need cold soup ideas

Here's a link to some chilled soups:

http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/cat/366/0.shtml

"Julia Altshuler" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

<snip>

Quoted message said:

With our weather so hot, I thought cold gazpacho would be impressive as
something people don't make for themselves but still normal and healthy,
but then I remembered the no raw onions restriction and nixed that idea.
(Unless someone has tried it with no onions or with cooked onions and
can recommend that route.) Then I thought of cold cucumber soup, but
Jim made yeching noises when I suggested it. I've never been overly
impressed with vichyssoise myself (cold potato soup) as it has always
seemed bland to me. Cold fruit soups have always seemed like dessert to
me. Any ideas? Of course, I don't have to serve a cold soup as a first
course. I just liked the idea.

See below from Epicurious - one of my facvorite soups...

Dimitri

VICHYSSOISE

2 cups finely diced raw potatoes
4 tablespoons butter
6 leeks, cleaned and cut into 1 inch pieces
3 cups chicken bouillon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshy ground black pepper
a dash of nutmeg
11/2 to 2 cups sour cream or heavy cream
Chopped chives

Cook the potatoes in salted water to cover until just tender. Melt the butter in
a skillet and cool the leeks gently, tossing them lightly, for a few minutes.
Add the chicken bouillon and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer the
leeks until tender. Add the potatoes to the leeks and the broth and season to
taste with salt, papper and nutmeg. Put this mixture in the blender (you will
need to blend it in two lots) and blend for 1 minute, or until smooth. Chill.
When ready to serve, mix in sour cream or heavy cream. Garnish with chopped
chives.

Serves 6.

House & Garden

September 1962

ZUCCHINI VICHYSSOISE

Zucchini gives a summery twist to the classic leek-and-potato soup; this new
take on an old favorite is served at Quisiana.

3 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 pound large leeks (white and pale green parts only), thinly sliced (about
2 1/2 cups)
8 garlic cloves, chopped
1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 pound zucchini, cut into 1-inch rounds
4 1/2 cups (or more) canned low-salt chicken broth
2 cups half and half
Chopped fresh chives

Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add leeks and garlic; sauté
until tender, about 6 minutes. Add potatoes and zucchini; sauté 5 minutes. Add 4
1/2 cups broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are
tender, about 15 minutes. Cool 30 minutes.
Working in batches, puree soup in blender. Transfer soup to large bowl. Mix in
half and half. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until
cold, about 4 hours. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated. Before
serving, thin with additional broth, if necessary.)
Ladle soup into bowl. Sprinkle with chives and serve.

Makes 8 servings.

Bon Appétit

August 2002
chef Laurie Smith

Quisiana, Center Lovell, ME

Julia Altshuler said:

Quoted message said:

With our weather so hot, I thought cold gazpacho would be impressive
as something people don't make for themselves but still normal and
healthy, but then I remembered the no raw onions restriction and
nixed that idea.

Here is a gazpacho made without onions. It is very nice and refreshing, and
haven't found anyone who hasn't liked it yet.

Gazpacho Andaluz - 4-6 servings
Chef Stef George

1 slice sourdough bread, crusts removed ( I use any substantial bread I have
on hand.. not the wonderbread types)
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 lbs very ripe tomatoes, chopped (I have used the canned)
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
1 Tbsp sherry vinegar (red wine vinegar works as well)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste

Garnishes : finely diced green pepper, cucumber, tomato, red onion, small
croutons

Soak bread in water for 30 minutes. Drain and squeeze out excess water.

In a blender, purée bread, cucumber, tomato, garlic, vinegar, and salt to
taste.
(I wait to do that salt)

Add the oil in a slow stream with the blender running to allow for
emulsification.

This is when I add the salt to taste. At this time you can also add water
to thin to a soup consistency if necessary. I haven't found this necessary
when I use the canned tomatoes with the juice.

Strain through a coarse sieve, pressing as much of the pulp through as
possible. Chill.

