Monday, August 16, 2010

Guest Post: Summer Bisque with Sashimi Skewers



It is with great pleasure to bring you a guest post from The Ardent Epicure: An Ode to The Pleasures of food, I have been enjoying this blog lately and the recipes are outstanding with amazing photography one of my favorite things about asking folks to guest post is getting to know the folks behind the blogs!

Alisha writes this blog with her son Adam who posts as Truffle Shuffle and her son in-law Grely  posts as Sugar and Spice. And a fourth name Food Pear-ings when they post something together. Alisha is a former professional chef specialized in gourmet vegetarian and Mediterranean foods and when you see some of the dishes you will be in awe. Adam is an IT computer tec (hence the nice looking site :-) currently in his Masters program, and an all around food snob in a good way)  Grely loves baking and and homemade desserts.

 Alisha states "Our The Ardent Epicure is our first blog (and only blog) and we are 5 months old today :-)
I do the photography, primarily and all of the photo and artistic design. While Adam does the technical contributions, aside from posts…"



What’s on the Side? – Summer Bisque with Sashimi Skewers



Note: This recipe serves 2

What you will need:

For the bisque

6 large fresh yellow tomatoes
Several large sprigs of rosemary
(I used a wild ground covering rosemary-has softer leaves)
1 small bunch fresh basil
1-2 large bay leaves
2 cinnamon sticks
1 large shallot, chopped
4 cloves fresh garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons agave
A few splashes olive oil
16 ounces vegetable broth or enough to cover tomatoes
2 dried medium heat red chilies
1/8th -1/4th cup reserved broth (from crock pot juices)
Small amount of cream, if desired to thin
3-4 tablespoons plum wine, or any pale sweet wine
*A small amount of white roux
Crock pot
2 very tall champagne flutes, or other tall glasses

For the roux

Note: I just made a small amount
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons unbleached flour
Small amount of cream or half and half

For the skewers

6-8 pieces Sashimi grade Ahi Tuna, cubed
2 small fresh figs, quartered
4 large olives, pitted and halved
2 medium mild green chili peppers, cut into square pieces
(I grilled these)
Wooded skewers

Let’s get cooking:
For the bisque

I prepared the tomatoes overnight in my Crock pot the night before.
Place tomatoes and all other ingredients in Crock pot, omitting roux and cream.
Allow to cook overnight, or long enough for the skins of the tomato to peel.
I like to do this in a crock pot to really get the rosemary to infuse with the tomatoes.

Remove tomatoes from the crock pot at this point and place into a large bowl.
Leave a good amount of your broth together with the tomatoes.
Chill completely in refrigerator. Once chilled remove all skin from your tomatoes,
Place skinned tomatoes with a small 1/8th cup of reserved broth,
In a food processor or blender and add plum wine.
Blend on high until completely incorporated.

For the roux

Meanwhile prepare your roux by adding equal parts butter and flour
in a saute pan. Stir this continually until incorporated,
and there is a slight toasted aroma from the flour.
You can add a bit of cream to this, but just enough to smooth.
Set your roux aside to cool.
Now take your blended tomato mixture and run through a very
fine strainer removing all seeds.
Place mixture back into processor, adding a small amount of roux.
Continue to blend, slowly adding roux until you have achieved desired thickness.
If your bisque becomes a little too thick, add a bit more cream.
At this point salt and pepper to taste…

Prepare skewers

Alternate between olives, sashimi pieces, figs and grilled peppers
Each skewer should have 2 completed rows
Place skewers into glasses filled with bisque

Enjoy~



  




57 comments:

  1. Wow Rebecca you always feature the best! This looks so cooling...and delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rebecca, what an interesting skewer...love the idea of sashimi and figs...yummie!

    ReplyDelete
  3. this looks like an elegant soup and surely would impress any guest!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Rebecca, this looks lovely, and all the ingredients and flavors are great and refreshing.
    Elegant presentation.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I follow The Ardent Epicure as well! This summer bisque sounds delicious and what an elegant presentation. Well done, Alisha!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Top notch restaurant quality appetizer. Great job on the presentation!

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a great presentation! Impressive for entertaining. Thanks Ardent Epicure and Chow and Chatter for sharing :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love her blog (and yours), love this dish and boy do I have some serious blog reading to do this week!

    ReplyDelete
  9. What an elegant recipe! Thanks for Alisha and Rebecca. I always enjoy both of your blogs :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is quite a sophisticated and special recipe. Great job Alisha!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Fun and elegant dish..It is warming up here so looking forward to such food soon!

