CUCUMBER SOUP

It’s July and it’s still HOT. So here’s another summer recipe. I received a few good responses to my Gazpacho recipe so I thought I’d add another cold soup recipe. My early food experiences were very parochial. I had no idea that soup could be served anyway but HOT. In the winter months my mom made soup at least once a week. My favorite was her Ox Tail Soup. I would give anything for a bowl of that soup. Unfortunately, that was one of the recipes that my mom kept in her head. Obviously it was made with ox tail. I was such a fussy eater I still don’t know how I ever ate it. She would boil the ox tails seemingly forever, then add a few vegetables, more water and then barley. I am sure there were some seasonings added too, but I would not be able to identify them now. If anyone out there has a recipe to send, please do. Leave it in the comment section below, or email it to me at TaylorSt01@comcast.net.

Per a request by my friend Dan, here is a recipe for Cold Cucumber soup. As always, leave your comments below.

CUCUMBER - DILL SOUP

3 Cucumbers, peeled and chopped

1 clove garlic

1 cup plain yogurt

1 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons chopped dill

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Chopped dill for garnish

1. Put all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.

2. Serve in well chilled bowls and garnish with some chopped dill.

Variation: Eliminate the garlic and substitute mint for the dill.

GAZPACHO

It's summer! It's July! And it's HOT.  I have lived in the Chicago area all my life and still can never get used to the summers and the swealtering heat.  It reached 100 degrees today and the humidity level is HIGH.  I so love winter....................................

Here is a great recipe for a COLD soup.  Perhaps Jon and Christina Bella can post a recipe for Sangria to go along with this recipe.  (They just got back from Spain!!)

                                               GAZPACHO

2 Cups Tomato Juice

1 large cucumber, peeled and diced

2 small onions, peeled and chopped

2 whole tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced, or 1 14 oz. can whole tomatoes

1 large green pepper, seeded and diced

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/2-cup olive oil

The zest of 1 lemon and it's juice

1/2 cup half and half (can substitute 1/2 cup of yogurt)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Dash of Tabasco sauce

Garnish:

Chopped parsley or cilantro

Diced Tomato

Chopped cucumber

Chopped red and green peppers

Red pepper flakes

1.  Put all the soup ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree into smooth. 

2.  Chill 3 hours or overnight.

3.  Serve in chilled soup dishes, if possible.  Allow each person to add his/her own garnishes.

Pasta Sauce with Appricots

Did you ever have a friend who introduced you to his/her friend who subsequently became a closer than friend than the friend who introduced you in the first place? (Think about it.) This next recipe comes from such a friend.

I mentioned earlier that I didn’t know pasta sauces were anything but red. The only differences I knew were that all my aunts and uncles made the same sauces but they tasted differently! It was not until I went to college and met people outside my small circle of friends and relatives, that I was introduced to the non traditional pasta sauces.

Do not dismiss this recipe in spite of the ingredients. At first glance you may think that it won’t work for you. Give it a chance. Try it, you’ll like it!!!

SPAGHETTI d'ALBICOCHE (AL-BI-CO-KAY)

1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil

15 cloves garlic (6 diced or crushed, 9 slivered)  YES THIS IS CORRECT

6 ounces dried apricots, slivered thinly

1-1/2 teaspoons fresh Rosemary

1 Cup white wine

1 Cup chopped parsley

1 lb spaghetti, cooked al dente and drained

1. Heat oil in large skillet

2. Add galic and saute lightly, do not brown the garlic

3. Add appricot, Rosemary and wine and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes

4 Add parsley and toss into cooked spaghetti.

A couple of notes about serving spaghetti.  If your skillet is large enough to add the cooked spaghetti and you are able to toss it in there, BE ITALIAN and do it.  You can serve out the pasta from the stove to the plates to the table.

However,  pasta should always be served in a large SHALLOW bowl. This allows the pasta to sit in in the sauce. When serving pasta in a large narrow bowl, the sauce tends to sit in the bottom and the pasta is not all covered.

In a cold skillet, add oil and garlic and sauté lightly.  Do not brown.  Add remaining ingredients, except parsley, and simmer for 5 minutes, covered.  Add parsley and toss into cooked spaghetti.

Enjoy and as always, please leave your comments at the end below.