Tomato Bisque

Recipe Adapted From:
www.allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
2 pounds tomatoes
2 cubes beef bouillon, crumbled
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 quart milk


Preparation:

1. Run the tomatoes through a food mill to remove the seeds and skins, and place in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the bouillon, sugar, salt, bay leaf, basil and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes. (If you're going to can this mixture, process it now.)
2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Whisk in flour all at once to form a roux, cook 1 minute. Whisk in milk, a little at a time, cooking and stirring constantly until thickened. Stir into tomato mixture and heat through.

Notes & Tips:

I don't have a food mill, so I just used a blender. I didn't worry about the seeds or the peel, because I used a mix of canned tomatoes and fresh. I used 3 good sized fresh tomatoes and 1 regular sized can of diced tomatoes with celery and onion. I blended them all together until smooth. If you'd like a super creamy smooth bisque, you can de-seed and peel the tomatoes before you blend them. The color of the soup after I added the milk seemed light, but the flavor was wonderful. I used a mixture of whole milk and 1/2 and 1/2, since I had a little 1/2 and 1/2 left over from earlier this week. (Oh and by the way, so you don't have to look it up 1 quart eqals 4 cus) I served this with grilled cheese sandwiches.
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Also, the orginal recipe mentioned that you can stop after simmering the tomato mixture and can base, which sounded like a good idea if you were making a mega batch of this.

Nutrition Facts:
Serves 4
Calories: 420 | Total Fat: 28.5g | Cholesterol: 81mg