    ReplyDelete
  12. wonderful creation alisha, love your blog...

    sweetlife

    ReplyDelete
  13. Rebecca, thank you so much for the honor of a guest post here on Chow and Chatter. I can not even begin to say how deeply honored and excited we are. I hope that everyone enjoys :) Again, thank you...
    Alisha

    ReplyDelete
  14. I have really been enjoying visiting the Magic of Spice recently. Such a wonderful blog! This recipe looks crazy delicious! Ahi, figs...oh my!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I had no idea what this concoction was and was intrigued by the picture, but after seeing the recipe I am even more intrigued by how delicious this sounds. Ahi tuna and figs, ooooh. I'm sure this tastes as wonderful as it looks - spectacular!

    ReplyDelete
  16. wow! it was really delicious recipe! thanx 4 sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  17. It looks amazing, great work.
    Very elegant presentation ♥

    ReplyDelete
  18. We are glad everyone enjoyed the recipe, and we feel privileged to be able to make a guest post here. Happy eating everyone!

    The Ardent Epicure

    ReplyDelete
  19. Awesome guest post! The food styling in the photos is fantastic.

    ReplyDelete
  20. It sounds delightful! So much flavor in that little glass!

    ReplyDelete
  21. What a gorgeous way to serve a yummy bisque. Great guest post!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hi Everyone thanks so much Magic and Spice and Truffle Shuffle for an amazing guest post your blog rocks, so pleased everyone enjoyed it

    always on the look out for cool guest bloggers he he love it

    Rebecca

    ReplyDelete
  23. Definitely "knock my socks off" pretty. Love the idea of doing the tomatoes in the crockpot to infuse the rosemary.

    ReplyDelete
  24. That is such a great presentation!! I love it

    ReplyDelete
  25. Beautiful presentation, it looks perfect for an elegant dinner party:-)

    ReplyDelete
  26. I love this concept! Ahi Sashimi-fig skewer with bisque... Sounds delicious and you've given it a glorious presentation.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I think I cant get over "sashimi skewers" yup its a fact I am stuck on "sashimi skewers"

    ReplyDelete
  28. This looks so beautiful! Another quality guest post.

    ReplyDelete
  29. awesome presentation..great post!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Great guest post! Before reading the title I thought the bisque was a dessert of some sort. Beautiful presentation!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Great guest post! I love Alisha and her crew. They're sweet heart!
    Sashimi skewers intrigued me and I had to follow the rest of the recipe. This looks refreshing, healthy, and tasty!

    ReplyDelete
  32. What an elegant recipe and presentation! Thank you for sharing Alisha with us, Rebecca, and thank you Alisha for sharing this wonderful recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  33. What a great guest post.. these look delicious.. perfect for a summer evening!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Thanks -you are so great at spreading the word!

    ReplyDelete
  35. This would be great for a dinner party with friends. Love it!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Wow! This is definitely unique. Great presentation.

    ReplyDelete
  37. thanks again and how fun I am finding more cool blogs to read Rebecca

    ReplyDelete
  38. Wow, this looks so pretty in the picture! I need to get a guest post together, one of these days! :)

    ReplyDelete
  39. Wonderful dish! Sounds delicious and looks beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Wonderful post and absolutely gorgeous pictures. Just another example of the quality content to be found on The Ardent Epicure.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Ooh...how fancy! What a great presentation. This recipe sounds delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  42. Hi Rebecca, this is my first time here. You have a lovely blog :)

    I do enjoy The Ardent Epicure. Alisha's recipes are simply wonderful and this soup is fantastic. Great presentation as always!

    Alisha, great job with the soup and sashimi skewers!

    ReplyDelete
  43. Alisha - that bisque sounds like a feast of flavours! Love the presentation. The background artwork is impressive too !

    Thank you Rebecca for graciously inviting Ardent Epicure to share their collective talent on your lovely blog :)

    ReplyDelete
  44. My first visit, great post! Looks delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  45. Wow, this is amazing in both presentation and content. I just posted something with ahi tuna and I simply cannot get enough of this fish! I will make this for that perfect special occasion and now I'm off to visit her blog. Thanks for introducing us to her! Roz

    ReplyDelete
  46. An amazing combination of flavors and textures.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Cool looking indeed. This is one of those dishes that I'd just enjoy looking at. Food makes the best centerpiece in my opinion. Although, I'm not sure I could let those figs sit there for long.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Ooops. Clicked "publish" too soon. This time I entered my info properly :-)

    ReplyDelete
  49. Yummy!
    What a delicious recipe!
    I'll try..

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails