January 29, 2012 You say tomato, I say KUMATO. I make bisque. Then we both say YUM!

Okay, I know what SOME of you are saying and that is, "What is this crazy woman talking about?"

I am talking about the KUMATO. I have seen them in the store lately, and I just had to find out what they were. I thought, "Hmmmm. Is this a cross between a kumquat and a tomato?" But alas, it is just a tomato. A brown tomato mind you. A tasty, pretty tomato. A tomato that costs more than your average tomato, but nonetheless, a tomato. However, it is unique in that a Swiss company owns the brand and only lease the right to grow it to a select number of entities with grocery store connections worldwide. Those smartie pants Swiss. No wonder they need all those banks.

I asked my lovely and now wedded niece Lauren to send me her tomato bisque recipe, because ever since I ate some of the Campbell's version last week, I have wanted to make the even better Lacey Bakes (my niece's blog) version. Lauren is a really great home cook who hopes to one day own her own bakery. You go, Lauren!

Kumato Bisque (and you can substitute a tomato where I write kumato)

Here's how you do it to yield about 4 good sized servings:

Cut 8 kumatoes (or about 6 large tomatoes) in half. If you have access to any type of fresh from the vine or heirloom tomato, it is going to crank the flavor up a notch or two. Remove the seeds and juice and that star shaped green thingy on the top.

Place the kumatoes in any roasting pan with a lip on it. Add a handful of basil-- or omit or lessen if you just are not a basil fan. Add 4-5 garlic cloves or a 1- 2 teaspoons of minced garlic. Sprinkle well with olive oil (I used about 1/4 cup) and season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir it around a bit (I did this with my paws.) Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.

In a stock pot or something that will hold at least a couple of quarts, add a tablespoon of olive oil. Chop up 1/2 onion (omit or add a whole onion if you crave onioniness) and saute for about 5 minutes over medium heat to soften.

When the tomatoes are done roasting, slide the entire roasting pan full of STUFF into the pot with the onions.

Add 1 quart of chicken stock (or vegetable to make it vegetarian.) Put a cover on the pot, and simmer this all together for 30-40 minutes.

Then get out the old immersion blender, and blend to your preferred state of chunky or smoothness. I made mine mostly smooth with just a few tomato chunks.

Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of cream to your taste and give a final stir.

Open your trap and enjoy this red delicious treat. EASY PEASY!

I accompanied this with a grilled cheese sandwich.

For dessert, I served a peanut butter toffee turtle cookie with Ben and Jerry's Reeces Pieces Ice Cream. Just a note about these cookies. They taste fantastic but it does take a good couple of hours to make them and you really cannot eat them right away, so you have to do it ahead of time. Secondly, the recipe will follow, but left to my own devices in the future, I would sprinkle some chopped peanuts on top of the caramel and chocolate for a final crunch.

Paul's opinion --photo of Paul to follow...left my SD card at home :(

Kumato Bisque: After he say MmmmMmmm Good and Soup is good food, he said, "Don't take this to work." In PMP (that's his initials) land, that means, "I want the leftovers, so no sharing." For my hubby, who really is not a leftover fan, that is the ULTIMATE compliment.

Grilled Cheese: "Tasty"

Cookies and Ice Cream: "Really good."

THANKS LAUREN for sharing this very simple and amazingly tasty meal that you can serve up in about an hour, but you don't have to stand guard over while its cooking! Photo credits also to Mrs. Geery!

COOKIE RECIPE
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup DOMINO Granulated Sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed DOMINO Light Brown Sugar
2/3 cup creamy USA PEANUT Butter
2 cups BISQUICK Original All-Purpose Baking Mix
2/3 cup almond toffee bits*
2/3 cup coarsely chopped USA PEANUTS
2/3 cup NESTLE TOLL HOUSE Milk Chocolate Morsels

10 ounce vanilla caramels
2 to 3 tablespoons whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup NESTLE TOLL HOUSE Milk Chocolate Morsels, melted

* I substituted peanut butter chips.

TIP: The chocolate drizzle on the cookies will harden as it cools.
Preheat oven to 350°. Beat first 4 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add egg, beating until blended. Add baking mix, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in toffee bits, chopped peanuts, and 2/3 cup chocolate morsels.
Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets; flatten dough with hand.
Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool cookies on baking sheets 1 minute; remove cookies to wire racks.
Microwave caramels and 2 tablespoons cream in a glass bowl at HIGH 1 minute; stir. Continue to microwave at 30-second intervals, stirring until caramels melt and mixture is smooth; add remaining cream, if necessary. Stir in vanilla. Spoon caramel mixture evenly onto tops of cookies; drizzle evenly with melted chocolate.