This is one of those soups that is great served in a punch bowl with lots of garnishes, similar to a good gazpacho. It was a BIG thing in the 70's and yet now seems to have been lost...time to re do this tradition!
Avocados are available all year round but the best ones are out every 6 months, Dec-Jan and June-July.
It is also no accident that their seasons in California are also the same as our great citrus.
This basic recipe has many spin offs as you will see.
Chose hard/firm avocados at the market and let them ripen in your home, as they become soft to the GENTLE touch,(only grip gently as they bruise very easy when ripening) store in the fridge until all are ripe.
Ripe avocados will be fine, stored for over a week in a fridge in lower drawers.
The key to this soup is also to have a good, well seasoned, vegetable stock.
Serves 4-6
3 avocados (2 cups flesh)
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock (cold)
1 1/2 cups single/whipping/pouring cream
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
Hot sauce (optional) to taste
3 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp lemon zest (optional)
Peel and seed the avocados and blend the flesh with the stock until smooth.
Stir in the cream and seasonings.
Chill thoroughly (4-6 hours)
Stir in the lemon juice and serve in chilled bowls
Variations:
1) Avocado soup with garlic
Add 3 cloves raw or roasted garlic and juice and zest of 1 lime and blend well before chilling.
2) Avocado soup with spinach or watercress
add 1 1/2 cups wilted spinach OR 2 cups watercress sprigs
dash ground cayenne, blend with the avocados before chilling.
3) "Ponderosa" Soup
Blend with the avocados and broth 1 1/2 cups peeled and seeded cucumbers,
in place of fresh cream use sour cream and blend this in with the avocados and cucumbers.
Chill them garnish the soup with 1 1/2 cups peeled and diced fresh tomatoes
Garnishes for the soups
Any citrus fruit, wedges slices, or fans.
Salted or minted whipped cream
Sour cream
Fresh mint sprays, dill, parsley or cilantro
Plain, garlic or onion croutons
Chopped, sliced or cubes fresh avocado, drizzled with citrus juice.
Toast points
Any raw or toasted nuts (avoid salted nuts as they will spoil the delicate soup)
Hard boiled eggs, sliced, chopped or 1/4'd
Grated farmer cheese/cottage cheese (drained)
Savory Sticks:
Slices of bread, crusts removed and buttered on both sides.
Sprinkle with any seeds or cheese and roll up
Bake in a 300f oven for 20 mins or until golden brown
Stuffed prunes or dates
Pitted prunes or dates
Soak the fruit for 2 hours in a little warm water then drain well,
Make a small slit down the center of each fruit and pipe in some cream cheese (I like mine mixed with mustard or horseradish sauce)
Place on a lined cookie sheet and bake for 20 mins in 300f oven..serve warm with the chilled soups.
This soup is also great with melted/grilled cheese toast points.
Toast full slices of bread and sprinkle one side with grated cheese.
Broil until the cheese melts then cut into triangles, serve warm or room temp.
The better the bread the more interesting the toast points.
Even raisin bread is great with these soups.
No comments:
Post a Comment