Cucumber and Dill Soup

Cucumber and Dill Soup 

I have been making good progress through the Summer Vegetables section of  The Soup Book this year. By the end of 2010 I had made twelve of the fifty-eight recipes. We're just over halfway through 2011 and I've made another fourteen. As I mentioned last month, there are five recipes for cucumber soup in the book. Today's is cucumber and dill soup by Marie-Pierre Moine. You need cucumbers, seasoning, milk, fresh dill and bio natural yoghurt. You don't have to cook as this is a chilled soup - just allow yourself plenty of time for full chilling. You'll be peeling, slicing, sprinkling, stirring, chilling, rinsing, blending and sieving.

When I got up this morning the sun was beaming down, hence my decision to make this soup. By lunchtime, however, the sky was grey. The younger offspring and his father arrived home for lunch and as I put the finishing touches to the soup I wasn't too impressed. Moine's introduction to the recipe describes the soup as "an elegant starter for a summer meal" and suggests serving it with smoked salmon. The spouse set to defrosting some smoked salmon while the offspring ran out to buy a baguette. The three of us sat down and began our lunch. I overcame my anticipated distaste. The soup was very good, very delicately flavoured and worth trying out again.

Handy Honey

Here's a recipe for ginger, lime and honey sauce from Christine McFadden's Healthy Fruit Desserts (Little, Brown & Company, 1996). Serve with sliced pineapple.

• 6 TBS clear honey
• Finely grated zest and juice of two small limes
• Juice of one orange
• 2 small pieces of stem ginger, very finely chopped

Put the ingredients into a small saucepan. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 5 minutes until reduced by half.