Cool Cucumber Soup

Here's the recipe for the delicious soup that Veronica prepared for our summer meeting.  Cool & Delicious & it uses a lot of cucumbers.

Cold Cucumber Soup with Tarragon

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2007

Prep Time: 30 min

Inactive Prep Time: 2 hr 0 min

Level: Easy

Serves: 2 quarts, 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

• 6 pounds cucumbers (about 6 cucumbers), peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped (12 cups)
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, stemmed, seeded, and minced
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon leaves
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint leaves
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chervil
• 2 garlic cloves, mashed to a paste with 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 cups plain yogurt
• 3 cups sour cream, divided
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives

Directions

Combine the cucumbers, green onions, jalapenos, tarragon, mint, chervil, garlic, salt, cayenne, yogurt, 2 cups sour cream, olive oil, white wine vinegar, and lime juice in a large bowl. Working in batches, puree the ingredients in a blender until very smooth. Transfer the soup to the refrigerator until well chilled, at least 2 hours. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if necessary. Serve the soup, with each bowl garnished with a dollop of the remaining sour cream and some of the minced chives.

 

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A Hot Summer Evening

It was another hot MN Herb Society gathering last night during our summer meeting & dinner.  While a few brave souls dined alfresco, most of us enjoyed some cool AC.  Thanks to Veronica & Marlys for graciously hosting.  The food was delicious, as always - our members can cook. 

Prize Choy

I just took this pic the other day.  As always, in spring, I am seduced by the seed catalogs.  I like to try different things & frequently spend $2.95 for various seeds that amount to nothing.  But I did have a beautiful success this year with my Bok Choy (Prize Choy from Seed Savers).  A few of the plants bolted early, but most are looking lovely tucked in between my perennials.  The ones that aren't bolting are tucked in a partly sunny spot, so I think I will plant them all there next year, even though the soil is not the best where they are.  They look lovely & the deer have passed them by - so far.  I haven't though & we've been enjoying some fresh stir fry meals with it.

MN Garlic Festival

Ahhh, the last warm days of summer always bring out the best that MN has to offer.  Well the best garlic that is.  A few members of the MN Herb Society were seen strolling thru the County Fair Grounds in Hutchinson this past Saturday, celebrating GARLIC.  Oh that tasty treat that permeates the kitchens of cooks.  I picked up some new garlic to try, even though my harvest this summer was poor - only 10 head out of about 50 came up.  When talking to the vendors, they said that there was some concern that the Aster Yellow disease would be found in the garlic DNA, but luckily, it was not.  Some vendors also had poor harvests & once again, the vendors were not as plentiful as previous years.  Speaking with a vendor from Red Wing, MN, she said the consensus was the spring weather or lack thereof.  But as a true gardener, we never lose hope for a better crop next year.  So I bought - both to plant & to eat.  Let us know how your harvest went & if you had particular varieties that performed better.  For me, Chesnok Red was the only fairly consistent producer this past season.

Elderberry

Herb of the Year

Elderflower hard cider, a new product I just had to try. I don't know if it tastes like elderberry, but it is sweet, fizzy and refreshing on a hot day. Might be fun to bring some to the Garden Tea.

Pictures of the Arboretum

Carla has a new camera

Playing with my boys and my new camera at the Arb

Some photos of the new Herb Gardens

Working in the Mesoamerican Garden and check out the new varieties of thyme (below)