55 replies to this topic

[weinoo]

Cold Soups--Cook-Off XL
eGullet Recipe Cook-Off Series

Welcome to the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off! Click here for the Cook-Off index.

From avocado to zucchini, cold soups know no bounds. And, with summer quickly approaching in the northern hemisphere, we thought it might be a good time to take a look at all the wonderful varieties of cold soups that work so well in the warmer months.

After all, who doesn't remember that wonderful first slurp of an icy, spicy gazpacho? Or mixing your side of sour cream into a shockingly red borscht for a dish that is so much more than the sum of its parts. Perhaps yours was fancier, the potato and leek wonder known by its French name, vichyssoise...(and which, by the way, is also known as potage parmentier when served hot, according to Bernard Clayton, in his great primer The Complete Book of Soups and Stews; Clayton's book has 29 cold soup recipes - not bad).

Stepping back in time, if you'll allow me to poach a couple of cold ones that I made last year, there's ample room for sweet as well as the savory. Strawberries make an awesome soup, or so I'm told. Cherries do too - just take a look below...this sour cherry soup was quite tasty, as well as a great vehicle for ice cream and sorbet ...



Perhaps something a little more savory is to your liking...everyone loved cacik, a Turkish yogurt and cucumber soup, redolent with dill and garlic...though I may have served portions a bit too large -



So, bring it on eG'ers - get out your blenders, hand mixers, food processors, chopping blocks, ice cubes, etc. and show us what's keeping you cool, at least in the soup department, this coming summer.

[monavano]

English peas made their debut at my farmers market this weekend. I made pea soup and drizzled fage thinned out a a touch of cream.

[Bueno]

Watermelon Gazpacho w/ Chili-Marinated Prawn and Bruschetta.

[isomer]

In honour of the first obscenely hot and humid weekend this summer, I've made the delicious Cucumber-Coconut Gazpacho from Jean-George's book Simple to Spectacular.

This is a wonderful soup made with coconut milk and cucumbers, flavoured with mint, nam pla and lime juice. It's cool, refreshing and delicious!

Here's the mis-en-place:



And here is the finished soup. Highly recommended.

Edited by isomer, 05 June 2008 - 07:46 PM.

[WiscoNole]

Cold soup with a savory ice cream garnish...the wheels are turning!

[weinoo]

In honour of the first obscenely hot and humid weekend this summer, I've made the delicious Cucumber-Coconut Gazpacho from Jean-George's book Simple to Spectacular.

This is a wonderful soup made with coconut milk and cucumbers, flavoured with mint, nam pla  and lime juice. It's cool, refreshing and delicious!

Wow, isomer, that looks pretty darn good, especially now that the thermometer is pushing 100 here in NYC.

And, if anyone is interested, the current, new issue of Saveur has a recipe for cold Hungarian cherry soup - looks like it's mighty tasty.

[jscarbor]

Watermelon Gazpacho w/ Chili-Marinated Prawn and Bruschetta.

Recipe for this? This is exactly what I was looking for.

[Pam R]

A really simple, light soup that I like to make during the summer is Blueberry Soup. As soon as the blueberries are nice, or I can get my hands on some wild ones, I'd like to make a batch, subbing mint or oregano for the rosemary and yogurt for the sour cream.

Watermelon seems like a perfect choice for a cold soup. I'd love the ingredients for the gazpacho too, please.

[Abra]

Isomer, will you give us that soup recipe? It sounds like just the thing.

I made a really nice savory cherry soup last week with red wine, fresh sage, cherries, and a bit of creme fraiche. Cherries and sage are a surprisingly refreshing combination.

[dockhl]

I second the request, isomer. I tried searching online but haven't had any luck .

Abra, your savory cherry soup sounds awesome. I love the thought of cherries and sage, and happen to have some cherries in my fridge right now. Could you elaborate?

