Manolo for the Big Girl Fashion, Lifestyle, and Humor for the Plus Sized Woman.

September 27, 2009

Great. Now I Need a New Lifetime Mission

Filed under: Food — Twistie @ 8:30 am

Last sunday, Mr. Twistie and I went on a tiny adventure. We do this periodically. We get in the car, choose a general direction, and see what there is to see that way. We poke around funky junk shops, discover little restaurants, visit tiny museums we’d never heard of, and generally delight in the whimsy of the experience.

Did I mention restaurants? You see, last Sunday we found one in Larkspur that we’ll definitely be visiting again. While eating there, I found my mission in life. Allow me to explain that one.

When the waitress came to take our order, she mentioned that the soup of the day was a cold cucumber yogurt soup. As it happens, Mr. Twistie and I are both quite fond of a good cucumber, as well as being big soup fans. The day was also much hotter than we like it to be. We are both firmly of the opinion that triple digits in the Fahrenheit are for oven settings, not weather. We eagerly demanded cucumber soup.

My friends, this was like no cucumber soup I had ever eaten in a long life of savoring cucumber soup. Most cucumber soups taste some of cucumber and some of yogurt with a significant dose of whatever sort of stock was used, be it chicken or vegetable. Yummy, sure. I’ve always loved it.

In this one, however, I couldn’t taste any stock. I couldn’t even taste the yogurt, even though I’d been assured it was there. What did I taste? A creamy, liquid version of a really great dill pickle, finished with a burst of fresh cucumber at the end of the bite.

My senses went crazy. I nearly canceled my order for the main dish and demanded a washtub of this fabulous soup. Mr. Twistie was equally astonished and delighted by the soup. We raved. I announced that it would be my mission in whatever time fate has allotted me to do my best to recreate that soup.

That was when our waitress offered to get the recipe from the chef. I fell on her (verbally, not physically) with adoration and gratitude. She came back a couple minutes later with an extremely vague outline of the process sans any measurements or mention of yogurt. Still, I had the start of a roadmap.

The very next day I went out and got cucumbers, fresh dill weed, and some yogurt. I knew there was some in there somewhere, and I thought it prudent to assume that the instructions concerning it had been omitted.

I had no idea that achieving a life goal could be so easy. I got it on the first try. I’ve now been making it all week long, and here’s the secret: this recipe lives and dies by the quality of the cukes. Do not attempt it with shabby cucumbers that are about to give up the ghost. Get the best ones you can find.

Want the recipe? I thought you’d never ask. Here it is:

Dill Pickle Soup

For each serving you will need:

1 medium cucumber, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 heaping Tablespoon of plain yogurt

salt, pepper, and fresh dill weed to taste.

Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor or a blender. Process until the cucumber is liquidated and the mixture is frothy. Serve ice cold.

For my next trick, I’m going to play a bit with the seasoning. I like my pickles garlicky with a hint of lemon. I bet that will be spectacular in the soup, too.

My one question is what the heck to do with the rest of my life.

Guess I’d better go back and try another great dish at that restaurant.

8 Comments

  1. Sounds almost like tzatziki with the proportion of yogurt to cucumber inverted. Which is to say, delicious.

    Comment by Tiff — September 27, 2009 @ 11:28 am

  2. It’s beyond delicious and ridiculously simple. Give it a go! You’ll never regret it.

    Comment by Twistie — September 27, 2009 @ 12:11 pm

  3. Oh, that sounds great and easy. As a grad student I love making a weeks worth of soup and just having that- the most glorious gazpacho in the summer, french onion in winter… This will be added to the list, for sure!

    Comment by Genevieve — September 27, 2009 @ 12:17 pm

  4. Thanks for the soup recipe. It sounds delcious and we can’t wait to give it a try. Making it for the week seems like a great time investment:-)

    Comment by RestaurantZoom — September 27, 2009 @ 3:43 pm

  5. So where in Larkspur is this wonderful place? I’m curious if it is the same little restaurant that has the best hamburger ever (according to my mother.)

    Comment by AmazonPrincess — September 27, 2009 @ 4:25 pm

  6. off topic, but what’s going on with Basement of the Bargains? It hasn’t had a new post in months…I miss it.

    Comment by Jewels — September 27, 2009 @ 5:43 pm

  7. For God’s sake, woman, what is the name of the restaurant? (Larkspur is a bit of a haul from San Mateo, but I’ll cover the distance for exceptional food. And I don’t even like cucumbers.)

    Comment by daisyj — September 27, 2009 @ 8:30 pm

  8. Sorry I didn’t post info on the restaurant yesterday. I meant to link the website, but entirely failed to do so and then went on another road trip with Mr. Twistie. It’s called Left Bank Brasserie. Check out the site at http://www.leftbank.com

    @Jewels, alas! the Basement is on hiatus for the time being. I miss it, too.

    Comment by Twistie — September 28, 2009 @ 11:52 am

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