How I Spent My Summer Vacation & Learned to Love Chilled Soups

Almond soup with green grapes by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Because my girls, ages 4 and 11, drive me crazy while we’re packing for a vacation, my husband and I have learned to pack on the sly and not reveal any plans until we are in the car. We tried this first a couple years ago for a trip to Disney World. We had crossed the Georgia-Florida line before they figured out where we were headed. I got away with the deceit again this year, with the girls having no idea we were leaving until the Saturday morning in June when we woke them up at 5 a.m., told them to get dressed and grab their loveys and blankies and pillows. We pointed the loaded-up minivan east on I-20 and evaded all questions regarding “where are we going?” and “when are we going to be there?”

When the signs outside of Columbia, South Carolina, started mentioning Charleston, my older daughter, Laura, dialed a clue. “Charleston, yay! I want to go to the beach!” My husband and I exchanged glances, but didn’t reveal the true vacation plans. Once in Charleston, we parked the minivan and ate at our favorite hometown restaurant, Jestine’s, home of some dandy fried chicken for me and crab cakes for my husband.



Jestine's Kitchen in Charleston, South CArolina by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books



Back in the car, we eased onto East Bay Street and Laura started looking for the hotel, which if you know Charleston, is kind of funny, because there are charming little inns on East Bay, but not the big kind of kid-friendly hotel with a beach Laura was thinking about. Down on East Bay, you can see the Carnival Fantasy cruise ship as it prepares for weekly Caribbean runs - I think it’s high time that Charleston is a cruise ship port - we all need another reason to visit and eat in this charming city.

We pointed out the ship to the girls and they noticed the show-off red and blue whale-tail /smokestack and the waterslide on the upper deck. “Doesn’t that look like fun,” we asked. “But where’s the hotel?” Laura replied. “Where’s the beach? C’mon, guys, where are we going?” It wasn’t until we pulled into the “Cruise Traffic” lane that Laura finally understood “We’re going on the boat!”

There are only a few subjects more tiresome than listening to a post-mortem on someone else’s vacation (childbirth stories and the play-by-play for little Janey’s soccer match spring to mind.), so I’ll mention just say that I was kind of cranky when I boarded the boat. Maybe my blood sugar was low - the sweet tea boost from Jestine’s had worn off by late afternoon. My mood dramatically improved once I was fed. I’m easy - just give me starched linens, fresh-faced waiters and a menu without chicken fingers and hot dogs, and I’m content. With the ship pointed south towards the Caribbean, the menu included warm-weather selections such as cold soups. Gazpacho the first night was low-calorie, tart and satisfying. Laura chose the Orange Sory, which I’ve come to believe is just melted orange sherbet garnished with tapioca pearls. Naturally, it’s one of the best things she’s ever eaten. The next night, she chose strawberry bisque, which was like a grown-up smoothie - sweet and pink and creamy. The service for the chilled soup is part of the magic - a soup plate with a garnish in the center placed in front of the diner, then the waiter reaches over with a small pitcher of soup and pours into the plate, from 10 o’clock to 10 o’clock.

Since our return home, we've experimented with cold soups - I made chilled cherry soup, thickened with a cornstarch slurry. I have plans for a cantaloupe soup once the melons become stinky-ripe, just crying out for a blitz with lime and honey and a dash of chile pepper.

Chilled almond soup with green grapes by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

The sweet soups are nice as a dessert course or a special treat for the girls, but for a starter, I like a savory chilled soup along the lines of almond soup. Sometimes called ajo blanco or white gazpacho, it’s simple and tasty, and no less kid-pleasing - Laura gobbled this serving down as soon as the picture was made. The traditional almond soup uses garlic, but I prefer the refreshing bite of shallots instead. This is light, unusual, vegan, satisfying.

Chilled Almond Soup

I use homemade vegetable broth, a snap to make and useful to have on hand.

Serves 2 soup bowls or 4 demitasse cups (very civilized)

¾ cup almonds, blanched preferred, but whole with skins ok

1 shallot

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

¼ cup fresh bread crumbs

2 cups cold vegetable broth

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

Sliced almonds or green grapes for garnish

1. Toast the almonds in a skillet for a few minutes, remove from heat and let cool.

2. In a food processor, puree shallot, then add toasted almonds. Blitz until finely ground. Add olive oil and bread crumbs and process until combined. With the motor running, slowly pour in vegetable broth through the feed tube. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Finish with sherry vinegar.

3. Strain and serve in rimmed soup plates or demitasse cups.

I’ll end with a kid-pleasing cruise ship gimmick - towels folded into animal shapes. Each night, we returned to the cabin to find out what the cabin steward Igusti would create next: There were lobsters, manatees, crabs, swans, pigs and this. Dog or rabbit, you decide.

Towel origami by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Text and images © 2010, Lucy Mercer.