[ErikaK]

I make a gazpacho all the time, it is not really traditional (ie Spanish) but it is great to take iced on a picnic with cold shrimp & cold wine.
My mom, who passed away a little over 2 years ago, gave me this recipe. It reminds me of summer.
Mom’s Gazpacho
Make it ahead of time & let it sit in the refrigerator overnight to combine the flavors:
1 large (48oz) can Tomato Juice
1 large green pepper seeded & chopped (sometimes I leave this out & use cucumber instead)
1 large onion chopped
1 bunch of green onion, both white & green parts, chopped
1 cup of chopped parsley (I like to use half parsley & half cilantro, but you have to like cilantro)
2 tablespoons chicken bullion dissolved in 2 cups water
Juice of 1 lemon
Mix everything together, season to taste with salt & pepper

“Serve it COLD COLD COLD!!” ---- with a dollop of sour cream in the bowl!

[isomer]

Isomer, will you give us that soup recipe?  It sounds like just the thing.

Sure thing. I've uploaded it as I usually make it to the receipe gullet here. Enjoy!

[Pille]

I love this topic! The summer is going to be nice and hot here, so various cold soups will make a frequent appearance in our kitchen :) Also, I'm hosting various cook-offs on my Estonian site, and 'cold soups' is scheduled for July :)

I made a cold kefir soup with radishes, scallions, parsley, dill yesterday for lunch - very refreshing:

[isomer]

I made a cold kefir soup with radishes, scallions, parsley, dill yesterday for lunch - very refreshing:

Woah. That looks totally awesome!

[Pille]

I made a cold kefir soup with radishes, scallions, parsley, dill yesterday for lunch - very refreshing:

Woah. That looks totally awesome!

Thank you, Isomer You can find a recipe here.

My other favourite cold soup is Spanish gazpacho, and I love this version.

[weinoo]

I put together a quick gazpacho this afternoon...3 large ripe vine tomatoes, a cucumber, half an onion, a green bell pepper, a jalapeno pepper, 1/4 cup of parsley, a cup of water, vinegar, salt, pepper and olive oil. Whirred it in the blender (this was not a chunky gazpacho). Into the fridge for a couple of hours and served with a bit of avocado and cucumber strewn on top, it looked like this, and tasted mighty fine.

[Chris Amirault]

What good cold pea soup recipes are out there?

[SobaAddict70]

Peach and cantaloupe soup -- Proportions are up to you but figure 5 peaches and 1 cantaloupe, pureed in a blender or passed through a food mill; 1 cup buttermilk; 1 T. vanilla. Combine all ingredients and chill. Stir in a spoonful of creme fraiche prior to service. This soup is amazing with white peaches.


Blueberry soup with polenta and fromage blanc -- blueberries, water, honey, Meyer lemons (juice and zest), polenta, fromage blanc. You can leave the polenta plain if you like. I saute slices in melted unsalted butter and sugar. Top polenta with blueberry soup, add a dollop of fromage blanc and serve.

[jscarbor]

In honour of the first obscenely hot and humid weekend this summer, I've made the delicious Cucumber-Coconut Gazpacho from Jean-George's book Simple to Spectacular.

This is a wonderful soup made with coconut milk and cucumbers, flavoured with mint, nam pla  and lime juice. It's cool, refreshing and delicious!

Here's the mis-en-place:



And here is the finished soup. Highly recommended.

I made this soup a couple weeks ago and although I was looking for something with less fat this was very good. This is a keeper.

[adey73]

White Gazpacho, cold pressed rapeseed oil, smoked salt & Flat leaf Parsley.

Edited by adey73, 25 June 2008 - 04:54 AM.

[dockhl]

Beautiful presentation ! I esp like the salt on the parsley .

[MicBacchus]

Due to the excessive heat in SC, I made Cold Tomato Soup (local tomatoes; no fear of salmonella) from Twelve Months of Monastary Soups. You cook down tomatoes, leeks, garlic, seasonings, and some water then strain and chill.

Not wanting to waste the mushed tomatoes and leeks, I added some jalapeno and cilantro and used it to top a southwestern omelet the next morning.

