Chilled Pear Soup

Don't you think of September as an autumn month? Yet we get awfully hot days sometimes. September can be psychotic. Chilled pear soup is a great way to ease out of summer and into fall.

Chilled Pear Soup

3 large ripe pears, about 4 cups chopped

1/4 cup butter

1/2 to 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup half and half

1/3 cup apple juice

Quarter and peel pears. Put butter in a cool skillet and place on medium high heat. While butter melts, roughly chop pears. Add pears and ginger to hot butter. Cook for 7 or 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and pour into a glass bowl. Puree pears using a hand held blender. Stir in buttermilk, half and half, and juice. Cover tightly and chill for several hours. Garnish with raspberries or pomegranate seeds if desired.

Hints: I like to use Bartlett or Red pears. Be sure to use a skillet that is fairly wide so that the pears saute rather than boil in the butter, although once the juices come out of the pears, they will be boiling a bit. Use fresh buttermilk not dehydrated. White grape juice can be used instead of apple juice.  

I created this recipe after having Chilled Pear Soup at Windows on the Square. (Wow! that was a while ago!) It was fabulous-- delicate, creamy, not too sweet or tart. It took me several attempts to get close. I hope you like this one as much as I do.

Gazpacho

 

Gazpacho

5 large tomatoes, peeled 

1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced (about 1 cup)

1/2 green pepper, seeded and diced (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 red onion, finely diced (about 1/3 cup)

2 green onions, thinly sliced (about 1/4 cup)

1 avocado, diced

1 cup chicken stock

2 tablespoons minced cilantro

juice of 1 lime

1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (or to taste)

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Optional: tabasco sauce to taste

Roughly chop 3 tomatoes and place in a deep glass bowl. Using a hand blender, process until liquefied. (This should yield between 2 1/2 to 3 cups of liquid.) Dice the other 2 tomatoes and stir in. Add remaining ingredients, mix well and chill for at least 2 hours. Serve well chilled. (For a different texture, blend all 5 tomatoes, red onion, cilantro and garlic. This will be a more liquid soup, less salsa like.)

Hints: Home grown tomatoes are the best! This is a great first course for a late summer dinner or a wonderful main course for a summer luncheon. Best with some wonderful crusty bread. I use chicken stock paste for fresh tasting stock (Costco). The tabasco sauce can be served as a condiment at the table for those of us who like a kick. Adding cooked shrimp creates a whole new dimension in the dish. Chilling the soup bowls before you serve will enhance the experience.

Chilled soups are one of my favorite summer treats. I created this recipe years ago when I had tomatoes coming out my ears. Now days I plant fewer bushes but still like to use some for this soup at least once or twice a season. I will blog about my chilled pear soup soon.The choice of bowls you serve soup in can make the meal more rustic, refined or new age.