Recipes for Shabbat

Summer Soups

By Eileen Goltz

Cold soups can be an unexpected, refreshing surprise for your family and guests. While typically served as an appetizer some people like to serve them as dessert. Cold soups can be rich, calorie laden and full bodied like a potato leek, or zesty and robust like gazpacho.

There are an astonishing number of recipes for sweet cold soup. Most are made with different types of fruit and cream. Savory cold soups on the other hand, will be made of vegetables or meats. Cold foods often require stronger seasoning than hot foods, so it stands to reason that cold soups must be allowed sufficient time for the flavors to develop. Some cold sweet soups taste best immediately following their preparation. Other soups, however, such as gazpacho, develop a more complex and satisfying flavor if they "mellow" in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

Vegetable or fruit soups are typically made by pureeing or chopping vegetables or fruits fine enough to reach soup-like consistency. These cold soups range in texture from the crunchy coarseness of a gazpacho to the velvety smoothness of a chilled melon soup. Broth or juice is often added to the vegetables or fruits to loosen the puree enough to create a soup like consistency. Other ingredients, such as cream, milk, buttermilk or the non dairy equivalent and garnishes can be added to the soup for extra flavor, color, or texture.

Many cold creamed soups have a base that begins with a veloute sauce... Veloute is a sauce using a roux (equal parts of flour and fat, usually butter or margarine, cooked to combine and then used to thicken liquids). After chilling the finished soup base the, cold creamed soups are finished by adding chilled cream, yogurt, or non dairy substitute.

When tasting a cold cream soup texture and consistency are very important. Cold cream soups should have the same velvety, smooth texture as hot cream soups. Also, cold soups may thicken as they cool, so be careful when you adjust the consistency so that it's creamy and not runny... Cold creamed soups should not leave your mouth feeling coated with fat, so the amount of cream should be in proportion to the other ingredients.
One last note before the recipes, when you add a garnish it should be a contrasting color to the soup. Make sure that the consistency of the soup will support and keep the garnish afloat.

These chilly recipes are every bit as great as the hot versions and are wonderful for hot summer days. I urge you to expand your horizons a little and try one this Shabbos.

YELLOW GAZPACHO (pareve)

Set out 2 large bowls. In the first large bowl combine the sugar, cucumber, onion, bell pepper, vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, tomatoes, and garlic. Mix to combine Puree the vegetable mixture in a food processor in batches. Pour the batches into the second large bowl. Mix to combine and then cover and refrigerate. Preheat oven to 375. Place the bread pieces in a small bowl, drizzle the top with the oil, toss gently to coat. Spread the bread mixture in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Cool the bread to room temperature. Place 3/4 cup of the gazpacho in each of 8 soup bowls. Top each serving with a few croutons, some of the chopped tomatoes, and cucumber. Serves 8

SIMPLE CUCUMBER SOUP
This soup is gorgeous when served in a soup tureen. If desired, garnish the soup with fresh dill or fresh radish slices.

Prepare cucumbers by peeling, cutting lengthwise in half, removing the seeds, and cutting into pieces Place the cucumbers and the green onions, salt, dill and yogurt in blender or food processor. Blend on high until well blended and smooth. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until well chilled. Garnish with fresh dill and radish slices. Serves 4.

ORANGE APRICOT SOUP (dairy)

Drain apricots, reserving the syrup. In blender or food processor combine the reserved syrup and half the apricots. Add orange peel, juice and cardamom*. Cover and blend until the liquid is smooth. Add the yogurt and blend until just combined. Pour the mixture into a bowl. Cut up the remaining apricots and stir them into the blended ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Stir before serving and garnish with thin orange slices if desired. Serves 8 to10.

* Cardamom is VERY expensive. I use it but if you don't think you'll use it for anything else, don't buy it just substitute nutmeg.

CANTALOUPE MIST (pareve)
A great soup that can actually be served for a different kind of breakfast. It can be made at night and be ready for the morning.

Put cantaloupe chunks into a blender or food processor. Add the cinnamon and blend until smooth. Pour the liquid into a large bowl but don't clean the blender or food processor. In the same blender or food processor place the orange juice and water. Cover and blend until mixed. Stir the orange juice liquid into the melon mixture. Stir in lime juice. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour before serving. Stir before serving and garnish with mint or lime slices if desired. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

CHERRY WINE SOUP (pareve)
This recipe is kind of elegant and would be nice served at a dinner party before a meal that has beef as a main course.

In a 1 1/2 quart saucepan, combine the undrained cherries, water, sugar, tapioca and cloves. Let stand 15 minutes. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the wine. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours or until cold. Stir occasionally. You can garnish this soup with a dollop or whipped cream or non dairy whipped topping. Serves 6-8

AVOCADO SOUP (dairy or meat)
This is very rich so a small servings is best. Very elegant as a starter for a special dinner.

Peel the avocados and dice the pulp. Puree the avocado pulp in blender with the pareve chicken broth. Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper. Gradually stir in whipping cream. Chill. Add sherry and wine or brandy right before serving. If you want to make the soup with real chicken broth just substitute non dairy whipped topping for the whipping cream. Garnish with the diced tomatoes, chives or chopped red peppers, or, if you really like things hot, a few chopped jalapeno peppers

*If you like you can use the avocado shells as serving dishes. Just keep them intact and set them in a bowl of ice and fill with soup.

CHILLED CREAM OF VEGETABLE SOUP (dairy or pareve)

Combine celery leaves, carrot, green pepper, spinach, chopped parsley, onion and chicken broth in a stock pot. Add the parsley, bay, thyme and cloves to the broth mixture along with the rice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil cover and simmer for 40 minutes. Discard the parsley and bay leaf. Puree the soup in batches in the blender. Return soup to the stock pot and bring to a boil. In a smaller bowl beat the egg yolks and stir a little of the soup into the beaten egg yolks. Stir yolk/soup mixture into the hot soup and simmer, stirring until smooth, do not boil. Stir in the half and half and simmer 3 more minutes, stirring constantly. Remove the soup from the heat and chill thoroughly. If the soup separates while chilling, just stir before serving. To serve garnish with sour cream, parsley, chives and chopped tomatoes. Serves 4 to 6. This recipe can be doubled or tripled

CHILLED WHITE CORN SOUP (meat or pareve)

Melt the margarine in a medium pot over medium heat. Add leeks, cover and cook until soft but not brown, about 20 minutes. Add the curry and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add corn, stock, coriander, pepper and cilantro. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Remove pot from heat, add the coconut milk and set aside for 30 minutes. Puree all but 1 cup of soup in the blender, then strain into a bowl. Add reserved 1 cup of soup to the puree. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled. Season to taste with salt. Meanwhile heat oil in a large skillet. Over a medium-high heat fry 1/3 of the mushrooms at a time until they are deep golden and crispy, about 3 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to a paper towel to drain. Season with salt. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with fried mushrooms. Serves 4.

Eileen Goltz, a professional chef and caterer, is the author of the new cookbook, Perfectly Pareve.