Sasha's Kitchen: Cool Cucumber Mint Soup

It has been so unbearably hot in New York that, upon my return from a nice weekend up on Lake Champlain in Vermont, I decided that I couldn't bear to cook any hot food.  I decided that some cool summer salads and soups were in order.  My plans for this work week include two summer soups, both of which are easy to make.  I am making gazpacho with locally grown, farmers' market tomatoes later this week, but I decided last night to make a cool cucumber soup.  And what flavor is better to complement the cool summer flavor of the cucumber than mint?  Actually, I think a cucumber-watermelon soup would be a fantastic variation as well for the summer, so I will have to try that soon.

On my way home from work, I bought four cucumbers at the Union Square Greenmarket, a great farmers' market in NYC. I decided that the soup would be a cold soup that would incorporate mint as the primary secondary flavor and would use Stonyfield Farms nonfat yogurt.

Sasha's Summer Cucumber Mint Soup (four servings)
4 large cucumbers
1 pint of Stonyfield Farms fat free plain yogurt
2/3 or a quart of lowfat buttermilk
1 cup of mint - pureed and shredded in a food processor
2 T of diced fresh dill
cumin, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste (note: this is not spicy at all - the cayenne in a small amount just helps to balance the flavors)
pomegranate seeds to serve (optional)

To prepare the soup, peel the cucumbers and halve them.  Remove the seeds and season with a bit of salt.  Allow to sit for a few minutes.  Then dice the cucumbers. Puree the cucumbers with the buttermilk and the yogurt in a blender.  You may have to do this in batches like I did if your blender can't hold it all at once.  Season with cumin, pepper and cayenne to taste.  I served with some fresh pomegranate seeds.

Sasha's Kitchen: Cool Cucumber Mint Soup

Sasha's Kitchen: Creme De Menthe Chocolate Chip Shamrock Cupcakes

Many of my readers have probably figured out that I enjoy making cupcakes for just about any occasion.  So, even though I don't have a drop of Irish blood, I would be remiss if I didn't prepare a cupcake for St. Patrick's Day.  I love festive, bright colors, so it was natural for me to consider that the cupcakes would need to be some shade of green.  Rather than peppermint extract, which I felt would be too powerful of a flavor for cupcakes, I decided to use creme de menthe liquor to flavor the cupcakes.  You can buy creme de menthe liquor in a lovely shade of shamrock green, which provides both flavor and color to the cupcakes.  I also incorporated chocolate chips, to add chocolate flavor as well, which mixes nicely with the mint.  The end result tastes like a cupcake version of mint chocolate chip ice cream.  I enjoyed making these, and they were actually not too complicated to make.

I'm a planner so it might not surprise you to know that I have already thought about my cupcake recipes and designs for the next couple of weeks.   I do sometimes cook on the fly, but 85% of my meals are those that I meticulously plan in advance of my weekly Sunday grocery shopping so I don't have to think about it during the week.  I'm also not so great at keeping secrets so I'm spilling my upcoming cupcake plans: pug puppy cupcakes (in honor of my pug's upcoming birthday), coconut cupcakes and s'mores cupcakes . . . So stay tuned.  It make take me a month or so to get through all those flavors with the holiday of Passover approaching soon.

Creme De Menthe Chocolate Chip Shamrock Cupcakes 

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

2 large eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup green creme de menthe

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Sasha's Creme De Menthe Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick of butter

2 cups confectioner's sugar

8 oz cream cheese

1 T creme de menthe

drop of green food coloring

To prepare the cupcakes, mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.  In a stand mixer, beat together the eggs, sugar butter until smooth.  Beat in the dry ingredients alternating with the creme de menthe and milk. Next, mix the chips in a bowl with a teaspoon of flour.  I have learned that if you mix the chips with flour first, they won't sink to the bottom of the cupcakes like they otherwise would.  This is one of my "baking secrets" that I picked up from a cupcake-baking friend.  Mix in the flour coated chocolate chips.  

Spoon the batter into 12 cupcake liners in your silicon baking tray.  Bake for about 30 minutes in an oven preheated to 350 degrees.  It may take a bit longer depending on your oven.  My cupcakes came out after about 35 minutes.  To test if they are done, stick in a toothpick and when it comes out clean the cupcakes are ready to come out.  You don't want the cupcakes to brown, so if that starts happening, it is certainly time to remove them from the oven.

To make the frosting, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth.  Add confectioners sugar until a frosting is formed.  Beat in the creme de menthe and food coloring.  The end result is a basic cream cheese frosting that has a subtle creme de menthe flavor.  I made the little shamrocks using marzipan that I mixed with a drop of green food coloring in my kitchenaid mixer.  The cupcakes are the same pretty color of mint green as my mixer.

Sasha's Kitchen: Creme De Menthe Chocolate Chip Shamrock Cupcakes