Adjust seasoning before serving.

Serve with garnishes on the side.

Enjoy!

Debbie

allrecipes.com has lots of cold soup recipes as well.

http://soup.allrecipes.com/directory/1770.asp

A google search turned up a lot of sites as well.

Debbie

Julia said:

With our weather so hot, I thought cold gazpacho would be impressive as
something people don't make for themselves but still normal and healthy,
but then I remembered the no raw onions restriction and nixed that idea.
(Unless someone has tried it with no onions or with cooked onions and
can recommend that route.) Then I thought of cold cucumber soup, but
Jim made yeching noises when I suggested it. I've never been overly
impressed with vichyssoise myself (cold potato soup) as it has always
seemed bland to me. Cold fruit soups have always seemed like dessert to
me. Any ideas? Of course, I don't have to serve a cold soup as a first
course. I just liked the idea.

The onion restriction really cuts out a lot of contenders. Here are a couple
of good recipes for chilled soup which don't contain onions:

Ajo Blanco con Uvas
(White Garlic Soup with Grapes, from _The Foods and Wines of Spain_)

4 oz blanched almonds
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 slices day-old bread, crusts removed
6 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Garlic croutons (bread sautéed in butter and garlic)
4 cups ice water
seedless green grapes, peeled, about 6 per portion
toasted sliced almonds

Method:

Blend the almonds, garlic and salt in a food processor until the almonds are
finely ground. Soak the bread in cold water and squeeze to extract most of
the moisture.

With the motor running, gradually add the bread to the almond mixture.
Leaving the motor running, pour in the oil in a thin stream, scraping any
residue from the side as you go. Add the vinegar in a similar fashion. Beat
in one cup of the ice water. Transfer the soup to a large bowl and stir in
the remaining 3 cups of ice water. Add more salt and vinegar if desired.
Strain, pressing with the back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as
possible. chill.

Serve very cold, garnished with the croutons, grapes, and almonds (the
grapes are not merely decorative; they are essential to the soup's flavor).
Serve with a medium-dry white wine such as Viña Esmeralda.

Chilled Lettuce and Pea Soup (from _A Celebration of Soups_)

4 tablespoons butter
4 medium-sized onions, peeled and chopped
1 large head iceberg lettuce or 3 heads Boston lettuce, rinsed, trimmed, and
shredded
1 1/4 pounds peas, shelled
6 cups chicken stock
3 bay leaves
3 whole cloves
2 teaspoons sugar
Salt
White pepper
Chopped fresh mint

In a soup kettle heat the butter over medium-low heat and cook the onions
until translucent.

Add the next seven ingredients. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat,
and simmer the vegetables, covered, for 45 minutes.

Blend the mixture (either in a blender or with an immersion blender in the
pot) until it is smooth.

Season the soup with salt and white pepper. Chill it for at least 4 hours.
Before serving, taste and re-season if necessary. Serve garnished with mint.

BOB'S NOTES:

1. This makes about a half-gallon of soup; I generally cut the recipe by a
factor of three.

2. You might not need the sugar. Taste the soup before adding it and don't
add it if you think it might make the soup too sweet.

3. Do try to use white pepper rather than black pepper; it makes a
difference.

4. Instead of doing the mint garnish, you could put a dollop of yogurt, sour
cream, or creme fraiche on top of the soup. I've been known to pour a couple
tablespoons of buttermilk on top instead and sprinkle with crumbled bacon.

I'll address the salad and main course concerns in a different post.

Bob

Julia Altshuler said:

A new friend is coming to dinner on Thursday. As always, I want this
meal to be relatively informal and normal while still impressing the
hell out of her.

Any ideas?

Borchst with sour cream is prettier but I'm partial to shav (sour grass
soup - sorrel). I see no reason you can't serve both. Mix either with
sour cream, and have hard cooked egg slices, diced seeded cukes, and
dill as garnishes

http://www.manischewitz.com/docs/man_62.shtml

Sheldon

Julia said:

Perhaps a quinoa salad? I could put in minced carrot, celery, cilantro,
snow peas, cucumber and zucchini with a sesame dressing. Normally I'd
put a little scallions and red bell pepper in it too, but I could leave
them out.

