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We all know how to prepare cucumbers. When our organic garden starts producing lots of them we put them in salads, we prepare pickles, we make relish, we eat them raw, we have cucumber sandwiches and we start to give them away to anyone who will take a few off our hands.
However, have you ever made soup with them? No! Why not? You can eat it hot or cold and either way it has the most delicate of flavor.
I used to serve this at our restaurant on the river at Laurel Creek Lodge when we owned it. It was quite a hit, especially to the Appalachian hikers coming off the trail to stay in our hostels.
Cucumbers are mostly water and their nutritional value includes sodium, iron, Vitamins A and C, plus Calcium which was all things these hikers needed after spending 3 to 6 months on the Appalachian Trail eating mostly trail food.
Arlene’s Elegant Cucumber and Tarragon Soup.
This soup serves 8, but you can halve it easily to serve 4 or you can serve half of it hot one meal and 24 hours later serve the other half chilled at another meal.
Using vegetable stock when I have it or water when I do not, I put 9 cups of either into a large sauce pan adding 2 peeled and chopped large cucumbers, 2 medium sized onion chopped, 2 cloves of peeled garlic and 8 to 10 sprigs of fresh tarragon. I bring this all to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes and once the cucumbers are tender, I remove the pan from heat, allow cooling slightly and then carefully pouring this warm mixture into my blender or food processor. I now puree it all and then pour it back into my saucepan and bring back to a boil and then let stay warm over medium to low heat.
Taking a small bowl I mix 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/3 cup of light cream until smooth. Now I add 1 cup of light cream to this mixture and gently pour into the soup, stirring constantly over medium heat until the soup thickens.
Now I add about 8 springs of chopped fresh tarragon, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, some freshly grated nutmeg, a pinch of salt and some freshly ground pepper stir gently.
I serve this immediately if I am serving it hot and any I am serving chilled I transfer to a bowl and store covered in my refrigerator.
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Author Bio Box: Arlene Wright Correll
 For more gardening or cooking information click http://www.learn-america.com/
To see Arlene’s Gardens and to read her gardening diaries and to take a walk through her pictorial garden or click on Arlene’s Books where you can download or buy her gardening & cook books, including her new book, “The ABC’s of Wine and Beer Making”. Many of her articles written for Greenthumbarticles have paintings she has created of the subject and they can be seen at her “How to Do It” site. Remember to check out her artwork, especially of her fruits and vegetables. Arlene says, “All my royalties from the sale of my books go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and I thank you for visiting my site.”
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