of a potluck. Plus I didn't want to hear the "aww, you killed Bambi just to put him into your stupid soup: you should be ashamed!"(though regardless of what you think: Bambi = tasty.) Now if only someone could find some roasted dwarf, deep-fried oversized elephant ears and tick-tock crocodile tail we'd be in for one helluva Disney meal!

After adding the canned tomatoes that I purchased (here's where I regret not using the tomatoes we canned this summer, however this was pure a pure combination of laziness and forgetfulness on my behalf) and the fat-free half and half, I let it slowly cook. On a side note, I gotta say that the fat-free half and half is a great option when you're attempting to watch your fat intake and yet still retain a great taste and consistency.

Now at this point in the cooking process, all the recipes called for blending/pureeing the soup and ending there. Fine, the flavor would be there, but where are my chunks? (no, they're not off doing the truffle shuffle).

After blending it all, I returned it to the heat and added some canned chopped tomatoes. After cooking it another 20 mintues, it was ready to serve with croutons, fresh mozzarella with a garnish of fresh basil.

It wasn't the exact same as the soup I'd had in the past, but it was damn close.