Personally, I think couscous, millet, or bulgur would work better than
quinoa as a salad. (That's just my personal preference.)

I'd also want to ensure that the salad matched with the soup. Since you like
the idea of a cold soup, maybe you can find one which has some Asian or
Middle-Eastern flavor notes which could play off well against the sesame
dressing you contemplate for the salad. Or you could choose a soup recipe
first, and then tailor the salad flavors to complement the soup flavors.

Quoted message said:

I need ideas for a main course too. I don't want to cook out barbecue
style. Maybe I could broil marinated chicken, serve corn on the cob and
put some marinated mushrooms, eggplant, tomatoes and zucchini on skewers
and broil them too. Thoughts?

Hrm. This seems like a good time for teriyaki chicken, pork, or beef: Then
you could have a grain salad as mentioned above, or any of the cold Asian
noodle salads discussed here in the past. Teriyaki vegetable skewers are
usually a hit, provided you've got a good teriyaki sauce. Finally, and I
admit that I'm improvising wildly here, for a cold soup, how about cold
consommé with enoki mushrooms and a few drops of soy and lemon juice?

There are half-a-dozen menus clamoring for attention in my head, but I
*have* to go to bed now. So here's an Iron-Chef kind of exercise: Think of
the following cuisines, and how your menu template (cold soup, salad, main
dish, side dish, and dessert) can be met using elements either from one
cuisine at a time, or how to harmoniously fuse more than one cuisine:

Spanish, Moroccan, Lebanese, Italian, Neo-Scandinavian, New American,
Indian, Japanese

Bob sleep now. *thud*nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.....

"Debbie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

allrecipes.com has lots of cold soup recipes as well.

http://soup.allrecipes.com/directory/1770.asp

Swan's Summer Soup (with tomatoes, corn and avocado) on allrecipes.com
sounds really good. No onions! I will try that when our tomatoes come
in.

I browsed the summer soup recipes on epicurious.com and came across a
lot of recipes (search using cold or chilled soup). Chilled Carrot Soup
with Cumin and Lime got a lot of great reviews -- I plan to try it soon.
It uses leeks, but they get pureed into the soup. Don't know if that's
acceptable. Chilled Red Pepper Soup with Croutons and Basil looks good,
too -- the peppers are roasted and are pureed w/ a sauteed onion.

Chris

"Bob" <virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Julia wrote:

There are half-a-dozen menus clamoring for attention in my head, but I
*have* to go to bed now. So here's an Iron-Chef kind of exercise:
Think of
the following cuisines, and how your menu template (cold soup, salad,
main
dish, side dish, and dessert) can be met using elements either from
one
cuisine at a time, or how to harmoniously fuse more than one cuisine:

Spanish, Moroccan, Lebanese, Italian, Neo-Scandinavian, New American,
Indian, Japanese

Bob sleep now.
*thud*nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.....

Good thing I didn't read this last night! I would have been up until
dawn trying to come up with a Neo-Scandanavian menu. Fun exercise,
though!

Chris

Thanks for the ideas so far. For the cold soup, I've decided on
carrot-ginger. (I really like the white garlic soup idea, but I think
I'll try that some time when I don't have a guest coming over. It looks
easy, but I know not to experiment at the critical moment.) For the
salad, I'm now undecided between quinoa and noodle salad. I've been
substituting quinoa for millet, couscous or bulgur for so long that I
forget that it's a little unusual. Quinoa works well because it holds
its shape and is just unusual enough but not so weird that people aren't
willing to try it. (And back from my health food days, I like it
because wheat is invariably somewhere else on the menu, and the health
foodies insist on variety.) Bob makes a good point about flavors
matching so the ginger soup and sesame dressing should work.

