When it is 90°+ and humid as hell [do you think hell is humid?], I just want something cool and easy. I’m in the mood for good fast food.
This soup, from Christopher Hirsheimer Melissa Hamilton, is the perfect summer solution. These two food experts, who now run Canal House Cooking [canalhousecooking.com], have deep experience at Saveur and Cook’s Illustrated respectively. Their experience and creativity are impeccable and so we are presented with this brilliantly balanced recipe. It looks simple, and it is, but the flavor is refreshing to a degree that I’ll just leave you to savor.
We made one change to this recipe: last November, the turkey scraps became a very, very rich turkey stock. We waited to use that stock on the perfect recipe. This is it. The cucumber and avocado flavors, both obviously distinctive, blend soothingly here. They cooperate, instead of clashing, and the soup will easily convince you of that.
The suggested toppings are sour cream and hot pepper sauce. I definitely wanted that pepper sauce for a slight kick. Options you might try are diced cucumber or avocado, diced onion or scallions, or chopped herbs. Croutons, not over spiced, would also be an excellent finish.
What happens when you add green and green? Excellence.
Cucumber Avocado Soup
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients:
- 3 ripe, unblemished avocados
- 1 English cucumber, unpeeled, roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Sour cream for serving
- Hot pepper sauce for serving
Preparation:
Slice the avocadoes in half lengthwise, working around the pit. Twist to separate the halves. Remove the pit and use a spoon to scoop out the flesh.
Add the avocados, cucumber, garlic, lemon juice, and chicken stock to a blender and puree until smooth, working in batches if necessary. Season with salt and refrigerate until the soup is well chilled.
Divide the soup among chilled bowl. Garnish with a dollop of sour cream and a dash of hot pepper sauce and serve.
Source: TastingTable.com