Smoked Carrot Bisque

Posted by BBQ Resources at 5/7/2009 7:21 AM
Categories: Smoked BBQ, Recipes

Soup's On... Smoked Carrot Bisque 


Have you seen that fast food commercial where the young couple is talking and the guy declares himself a 'meatitarian'?  Yeah, well, the Qfan is a definite meatitarian.  And to that end, the vast majority of recipes I attempt, and ultimately post here, are centred around some kind of oinking, moo'ing, squawking or cackling form of protein.  So then, remind me again; what sound does the mighty carrot make?

Apparently, not a whole hell of a lot, but you can still turn it into something pretty tasty, when you give it a drag across the grill and through a blanket of sweet applewood smoke, as I found out recently.

I came across a recipe for Smoked Carrot Bisque that caught my eye and decided to give it a try, all the while unable to resist the urge to get a little bit of meat protein into the mix, in the form of smoked chicken stock to provide a level of smokey flavour and some additional depth beyond the pre-packaged veggie stock I used.  If you want to keep this recipe strictly vegetarian, then just use veggie stock.  The smoked chicken stock is made the same as regular chicken stock, but use bones from a bird you've done on the grill, rottisserie or propped on a beer can in the bbq.  I generally smoke thighs and/or drums and pull off the meat to have on-hand for pizzas, lasagnas, calzones, pasta dishes or for soups.  That leaves some smokey bones to make the stock.  Just reduce it down and freeze in small Tupperware bowls, ready to go whenever a recipe like this rolls around.

Smoked Carrot Bisque

2 lbs carrots, peeled and trimmed
1 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
1/2 large onion, chopped
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tbsp minced ginger root
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 teaspoon ground tumeric
1 teaspoon curry powder
4 cups vegetable stock, homemade preferred or box container is fine
3 cups smoked chicken stock (go all veggie stock if you want this to remain vegetarian dish)
1 heaping tbsp butter
3/4 cup cream
salt and pepper to taste
drizzle maple syrup

To get started, fire up your grill or smoker and set for some low n' slow (225°F range) smoking.
I use Smokinlicious! apple infused woodscuits, about 4 of them, to provide a nice sweet, steady level of smoke.

Place the whole, peeled carrots on your smoker and let smoke away for 1.5-2hrs.  I was a little leery as to how well carrot would take smoke, but it did and it does!  When they're well smoked, remove from your cooker and hold aside.

Heat the oil in a soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat and add in the onion, jalapeno pepper and garlic.  Let that cook until the onion has softened up, about 5 minutes.  Chop up the smoked carrots and add that, along with the celery, and continue to cook it all for about 5-10 more minutes.

Toss in the tumeric, curry powder and ginger and incorporate into the veggies.  When evenly distributed, pour in the veggie stock (and smoked chicken stock, if using).  Bring this to a good boil, then reduce to simmer for about 2 hrs, stirring occasionally.  

When the vegetables are tender, strain them out of the soup and puree in a blender until smooth.  You will probably find that you need to add some stock or water to the vegetables to get them to readily puree in the blender.  When you got it going good and veggies are all nicely pureed, pour the pureed veggies back into the soup and continue on the simmer for another half-hour or so.

Whisk the butter into the soup at this point and let it melt in.  Stir in the cream and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper (use white pepper if you don't want the black flecks to show).  You can strain the soup again to catch any larger bits not rendered down by that spin in the blender.  Ladle into a serving bowl and run a short drizzle of pure maple syrup into each bowl and incorporate.  The sweetness sets off the edgy flavour of the curry, ginger and tumeric.

I thought this turned out really well for a soup that was pretty much without protein presence.  Maybe a 'meatitarian' can enjoy a tree hugger meal every once in a while; especially if it tastes as good as this one did!



Qfan
 

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