Roasted Yellow Pepper Soup

This is an easy soup to make, requiring little in the way of fancy preparation or ingredients.

Ingredients:
6 Bell Peppers (I like 5 yellow and 1 orange)
1 Med Onion, Chopped
2 Stalks Celery
2 Cloves Garlic
1 Bay Leaf
Sprig of Thyme
1 cup Buttermilk
1/2 tbsp Cumin (fresh ground is best)
1 qt. Stock (chicken or vegetable)

Cut the peppers into wedges cleaning out the interior seeds and membrane. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and put into a 500 degree oven. Roast for 15-20 minutes turning once. You want to see some nice carmelization on the wedges. Put aside to cool.

Put some oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and celery with some salt and cook until the onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the thyme, bay leaf and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes more until fragrant. Add the peppers and cook for another 5 minutes, than add the stock. Bring to a boil, then drop the heat to low. Add the cumin and stir. Cook for 30-60 minutes, covered, over low heat. The longer you can cook it the better the flavor will be. Remove the bay leaf and thyme stem and puree the soup. I like to use a stick blender. This saves moving hot soup from pot to blender and back. I bought mine at Target I think for about $25:

About 5 minutes prior to service raise the heat just a tad and add the buttermilk. Stir to combine and do a final seasoning check.

I like to serve the soup with a dallop of sour cream and maybe garnish with a few chives. The soup freezes really well.