I think I'm set on the vegetable skewers idea too and some sort of
chicken. Even relatively plain work.

Keep the ideas coming even if they're in opposition to what I just wrote.

--Lia

"Julia Altshuler" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Thanks for the ideas so far. For the cold soup, I've decided on
carrot-ginger.

That sounds good -- I'm sure you'll report on the soup and your meal,
and I look forward to hearing how it goes.

Quoted message said:

For the
salad, I'm now undecided between quinoa and noodle salad. I've been
substituting quinoa for millet, couscous or bulgur for so long that I
forget that it's a little unusual.

I haven't made quinoa, but recently had a quinoa-orzo salad that was
really good. It wasn't too quinoa-y. It had chopped red bell pepper,
celery, green onions, cucumbers, craisins, feta cheese and pine nuts,
with a slightly sweet lemon/olive oil dressing. Sounds downright weird,
but it was delicious and I couldn't stop eating it. We had it w/ cold
pasta w/ cilantro pesto and a very herbal grilled chicken. Not that
this would work w/ your meal -- just reminiscing.

Chris

Julia Altshuler said:

With our weather so hot, I thought cold gazpacho would be impressive as
something people don't make for themselves but still normal and healthy,
but then I remembered the no raw onions restriction and nixed that idea.
(Unless someone has tried it with no onions or with cooked onions and
can recommend that route.) Then I thought of cold cucumber soup, but
Jim made yeching noises when I suggested it. I've never been overly
impressed with vichyssoise myself (cold potato soup) as it has always
seemed bland to me. Cold fruit soups have always seemed like dessert to
me. Any ideas? Of course, I don't have to serve a cold soup as a first
course. I just liked the idea.

Try pureeing chilled cooked carrots with some cream, salt, pepper, and a
bit of ginger. I really like this cold soup.

serene

serene said:

Try pureeing chilled cooked carrots with some cream, salt, pepper, and a
bit of ginger. I really like this cold soup.

Funny you should suggest this as that's just what I did last night
before reading your post this morning. (I wanted the soup to have time
to chill before serving tonight.)

While still summertime hot, we now have rain which has brought down the
temperature a little so I'm not as interested in a cool-cool menu. The
chilled soup is still good, but now I'm thinking just a green salad and
coq au vin instead of marinated barbecued chicken.

--Lia

Chris said:

That sounds good -- I'm sure you'll report on the soup and your meal,
and I look forward to hearing how it goes.

Here's the report. The first course was a carrot-ginger soup. I
browned an onion (1 onion, fist sized, chopped), added 1# carrots
(peeled and rough chopped, about 3 cups) and enough water just to cover
and boiled until tender. I then pureed the whole thing in the blender.
When the blender blades wouldn't move because the mixture was too
thick, I added cream and milk (maybe 1/2 cup cream and 1 cup milk. I
really meant to measure so I could tell you guys, but I didn't at that
point.) I also added a good Tablespoon of grated ginger (I keep mine
preserved in sherry in the fridge.) I let it cool overnight. My guest
pronounced it good and worried that it might be too rich for her because
it was so thick. I reassured her that the thickness was only due to
using lots of carrots and less liquid. Perhaps I could have thinned it
out a little more. The flavor was very good.

The second course was coq au vin. I normally use the recipe in Joy of
Cooking. This time I didn't add the carrots but used celery instead and
some shiitake mushrooms in addition to the button ones. It didn't come
out as well as it has in the past. That may have been because of the
quality of the wine. I have to figure out the right wine to cook with
that doesn't cost too much but holds its taste after longer simmering.

Dessert was fabulous. We had raspberries from our own garden, good
strawberries, blueberries and cherries. She said she feels most
comfortable when she has something to do to help so I put her to work
pitting cherries. I'd said I'd make raspberry fool but changed my mind
at the last minute and went with berries in sabayon sauce instead.
That's 4 egg yolks and 1/3 cup sugar whipped together in the top of a
double boiler for several minutes, then 3/4 cup champagne added while
whipping for another 10 minutes. We took turns whipping. It came out
great. The quality of the fruit was excellent, and the sauce added to
the flavor and complemented instead of overpowering. Somehow the
amounts worked out right too with most of the dessert just being the
excellent fruit and only a little sauce.

