Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Soup-er Friends

          
My country friends and I like excuses to go the city for things that are limited here in Greenwood County – shopping, cultural events, eating out. Last week a couple of friends and I went to the nearby city for a home tour of a house redecorated as a benefit for the symphony. It was beautiful.

And of course, we had lunch before we did the tour. We ate at T’s Soup Kitchen, a re-opened popular lunch restaurant. This restaurant had been closed for 7 years while the well-known chef did catering and classes. Her new restaurant is every bit as good as previously and very cleverly decorated, easier to find, and overall yummy.

Soup seemed like an unlikely choice on a May spring day, but the weather was cool and windy so it was a welcome taste. But with the many soup recipes for cold soups, lighter soups, and fruits soups, you could serve soup all year long.

I had a flight of soups – a new way of sampling 4 soups in 2-3 ounce servings. Just right with a salad. The selection I had was Tomato Bisque, Sweet Potato Chili, Velvet Corn, and Clam Chowder. I’d had T’s Tomato Basil before and knew it would be delicious. The others also rated well.

It happens that I have T’s recipe for Tomato Bisque, from a State 4-H Foundation event several years ago. I’ve adapted it to a lower calorie version with evaporated milk and I think it still tastes rich and is just as good.  Use cream instead of evaporated milk if you want the calories.  I like to serve it with a wrap sandwich.

T’s Tomato Bisque
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes, with juices
1 small can (6 oz) tomato paste
1 cup water
2 cups non-fat evaporated milk
2 teaspoons dried dill
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons (or more) sugar

Put all ingredients in a pot and whisk together. (If you have an emersion blender, this is a good place to use it!) Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. (Makes about 6 servings)

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