Friday 11 July 2014

Cold Cucumber Soup

... for lunch on a stiflingly hot summer's day!  We are using our own cucumbers for this one and it is a great satisfaction to be able to say... I grew those and there we go... lunch!


This is an unusual one for conservative UK tastes so you need to be open minded (and like cucumbers) just think along the lines of slightly more liquid dipping sauce consistency and taste ... and less 'soup' and you will be fine.

Take a large cucumber - the best are the ridge cucumbers not the 'Dutch style' tubes of water that pass for cucumbers these days.  Peel and then grate it coarsely into a large bowl.  I included the seeds because I don't mind them but if you like you can quarter the cucumber lengthways and then scrape the seeds out and discard (or better still, wash and dry them and plant for more cucumbers next year!)

To your grated cucumber add... a little salt and pepper, 250ml single cream and 150ml plain yoghurt.


Add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar, but add it slowly and taste until it is just right... you will know when that is, trust me.

At this point you should pop the 'soup' in the fridge for a couple of hours and then sprinkle over some finely chopped fresh mint to garnish just before serving.  My mint is suffering badly from too much sun, not enough water and too many chickens trying to eat it so I had to use dried mint.  If you are using dried mint, add it sooner and leave it to infuse for a while or you won't get any flavour of mint at all.


Serve with flatbreads just warm from the oven or at a push a piece of crusty bread.  Enjoy!

No comments:

Post a Comment