Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Greetings from your newest 'sort of' senior citizen (60)!

I'm doing a summer party for 12 on Saturday and would like some suggestions, with or without recipes, for a spectacular summer soup. I'm also serving Country Captain, Scalloped Corn, and for dessert ice cream sundaes (fresh fruit with home-made chocolate sauce and toasted almonds). THANKS for your ideas!!

I love cold soups in the summer-cucumber and buttermilk, curried carrot and ginger, borscht. I know that there was a very nice cucumber and buttermilk recipe in CC the summer of 07-can't seem to find it at the moment.
You can also make a double stock-where you use another set of bones to cook in stock-then clarify it, chill it in a sheet and serve consomme cut into small dice. Very traditional, very tasty and not often seen these days.
For a hot soup I would go with the garlic broth base (1 head of garlic, peeled, per quart of water, other herbs as desired, simmer 20 minutes) and add what ever fresh greens are around-spinach, chard, etc. Garnish with some nice olive oil drizzled on top.
BeckyH

I recently hosted a garden wedding shower and served a gazpacho as a first course. I served it in mugs, so folks could enjoy it while mingling and before sitting down to dinner. It worked out well and was very refreshing.
ilene

PS....welcome to the 60's. Hope you had a great birthday!

How about a wonderful chicken corn chowder. I love making it when the corn is in season. Cut the corn from the cob and place cobs in the stock with the chicken. Makes a great stock. Add the corn back in then the rest is up to you, add a little cream or make it a clear broth. I love adding a few small fresh unpeeled red skins as well.

I also like a nice Mexican style soup with clear chicken broth, onion, zuccini, bits of fresh tomato and any fresh veg in season. Add a little cilantro and top with a spoonful of rice and a slice of avacado.

What time should we all be there?

Laurie

Happy Birthday! And "senior" only in reference to your superiority.

I LOVE gazpacho and have a couple recipes I like. One is a tropical pineapple one that is nice and spicy. I also serve it in mugs at parties so no one has to sit down and be too formal too soon.

Enjoy your party!

Mary

HUGE AND MANY THANKS! I love the soup in a mug concept; that will throw them all for a loop

I'm leaning towards the gazpacho only because my wife doesn't like buttermilk. However, I'm very intrigued by the inclusion of curry since the County Captain contains it as well. Can you steer me to a recipe you favor???

I have 2 recipes for you.
Curried Cream of Cauliflower Soup (from Jane Brody) (serves 4-6)
1 lg. onion chopped (about 1 cup)
1 Tb. butter
4 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)
1 1/2 lb head cauliflower cut into flowerets
1 carrot peeled and diced
1 cup milk (about)
1 tsp curry (I use paste but powder works too... I usually use a couple tablespoons of the paste. I think you would need more than a tsp of powder...)

Sauté onion and curry in butter 3 minutes until softened but not brown. Add broth, cauliflower and carrot and simmer 15 minutes until soft. Remove from heat and add milk. Puree in food processor or blender. If soup is too thick, thin with additional milk. Rewarm gently or, to serve cold, refrigerate for 1 hour. Garnish as desired. I use either cilantro or chives.

This is very simple but quite tasty. I use low fat milk and it is surprisingly creamy. You could make it richer with a little cream if you wanted.

The next is if you want to be a bit more daring. I think it is a fantastic soup and that it would go great with your menu:

Tropical Gazpacho (from Moosewood Lowfat Cookbook serves 4-6)
4 garlic cloves
1 1/2 cups peeled, seeded and diced cucumbers
1 1/2 cups diced red bell peppers
1/2 cup diced red oninos
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 cup canned unsweetened pineapple chinks in juice
2 TB red wine vinegar
generous pinch of cayenne, or more to taste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
s1 1/2 cups French or Italian bread, crusts removed, torn into chunks
3 cups tomato juice
salt and ground black pepper to taste
thin slices of lemon and /or lime.

In a blender or food processor combine the garlic, 3/4 cup of the diced cucumbers, 3/4 cup of the diced bell peppers, the red onions, 1/2 cup of the tomatoes, the pineapple and its juice, vinegar, cayenne, cumin, bread chunks, and tomato juice and purée until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, then stir in the remaining diced cucumbers, bell peppers, and tomatoes for texture and visual appeal. Add salt and black pepper to taste. Refrigerate for 1- 2 hours until cold. Serve garnished with lemon and/or lime slices.

I have also used fresh hot peppers in this in place of the cayenne but it got pretty spicy.

Enjoy

Mary

I chose your gazpacho for tomorrow and will try the cauliflower curry soup next week. Thanks for the great effort!! I'll report back.

You know my input .