aj12754's Reviews
5 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 5Sort by: Title 
| Date | Rating
Cold Soups
By Linda Ziedrich
Harvard Common Press - 1995
Blackberry Soup : page 99
This soup was probably the most successful result of our day-long Team AJ/Soupereasy chilled soup project.
We both really enjoyed this spiced soup (blackberries simmered in water with a cinnamon stick, a clove, lemon slices, and some sugar). The mixture is then put through a food mill or a fine mesh strainer and thoroughly chilled (as with all the soups in this book, it is best to make this many hours or even the day before serving).
The recipe then calls for adding a mix of buttermilk and sour cream and here's where we parted ways with the recipe. It called for 1.5 cups of sour cream and .5 cups of buttermilk. Neither of us wanted to go there since we really liked the spiced soup just as it was. Both elements would have added tanginess so we started by just adding the buttermilk as the healthier option. And very nice it was. Then we add some of the sour cream and really didn't think it added all that much to what was already a really tasty soup.
What we might do instead is just add a small dollop of the sour cream at the time of serving with maybe a thin half-slice of lemon, grated lemon zest, or possibly a small amount of chopped candied lemon peel on top.
The soup itself -- without the buttermilk/sour cream elements -- would be a nice topping for a pound cake or ice cream.
7/8 -- served with vanilla ice cream and fresh blackberries for an al fresco dinner party and all agreed that this was just a delicious summer dessert.
Leftovers -- combined with some buttermilk -- made a lovely smoothie for breakfast the next day.
useful (0)
Clam Broth with Cream : page 66
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this very simple soup. It is just a combination of bottled clam juice and half and half in a 2/1 ratio that is then thoroughly chilled. I would suggest making it many hours or even the day before serving. At the time of serving you add Tabasco to taste and white pepper. We added some snipped chives for color and were happy with the result.
A nice appetizer soup for clam lovers in the summer. For a more substantive version, it would be nice to add minced clams.
Part of the Team AJ/Soupereasy chilled soup project.
useful (0)
Creamy Corn Soup : page 83
This soup was the least successful part of the Team AJ/Soupereasy chilled soup project, requiring quite a bit of tweaking to be palatable in our view. The recipe as written resulted in an overwhelmingly sweet and under-seasoned soup. Our tweaks and the rationale for them are as follows:
1) The corn is initially simmered in water and then pureed in a food processor or blender. To up the savory quotient we would simmer in chicken stock instead. The recipe then called for putting the pureed soup through a food mill.
2) Sauteed onion is added to the soup at that point and then the soup returns to the blender or food processor, along with 1 tsp. of salt and a cup of sour cream. We found this to be much too little salt and much more sour cream than we wanted or needed. Next time we would just add a dollop of sour cream to each individual portion. We ended up thinning the soup with chicken stock as a result.
3) The recipe calls for serving the soup with some chopped roasted red pepper and a healthy amount of cilantro. Even so, we found the soup very bland and very sweet. We added about a tsp. of sriracha and a hefty amount of salt. It was better but this soup was still too sweet for both of us, although it grew on me after I added an ice cube to chill it way down.
I would not make this soup again ... but I am on the lookout for other versions of chilled corn soup.
useful (0)
Creamy Cucumber Soup : page 65
This soup was an exceptionally nice form of culinary consolation after the disappointment of last week's AJ/Soupereasy fougasse project.
This chilled soup was very refreshing on a warm, humid day and very easy to pull together, sauteed onion to which cucumbers and chicken stock are added, brought to a boil and simmered for 5 minutes. The soup is then pureed with sour cream and salt and then chilled. Before serving, add chopped dill to taste.
We found the soup under-seasoned as the recipe was written and Soupereasy added pinches of nutmeg and cayenne, as well as a spritz of lemon juice, to good effect.
useful (2)
Sweet Red Pepper Soup : page 76
Soupereasy and I made this soup as part of a day-long project on cold soups.
We found that this soup needed quite a bit of tweaking to appeal to our taste.
1) we used at least double the amount of roasted red pepper in the pureed soup. We got a very mild red pepper flavor using only the 2/3 cup the recipe calls for.
2) the recipe called for 2 garlic cloves -- which seemed a bit overwhelming although my garlic also seemed a tad bitter so this may not be the fault of the recipe.
3) At the time of serving, the recipe has you add long thin strips of roasted red pepper -- which seemed odd -- and potentially messy eating -- for a soup meant to be either consumed with a spoon or sipped. So we diced the red pepper instead.
4) the recipe calls for a 1/4 cup of half and half to "smooth" the flavors. The author mentions that her husband prefers the soup without this and I tend to agree with him. But a small dollop of sour cream at the time of serving sounds good to me and would add visual appeal.
5) The recipe calls for no salt and you may find that you want some.
The recipe says to serve garnished with mint, savory or oregano (we used the latter).
I'd like to play with this recipe a bit -- maybe adding a bit of sauteed onion and garlic, rather than using raw chopped garlic. I'd also like to try this with a mixed herb combo of basil, thyme, and parsley.
useful (0)