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Chilled Herb Soup
Difficulty Level: Easy
It has been extremely hot in Toronto for the past three days hitting well over 90F each day. If feels like we just skipped over June and July and headed straight into August. It’s really hard to think about cooking in weather like this, because my inclination is to lie down and drink a gallon of lemonade.
My daughter and I went to the farmers’ market today and had a hard time focussing on what we might want to eat. It seems like we weren’t the only ones having trouble with the heat. There were lots of spaces empty where there are ususually vendors and there weren’t very many shoppers. Not only that, one farmer said this would be the last week for his arugula because they are all going to seed from the heat. My sorrel looks like it is doing the same, which would be a shame so early in the season.
So, needless to say, the soup this week is chilled. I think you could experiment with herbs other than those listed below, although I would hesitate to put really strong herbs such as basil or sage in because it would just take over. The original recipe called for 2 cups of water in addition to the stock, but I left it out as I was happy with the thickness of the soup already. I did puree the soup, but I didn’t bother to put it through a sieve, it was just too hot to bother. The garnish on the soup is a crumbled yogurt biscuit that I had baked earlier in the day, but some chives on top of that would have been nice.
This recipe is from Gourmet, September 1995
INGREDIENTS
| 1 1/4 pounds | sweet onions such as Vidalia, chopped |
| 1/2 stick | unsalted butter |
| 1/4 cup | all-purpose flour |
| 4 cups | chicken or vegetable stock |
| 3 cups | loosely packed fresh flat-leafed parsley leaves, washed well and spun dry |
| 1 cup | chopped fresh chives |
| 6 tablespoons | loosely packed fresh tarragon leaves |
| 3 tablespoons | fresh thyme leaves |
| 3/4 cup | sour cream |
| 1 1/2 tablespoons | fresh lemon juice, or to taste |
PREPARATION:
- In a 4- to 5-quart saucepan cook onions in butter with salt and pepper to taste over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Add flour and cook, stirring, 3 minutes. Stir in broth and water and simmer, stirring, 2 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Add herbs and simmer 1 minute.
- Remove pan from heat and let mixture cool slightly. In a blender puree mixture in small batches until very smooth, forcing as pureed through a fine sieve into a bowl. Whisk in sour cream and salt and pepper to taste. Chill soup, covered, until very cold, at least 4 hours and up to 24.
- Just before serving, stir in lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Garnish soup with sour cream and herbs.
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