Warming Up To Cold Soups
Bob Terwilliger wrote:
> I'd never been crazy about cold soups, but it seems that I just never had
> *good* cold soups before. Last Friday I brought cold borscht to work, and I
> liked it a lot. Yesterday I brought another cold soup (cream of zucchini
> with sunflower greens), and I *loved* it. Today I brought white gazpacho,
> and I'm enjoying it as I write this. (White gazpacho is a kind of almond
> milk with garlic and peeled white grapes. The recipe originates in Spain,
> same as "normal" gazpacho. Martha Stewart has a cucumber-based soup that
> she CALLS white gazpacho, but I think it's just named that because it's
> cold.)
>
> In the brutally hot weather we get around Sacramento, cold soups make a lot
> more sense than hot this time of year. It's also easy and practical to take
> them into work, as I've been doing, and I don't need a microwave to make
> them palatable. They'll be a regular part of my cooking repertoire from now
> on. I'm glad I broke free of my prejudice against them! Anybody out there
> have a favorite cold soup to recommend?
>
> Bob
We make a lot of cold cucumber soup in the summer (when the CSA package
is providing 6-8 cucumbers a week). The recipe calls for kirby
cucumbers, but I use what I have on hand. If the cucumbers are very
large, I cut the seeds out.
Cold Cream of Cucumber with Dill and Yogurt
6 Kirby (or pickling) cucumbers, each about 5 inches long, ends
trimmed, unpeeled, cut into large chunks
3-4 sour dill pickles
2 Cups plain low-fat yogurt
2 Cups heavy (whipping) cream
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill
salt and pepper
Fresh dill sprigs for garnish
Put the cucumber, pickles, yogurt, cream, lemon juice and chopped dill
in a food processor fitted with the metal blade and process until the
vegetables are finely chopped. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
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