~fried chicken & champagne, & the pomegranate bistro~

We have this fabulous little bistro near us that serves the most delicious food.

It's quaint, it's delicious, and I love meeting friends there.

One wall in the restaurant is a big window so you can watch the pastry chefs preparing pie crusts, rolls, and desserts. Lisa Dupar is the owner of this restaurant and has this fabulous cookbook with recipes from the bistro. While I don't own the cookbook yet, my friend Lissa was kind enough to share a recipe for the soup I get every single time I go there.

 I will say, I am not a huge tomato soup fan. 

But I could seriously eat their tomato soup daily, along with their fabulous house salad.

So, although I haven't made it yet, I thought I'd share the recipe with you. 

It looks fairly simple to make, not many ingredients and it looks like it will serve a crowd.

Isn't Lisa a doll?

Ok, without further adieu, here is the recipe for Pomegranate's tomato soup.
{and I don't know why the recipe is so funky, sorry!}

pom tomato soup

bouquet garnish:

6 thyme sprigs

1 rosemary sprig

 to make the garnish:

tie the thyme and rosemary sprigs together with a piece of kitchen string.

Ingredients:

4 oz butter

3 med size fennel bulbs chopped

1 c chopped yellow onions

1/2 c chopped shallots

2 T chop garlic

3 1/2 lbs canned Italian plum tomatoes, with juice, chopped

1 1/2 quarts chicken stock

1 c heavy cream

salt and pepper

fennel greens for garnish

In a large saucepan over med. heat, melt the butter.  Add the fennel, onion, shallots, and garlic.  Saute until tender.  Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.  Add the bouquet garnish and chicken stock.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 15 to 20 minutes.  Add the cream and bring to a simmer, then remove from heat and let cool.  Discard the bouquet garnish.  Blend the soup in a blender or with an immersion blender until smooth, then pass blended soup through a fine strainer.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  

Enjoy!
xoxo