This is a new friend I met at a party last December. The only trouble
with the evening is that she came over to help me with a webpage. I've
never had one and know nothing about how much they're supposed to cost.
The only thing I know about webpages is that I've looked at a few.
She showed me her other customers' pages, and I'm not sure I liked them
all that well. So I have to figure out what I think of her prices and
pages. I'd say the evening went well.

--Lia

On Thu 07 Jul 2005 06:56:20p, Julia Altshuler wrote in rec.food.cooking:

Quoted message said:

Chris said:

That sounds good -- I'm sure you'll report on the soup and your meal,
and I look forward to hearing how it goes.

Here's the report. The first course was a carrot-ginger soup. I
browned an onion (1 onion, fist sized, chopped), added 1# carrots
(peeled and rough chopped, about 3 cups) and enough water just to cover
and boiled until tender. I then pureed the whole thing in the blender.
When the blender blades wouldn't move because the mixture was too
thick, I added cream and milk (maybe 1/2 cup cream and 1 cup milk. I
really meant to measure so I could tell you guys, but I didn't at that
point.) I also added a good Tablespoon of grated ginger (I keep mine
preserved in sherry in the fridge.) I let it cool overnight. My guest
pronounced it good and worried that it might be too rich for her because
it was so thick. I reassured her that the thickness was only due to
using lots of carrots and less liquid. Perhaps I could have thinned it
out a little more. The flavor was very good.

The second course was coq au vin. I normally use the recipe in Joy of
Cooking. This time I didn't add the carrots but used celery instead and
some shiitake mushrooms in addition to the button ones. It didn't come
out as well as it has in the past. That may have been because of the
quality of the wine. I have to figure out the right wine to cook with
that doesn't cost too much but holds its taste after longer simmering.

Dessert was fabulous. We had raspberries from our own garden, good
strawberries, blueberries and cherries. She said she feels most
comfortable when she has something to do to help so I put her to work
pitting cherries. I'd said I'd make raspberry fool but changed my mind
at the last minute and went with berries in sabayon sauce instead.
That's 4 egg yolks and 1/3 cup sugar whipped together in the top of a
double boiler for several minutes, then 3/4 cup champagne added while
whipping for another 10 minutes. We took turns whipping. It came out
great. The quality of the fruit was excellent, and the sauce added to
the flavor and complemented instead of overpowering. Somehow the
amounts worked out right too with most of the dessert just being the
excellent fruit and only a little sauce.

This is a new friend I met at a party last December. The only trouble
with the evening is that she came over to help me with a webpage. I've
never had one and know nothing about how much they're supposed to cost.
The only thing I know about webpages is that I've looked at a few.
She showed me her other customers' pages, and I'm not sure I liked them
all that well. So I have to figure out what I think of her prices and
pages. I'd say the evening went well.

--Lia

Lia, designing a web page is not all that difficult, especially for someone
who does it professionally. She should have designed a webpage for you for
free after that dinner! Sounds wonderful!!!

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.
Sam Goldwyn, 1882-1974

---
avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean.
Virus Database (VPS): 0527-1, 07/07/2005
Tested on: 7/7/2005 7:18:23 PM
avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2005 ALWIL Software.
http://www.avast.com

Wayne Boatwright said:

Lia, designing a web page is not all that difficult, especially for someone
who does it professionally. She should have designed a webpage for you for
free after that dinner! Sounds wonderful!!!

