A good use for large cucumbers
At Wades Mill in Raphine, I watched George Huger, chef and owner of The Southern Inn, turn some oversize cucumbers into a smooth, refreshing summer soup. George, a wonderful teacher, peeled a dozen or so cucumbers, seeded them, and whirled them with a plunge mixer, along with a huge pile of cleaned and torn dill weed. He added sour cream in huge dollops and a little buttermilk to thin it enough to serve in soup bowls, a creamy, tangy soup. I had two bowls of it out on the front lawn and would have had more if there hadn’t been many courses to come. The dill is important, George said — he used a huge clamshell package of it — and so is taking out the seeds. Cucumber seeds are suspended in a watery gel that will make your soup thin if it all gets whirled in with the firmer flesh. We also had pate, crabcakes, roasted corn and tomato relish, cracked wheat salad and a gorgeous shortcake, the last two made under the direction of Georgie Young, the innkeeper’s wife, out of grains from the mill.
I used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, and fat-free buttermilk, the only kind I could find in the store. My soup was okay, but not as good as George’s. A chef told me that a little fat is important in any kind of emulsified mixture, for complicated chemical reasons as well as for flavor. I tried again, adding a little garlic. I used my food processor for the cucumbers and added mostly Greek yogurt, with a little regular buttermilk near the end. Much better.
It’s a special occasion when Chef Huger comes to Wades Mill, but the other cooking classes there are pretty special, too. Saturday’s class will use food from the Staunton farmers market and the Young’s Raphine garden.
For those who need a recipe:
(This soup, minus the dill, and with no buttermilk to thin it, makes the refreshing raita that accompanies Indian curries)
Chilled Cucumber Soup
4 cucumbers
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 cup snipped fresh dill
1 quart Greek yogurt
Salt and pepper to taste
Dill springs
Buttermilk to thin
Peel cucumbers, cut in half, scoop out seeds and cut in chunks. With motor running, drop the garlic down the feed tube and process until finely chopped. It will tend to stick to the sides — just stop the food processor and push it back down to the blade. Add cucumbers and process with short pulses until they are very finely chopped but not pureed. Put in a b owl, add yogurt and dill, thin to taste with buttermilk, season with salt and pepper and chill.
