Cold Cucumber Soup

breezermom's Note:

This is a typical Swedish or Danish recipe, with the finishing touches provided by Ken Hanson from Scandia in Los Angeles. Great for the hot weather we are having right now. Chill the individual soup cups before serving! These are appetizer or 1st course sized servings. Cooking time includes cooking and chilling time.

• Total Time: 2 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 2 cucumbers , peeled and sliced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 leek , sliced, white part only
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cucumber , peeled, seeded, and grated
• 1 cup cream
• ½ lemon , juiced
• 1 teaspoon dill or 1 teaspoon mint , finely chopped
• salt , to taste
• pepper , to taste
• sour cream , as a garnish

Directions:

1. Peel 2 cucumbers, slice, and saute gently in 2 tbsp butter with 1 sliced leek and 1 bay leaf for 20 minutes, or until tender but not browned.
2. Stir in 1 tbsp flour.
3. Add 3 cups chicken stock and 1 tsp salt and simmer for 30 minutes. Put the mixture throuth a blender half at a time and strain through a sieve. Chill.
4. Add 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and grated, 1 cup cream, and the juice of 1/2 lemon.
5. Stir in 1 tsp finely chopped fresh dill or mint. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Chill in the refrigerator for at least another 30 minutes, so soup will be icy cold when served.
7. Serve in chilled soup cups with a dab of sour cream on top of each serving.

Reviews

[Karen's Krazy Kitchen]

This soup is fantastic! I found this recipe in A Treasury of Great Recipes by Vincent and Mary Price. They got the recipe from Ken Hansen... I went to post it and found this so did not post. I think the key to success is to really follow the recipe with attention to the details (like peeling, seeding and grating the cuke). You will not be dissapointed. Thx. for saving me the post!