You hit on exactly the sticky problem I've been mulling over all day. I
would never charge a friend for dinner in my own home. Cooking a good
meal is fun and isn't all that difficult once you know how, but it does
take learning how to do. The same is true for webpages. Jim keeps
telling me I should learn to do the webpage for myself. On the one
hand, web design is a professional service one should expect to be paid
for. On the other hand, like cooking, it is the sort of thing one could
do as a favor for a friend once you have the know-how. I'm sure she's
not overcharging me, but she did meet me briefly at a party, volunteer
that she'd like to do the webpage for me out of the blue, then bring up
the price after she'd eaten the home-cooked meal. I have mixed feelings
about all of this.

--Lia

On Fri 08 Jul 2005 03:58:04p, Julia Altshuler wrote in rec.food.cooking:

Quoted message said:

Wayne Boatwright said:

Lia, designing a web page is not all that difficult, especially for
someone who does it professionally. She should have designed a webpage
for you for free after that dinner! Sounds wonderful!!!

You hit on exactly the sticky problem I've been mulling over all day. I
would never charge a friend for dinner in my own home. Cooking a good
meal is fun and isn't all that difficult once you know how, but it does
take learning how to do. The same is true for webpages. Jim keeps
telling me I should learn to do the webpage for myself. On the one
hand, web design is a professional service one should expect to be paid
for. On the other hand, like cooking, it is the sort of thing one could
do as a favor for a friend once you have the know-how. I'm sure she's
not overcharging me, but she did meet me briefly at a party, volunteer
that she'd like to do the webpage for me out of the blue, then bring up
the price after she'd eaten the home-cooked meal. I have mixed feelings
about all of this.

--Lia

Hmmm... Seems like odd or poor timing on her part to talk fees at the very
last. I would be inclined to decline and learn on your own. There are
some very good design tools out there that make it rather simple to
accomplish, and you would be learning a valuable skill on your own. Unless
timing is critical in getting a webpage up and running, I would pass.

--
Wayne Boatwright Õ¿Õ¬
____________________________________________

Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.
Sam Goldwyn, 1882-1974

Julia said:

I would never charge a friend for dinner in my own home. Cooking a good
meal is fun and isn't all that difficult once you know how, but it does
take learning how to do. The same is true for webpages. Jim keeps
telling me I should learn to do the webpage for myself. On the one hand,
web design is a professional service one should expect to be paid for. On
the other hand, like cooking, it is the sort of thing one could do as a
favor for a friend once you have the know-how. I'm sure she's not
overcharging me, but she did meet me briefly at a party, volunteer that
she'd like to do the webpage for me out of the blue, then bring up the
price after she'd eaten the home-cooked meal. I have mixed feelings about
all of this.

Here's what I see as the crux of the matter: Is she a FRIEND? To my way of
thinking, if she thought of you as a friend, she would have offered to
create the web page as a favor to her new friend. It seems to me that the
two of you are working at cross-purposes: You're trying to strike up a
friendship with someone who is trying to drum up business for herself. To
put it bluntly, your goal was her friendship, while her goal was your money.
(Not an unusual situation at all; it happens in strip clubs all the time!)
You did the appropriate "friend" action: You invited her to dinner. She did
the appropriate "business" action: She informed you of her fees. So far,
neither of you have achieved your goal: You haven't gotten a friend OR a
website, and she hasn't gotten your money.

I break it down to these three options:
(1) abandon all pretense of friendship and hire her to design your website
(2) learn to design the website yourself
(3) find a web designer willing to work for friendship and/or food. :-)

Of those options, (3) is the most iffy but also the most potentially
rewarding. (2) has its appeal in that education is its own reward. (1) is a
"lose-win" situation, in which your fake-friend gets a free meal AND a
business client. You get only what you would have gotten by picking a web
designer out of the Yellow Pages, and you cooked a meal for a freeloader.

Bob

I don't have the cookbook in front of me now, but the Silver Palate
cookbook has a very nice recipe for Avgolemono soup, which is a cold
chicken soup with lemon juice, eggs, chicken stock and rice, which is
served cold. I've made it in the summer time and it's very tasty and
cooling.

Melissa