Thursday, July 20, 2006

Indulgence

Somedays, you (or rather I ) just need to indulge. I took advantage of my extra time yesterday to prepare a dinner that required a little more work than I might usually be willing to put in. We are also on the tip of a "heatwave" here, so I picked a no cook starter.


Avocado and Cucumber Soup
1 avocado
1/2 long english cucumber
1/4 teaspoon crushed garlic
apple cider vinegar, to taste
1/4 cup plain yoghurt
water
salt & pepper
Dice avocado and cucumber. Reserve a tablespoon of each and put the remaining in a blender with the garlic. Blend, adding water as needed until desired thickness is reached. Season with salt & pepper, stir in yogurt and vinegar to taste. Place reserved avocad and cucumber in two bowls. Ladle soup over top and finish with yoghurt.

For the second course, I prepared a gratin of fingerling potatoes, milk-braised leeks and Chateau de Borgogne cheese which is basically a triple creme brie that has been aged slightly. The result was overwhelming decadence and I kept it simple by serving a roasted chicken breast with sundried tomato jus alongside.

I also managed to squeeze some painting time in and that felt so good. It has been a long time since I put brush to canvas.

4 comments:

wheresmymind said...

Man...why aren't you my neighbor? I'd so be over mooching dinners off you ;)

Lisa said...

You're out of control! Everything looks fabulous. Nice to have enough time to really play, isn't it.

Anonymous said...

That soup looks soooo cooling!!

Dumpling-girl said...

Wow, that gratin sounds amazing. I might give that soup a try. I've never really made cold soups before, but maybe it's finally getting hot enough out for me to give it a go.