Chilled Cucumber Soup with Avocado Toast

 Full credit goes to Melissa Clark (New York Times) - Serves 4

This chilled soup will delight your diners on a hot summer day. The flavor pallet is quite intriguing and may need some personal tweaking to suit your tastes. Experiment and enjoy!

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb cucumbers, peeled, halved lengthwise and seeded
• 2 cups buttermilk (or use 1½ cups plain yogurt plus ¼ cup water)
• 1 large clove garlic - smash minced
• 2 anchovy fillets (optional - leave out for vegetarian)
• 2 small whole scallions - trimmed
• ½ jalapeño - seeded, deveined and chopped
• ½ cup packed mixed fresh herbs (like mint, parsley, dill, tarragon, basil and cilantro)
• ½ tsp sherry or white wine vinegar - more to taste
• ¾ tsp kosher sea salt - plus more to taste
• 4 slices baguette or other bread - toasted
• 1 avocado - pitted, peeled and thinly sliced
• ½ lemon
• 2 tbsp crumbled feta cheese
• Extra-virgin olive oil - for serving
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 ear of corn - shucked, kernels sliced off
• Fresh dill for serving

Preparation:

In the bowl of a blender or food processor, combine cucumber, buttermilk, garlic, anchovy, scallions, jalapeño, fresh herbs, sherry vinegar and salt. Blend until smooth and adjust seasoning as needed.

Smash avocado slices and spread on the toasted bread. Sprinkle with crumbled feta, squeeze the juice of the lemon half over the top and finish each with a drizzle of olive oil and some pepper. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Distribute soup between 4 bowls and garnish with raw corn kernels and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Serve avocado toast on the side.

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Sylvan Run Chowder - Signature Collection

This elaborate and very tasty chowder was created at our place upstate New York during the pandemic lockdown in 2020. My kitchen became my safe space once we realized how deadly the virus was becoming. I was very fortunate to be able to escape the insane death toll in the New York metropolitan area, and I kept my sanity during all the madness with help from my forest, my kitchen and my One. This chowder is something good that came out of the 2020 lockdown, and it is my gift to you today. 

Don't freak when you read the ingredients list.... even diabetics have to live a little sometimes! :-)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb sliced bacon
• 1 tbsp salted butter
• 2 yellow onions, chopped
• 2 cups regular chicken stock
• 8 oz clam juice
• 3/4 lb of your favorite potato cut to bite size cubes
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1+1/4 tsp salt
• 2 cups frozen corn kernels
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1.5 lbs cod or pollock cut to 1" chunks - the best can be found at Wild Alaskan Company
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1/3 cup chopped basil
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 loaf good Italian bread (optional)

Preparation:

In a large pot, cook the bacon until crisp. Drain the bacon on paper towels and crumble when cooled.

Add the butter and onions to the pot. Cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the stock, clam juice, potatoes, celery, red-pepper flakes, and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.

Return the bacon to the pot. Add the corn, tomatoes, basil, milk and cream and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the cod and black pepper. Bring back to a simmer and cook until just done, about 3-4 minutes longer.

The juice from the tomatoes will make this more of a soup than a chowder, so make a little roux to thicken the broth if you like.

For a fun addition to this already great chowder, consider making some crostini!

Crostini:

Cut loaf into 1/4” slices on an angle so they’re larger than loaf diameter and also prettier.

Brush both sides of each slice with olive oil and arrange on baking tray. It’s ok if they touch each other.

Bake at 375 degrees for 6-7 minutes or until tops just start to brown. The bottom side will be more toasted so JUST browned tops is when you want to take them out.

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Avgolemono Seafood Stew

This soup comes in many different combinations, but the basis for the soup is a Greek origin Avgolemono, which, in a nutshell, is a soup or sauce made with chicken stock, lemon and eggs. Today I am sharing with you a seafood version of this bright and creamy, flavorful soup, adapted from an original recipe found in one of my foodie groups to be more diabetic friendly. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 18 oz Wild Alaskan Company pollock bites - cod filets cut to bite size work well also
• 3/4 lb shrimp – cleaned and deveined, tail off - medium to large - cut to bite size as needed
• 6 slices bacon – fried crispy, cooled and crumbled
• 1/8 tsp Old Bay seasoning
• 1 tbsp salted butter
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• Salt & cayenne pepper (optional) to taste
• 2 eggs
• Juice of one lemon
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1 1/2 cups cooked barley - quick version is fine
• 1 cup zucchini – chopped
• 5 cloves garlic – cut in quarters

Preparation:

Fry bacon to a good crisp, allow to cool, crumble and set aside.

Cut shrimp to bite size if needed. Toss with Old Bay and set aside.

Cook barley and set aside. Cut up zucchini and set aside.

In large pan, whisk eggs, add broth and lemon juice, ~1 tsp salt and a pinch of cayenne pepper (optional). Whisk constantly over medium high heat till frothy and comes to a bubble… set aside.

In a saute pan, over medium heat melt butter in evoo and add the garlic. Fry garlic till brown and soft. Remove garlic pieces and discard. 

Raise heat to medium high and add fish and shrimp. Taste and add S & P to taste. Cook about one minute with a good toss. Fish will be half done. Add broth to shrimp & fish.

Heat the combined broth & protein over medium high heat adding barley and your vegetable of choice. Stirring occasionally, bring to a subtle boil. Cover. Turn the heat off and let set about 5 minutes.

Taste for seasoning. Give another stir before serving. Top individual servings with crumbled bacon and enjoy!

Blessed be… and happy cooking!

Fish Soup & Crostini

This fish soup is the precursor to what eventually became my more lavish Sylvan Run Chowder. It may seem simple at first glance, but the flavors are definitely there and can provide a nice base for you to explore some of your own ideas on how to tweak this basic recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium yellow onions chopped
• 4 stalks celery chopped
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 4 small red potatoes cubed
• 2 cups clam juice
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 24 ounces cod or similar white fish, defrosted and cut into 2" chunks
• 1 pint half and half
• Handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 loaf good Italian bread and some good olive oil, extra virgin if that’s your thing

Preparation:

Saute onions in 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt, 5 minutes over medium heat. Add celery and another pinch salt and saute a few minutes more. Raise heat and add wine, allow to reduce by half.

Add potatoes, clam juice, and spices. If potatoes are not covered by liquid, add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cook with lid on until potatoes are just tender, 10-15 minutes.

Heat half and half in a small saucepan over low heat - do not allow to boil. Add fish to pot with potatoes and pour over hot half and half and stir gently. Cook on low heat uncovered just until fish is cooked through, about 8-10 minutes.

Keep the heat low enough so that the broth is just barely steaming, do not allow to boil or it could curdle. Remove bay leaf, add fresh parsley, and turn off heat. Allow to rest for 15-20 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Reheat gently if necessary. Makes about 4 servings.

Crostini:

Cut loaf into 1/4” slices on an angle so they’re larger than loaf diameter and also prettier.

Brush both sides of each slice with olive oil and arrange on baking tray. It’s ok if they touch each other.

Bake at 375 degrees for 6-7 minutes or until tops just start to brown. The bottom side will be more toasted so JUST browned tops is when you want to take them out.

Blessed be... and happy cooking!