<script type="text/javascript">
  var _gaq = _gaq || [];
  _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-21764820-1']);
  _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
  (function() {
    var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
    ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
    var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
  })();
</script>

A Cherry Jubilee

A bowl of cherries by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

We’re told to eat fresh and eat local and some days, that’s really easy. Squash, greens and watermelon are plentiful at local markets. But imagine the things you couldn’t live without, the good fruits and vegetables that don't grow in your climate. For my husband, if we ate local every day, every week of the year, the thing he would miss most would be cherries.

My sweet husband is from Macon, Georgia, known for its cherry trees, some 300,000 trees, that turn the streets to pink every spring. But as spectacular as the trees are to view, they are just the ornamental variety, the Yoshino. We have a few of the trees in our yard, and they are glorious to view, but sadly, not fruit-bearing.

I grew up in peach country, and the only cherries I remember from my red clay South Carolina girlhood are Luden’s Wild Cherry Cough Drops and the cherry on the top of the ice cream sundae from the Little Moo Dairy Barn. These days, eating cherries every May and June when they come into the markets here from Michigan and the Pacific Northwest, is a ritual. I remember in particular an abundant spring a few years ago when the cherries were 99 cents a pound and we loaded up at the store and ate cherries by the handful, like giddy sub-prime mortgage lenders before the bust.
We still eat cherries out of hand, but have a few recipes that showcase their sweetness and substantial texture. For convenience sake, I usually buy frozen, (which can be as expensive as fresh). Here are a couple of recipes, one using fresh and the other frozen.

The cherry focaccia is an adaptation from "Focaccia" by Carol Field. I substituted fresh sweet cherries for the wine grapes in the Schiacciata Bursting with Grapes recipe. Warm from the oven, it makes an indulgent breakfast or rustic dessert.
The cherry soup is appropriate for a first course or dessert, or in my house, breakfast. Chilled fruit soups are great kid-pleasers. Make a big deal out of a rimmed soup plate and real soup spoon and let the kids play little lord and lady with this absolutely yummy soup.

Chilled cherry soup by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Chilled Cherry SoupAdapted from The Gourmet Cookbook

3 cups plus 2 tablespoons cold water
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 lb. dark sweet pitted cherries (I used frozen)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons sour cream
1 ½ tablespoons heavy cream

1. Combine 3 cups water, sugar, zest and cinnamon in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve sugar and boil for two minutes. Add cherries, return to a boil and boil for two more minutes.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons water and 2 tablespoons cornstarch, then whisk into boiling cherry mixture. Simmer, whisking all the while, until slightly thickened, about two minutes. Remove from heat, cool completely, then refrigerate for at least two hours. (I like a smooth texture with this soup, so I pureed the fruit and strained out the pulp before serving.)

3. Just before serving, thin sour cream with cream. Pour soup into bowls and drizzle with cream.

Cherry Bread by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Cherry FocacciaAdapted from Focaccia by Carol Field

Sponge
2 teaspoons instant yeast (or active dry)
¼ cup sugar
1 cup warm water
1 cup plus two teaspoons unbleached all-purpose flour

Dough
3 tablespoons apple juice (or water)
3 tablespoons warm water
2 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into eight pieces

Topping
2 cups fresh cherries, pitted and halved
Demerara sugar

1. To make the sponge: Whisk the yeast and sugar into the warm water in a large bowl and let stand until frothy, about 10 minutes. Gradually stir in flour, cover tightly with plastic wrap and let stand until doubled, about 30 to 45 minutes.

2. To make the dough: Either by hand or with an electric mixer, add the apple juice, water and salt to the sponge. Gradually add flour. Beat in the butter one piece at a time until fully incorporated. Knead by hand for about five minutes or with a mixer for three. The dough should be smooth, stretchy and elastic.

3. First rise: Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes.

4. Second rise: Divide the dough into four equal pieces and roll each into a ball. Place on a lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for one hour. About a half hour before baking time, place a baking stone in your oven and preheat the oven to 425°.

5. Lightly oil two 10-inch metal pie pans or springform pans. Take one round of dough and flatten it so that it fills the bottom of the pan. Cover with a ½ cup of halved cherries and sprinkle with a tablespoon of demerara sugar. Flatten and stretch a second dough ball and cover the cherry layer. Pinch the edges to seal. Cover with a layer of cherries and a final sprinkle of sugar. Make a second bread with remaining dough and cherries.

6. Place the baking pans on the baking stone in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 375° and bake until the top is golden brown, another 18 to 25 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack, but not too much, this is divine when warm. Leftovers should be wrapped tightly and stored in refrigerator.



Cherry Bread by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books



Text & Images © 2010, Lucy Mercer.

Cherry soup recipe adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook, © 2004.
Cherry focaccia recipe adapted from Focaccia by Carol Field © 1994.