[ruthcooks]

Strawberry Soup

A Wisconsin resident who subscribed to my newsletter sent me this delightful recipe. When I use sour cream, I use milk; when I use buttermilk, I use heavy cream. I think I have even substituted ricotta cheese once.

2 cups well-drained strawberries (? Perhaps she used frozen, but I use fresh)
1 cup sour cream or buttermilk
1/2 cup milk or heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup ginger ale, preferably Vernor's
1 T. lemon juice
1 t. vanilla

Combine in blender and chill. I drink it out of a glass, but you could put it in a bowl and slice a few fresh berries over the top.

Entered in RecipeGullet

Edited by ruthcooks, 10 July 2008 - 10:26 AM.

[jdtofbna]

I'm sorry I don't have any photos to post, but this is a beautiful, delicious summer soup.

STRAWBERRY WATERMELON GAZPACHO
Serves: 8

1/4 of a large watermelon
2 cups strawberries
4 limes juiced
1/8 of a large watermelon
1 medium vidalia onion
1 cucumber
1/2 yellow bell pepper
1/2 green pepper
1 bunch cilantro
8 slices pickled jalapenos, or more
Pinch of sugar or to taste
Pinch of salt

Puree 1/4 watermelon in blender or food processor, add berries and process.

Chop or thinly slice onion. Peel, seed and chop cucumber. Chop bell
peppers and jalapenos. Chop 1/8 watermelon. Chop cilantro.

Combine all ingredients in large bowl, adjust seasoning and chill
thoroughly.

[Peter the eater]

One year later . . .

I'm planning to make some cold soups for a backyard birthday party this weekend. I'm liking the idea of two gazpacho-like soups, one red and the other green. The challenge is to make them different but complementary, and both extremely delicious.

What's the key to a nice gazpacho?

Must true gazpacho incorporate bread and stock?

Edited by Peter the eater, 09 July 2009 - 09:25 AM.

[JAZ]

As I understand, what's necessary for gazpacho is bread and oil for thickening; stock is not. If you want to go reasonably traditional, you could try these recipes (both based on recipes by Penelope Casas):

Andalusian gazpacho and green gazpacho (scroll down to second recipe).

I discovered the first one a couple of years ago and have never made any other tomato-based gazpacho since. I haven't made the second one, but I imagine it's also good (my guess is that her original version calls for more olive oil, though, and I would leave out the lettuce).

[jackal10]

Borsch

[Jaymes]

Over in the "soups" topic, there was some considerable discussion - here - about the Sweet Potato, Chile & Lime soup in the excellent cookbook, "Splendid Soups."

Although the recipe intends it to be a hot soup, after making it several times, I served it cold as a starter. Wonderful either way.

Edited by Jaymes, 09 July 2009 - 11:26 AM.

[Peter the eater]

Thanks for those links Janet.

Red gazpacho (tomato, onion, bell peppers, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, bread, smoked paprika, salt) and green gazpacho (cucumber, basil, cumin, onion, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, bread, salt) served in glass shooters with sour cream, bell pepper garnish:



Easy and awesome in the hot weather. Around a half ounce of cold pourable soup worked best.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Gazpacho Foam



Blend at high speed about 1/3 cup chopped onion and one clove garlic with about 1/3 cup beef consommé and the juice of one lemon. Add about 2/3 cup tomato and an equal amount of peeled cucumber and blend thoroughly. Add marjoram, black pepper, sea salt, and piment d’Espelette or other hot pepper or Tabasco to taste. Dissolve 2g Knox gelatin in about 1/4 cup warm beef consommé, and blend into mixture. Strain and chill.

Pour one pint of the mixture into a 1 pint cream whipper like the Thermo Whip, charge with one N2O charger, and shake vigorously, then turn the whipper upside down and shake a couple of times to bring most of the liquid to the spout. Release the foam gently at first to produce a controlled spray. If dispensed at this point, it will be drinkable. For a firmer foam that can be eaten with a spoon, allow the filled whipper to rest in the refrigerator overnight on its side. Shake vigorously and dispense into a cocktail glass garnished with a cucumber slice and a spear of red bell pepper.