Served Hot or Chilled
Summer is finally here, in reality. Today I took a walk at 9.00pm and it was so hot and humid, the walk wasn’t enjoyable at all. I was sweating profusely. Did someone say the more you sweat the more pounds you lose? Maybe, today, I lost more than a pound.
I love eating cucumbers as a snack or as a salad, usually just with some yoghurt. I also love making cucumber soup, because I can always serve it hot or cold, depending on the temperatures and the desire of my palate.
Today I want to share with you a recipe for cucumber soup. I served mine hot during the rainy days we had this week, with some whole grain bread. You can also serve the soup chilled, as an appetizer or as a side on a hot summer day. I really enjoyed eating this soup, and I hope you do too!
- Ingredients
- 600ml (2⅓ cups milk)
- 2 medium onions, peeled, one finely chopped, one quartered
- 2 fresh bay leaves (I just used dried)
- 1½ large English cucumbers or 2 medium-sized cucumbers, peeled, cut lengthways, de-seeded and chopped.
- 2 stalks celery, washed, trimmed, and sliced thinly
- 75g (⅓ cup, 3oz) butter or margarine, divided into 25g and 50g
- Zest (rind) of 1 lemon and juice of ½ lemon (I used lime)
- 600ml (2⅓ cup) vegetable stock (I used only 500ml, 2 cups, depends on cucumber size)
- 50g (2oz) plain flour
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (I used ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg)
- 150ml (2/3 cup) cream (10-18%) cream, I used 10% cream
Please always remember to assemble all ingredients before you start.
peel cucumber, cut lengthways, de-seed and chop
Pour the milk into a small pan and add the quartered onion and bay leaves to the milk.
Bring milk to just below boiling point and remove from the heat. Cover and infuse for 15 minutes.
Melt 25g of the butter or margarine in a large pan,
add onions, celery and cucumbers,
sauté for 5 minutes until soft,
then add stock, lemon rind (zest) and juice, bring to the boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes until soft. Remove from heat, set aside.
Melt remaining (50g) butter in a small pan.
Stir in the flour
and cook, stirring for 2 minutes.
Remove roux (cooked flour) from heat. Strain the infused milk, then gradually mix into the roux, beating well between each addition.
Return the pan to the heat and cook, stirring throughout, until the sauce is thick, smooth and glossy. Season with salt, pepper and the freshly grated nutmeg.
Add the sauce to the cooked cucumber and blend until smooth. (I made this soup today Oct 1 2016 and the celery I used was really tough so I sieved the soup after blending)
If serving the soup hot, reheat, add cream and continue heating until piping hot, but not boiling. If the soup is to be served cold, cool, stir in cream, chill in the fridge covered for at least 2 hours.
Garnish with a few slices of cucumber. Serve.
This soup was delicious, I ate mine hot.
Cream of Cucumber Soup
Recipe from: Woman’s Own, Soups, Starters and Snacks; Makes: 5 x 250ml cups of soup
Ingredients
- 600ml (2⅓ cups milk)
- 2 medium onions, peeled, one finely chopped, one quartered
- 2 fresh bay leaves (I just used dried)
- 1½ large English cucumbers or 2 medium-sized cucumbers, peeled, cut lengthways, de-seeded and chopped.
- 2 stalks celery, washed, trimmed, and sliced thinly
- 75g (⅓ cup, 3oz) butter or margarine, divided into 25g and 50g
- Zest (rind) of 1 lemon and juice of ½ lemon (I used lime)
- 600ml (2⅓ cup) vegetable stock (I used only 500ml, 2 cups, depends on cucumber size)
- 50g (2oz) plain flour
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (I used ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg)
- 150ml (2/3 cup) cream (10-18%) cream, I used 10% cream
Instructions
- Pour the milk into a small pan and add the quartered onion and bay leaves to the milk. Bring milk to just below boiling point and remove from the heat. Cover and infuse for 15 minutes.
- Melt 25g of the butter or margarine in a large pan, add onions, celery and cucumbers, sauté for 5 minutes until soft, then add stock, lemon rind (zest) and juice, bring to the boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes until soft. Remove from heat, set aside.
- Melt remaining (50g) butter in a small pan. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Strain the infused milk, then gradually mix into the cooked flour (roux), beating well between each addition.
- Return the pan to the heat and cook, stirring throughout, until the sauce is thick, smooth and glossy. Season with salt, pepper and the freshly grated nutmeg.
- Add the sauce to the cooked cucumber and blend until smooth. (I made this soup today, 1 October 2016 and the celery had tough stalks so I sieved the soup after blending)
- If serving the soup hot, reheat it, add the cream and continue heating until piping hot, but not boiling.
- If the soup is to be served cold, cool, stir in cream, chill in the fridge covered for at least 2 hours. Overnight would be excellent.
- Garnish with a few slices of cucumber. Serve.
- Last updated: October 1 2016
My Favourite Pastime 
This recipe sounds lovely! Another “must try” for my list…
Thank you. The soup tastes excellent!
Liz
[…] first posted cucumber soup in July 2013, during summer, because it can be served chilled or hot. It was one of the best soups […]
Thanks to you I know now what to do with all those cucumbers growing in my greenhouse. But what do you think, could it be possible to season this with coriander?
Ha ha I wish you could send me a basket of cucumbers. I love cucumbers and yes it’s possible to season the soup with coriander. I love coriander too. My mum cooked with coriander for so many years, I always enjoy having it in my food. Thanks for visiting and wish you a very pleasant week!!
Wow! Looks great! My daughter loves cucumber and it has been insanely hot in Ottawa too, so I think I’ll try it this weekend.
We love cucumber too, With sandwiches, hamburgers, as a snack or as a soup. The soup tastes delicious, although I prefer my soup hot so I tend to make soups when the weather dips! Today we had a lovely breeze in the evening, even now I’m sitting with my windows open, and the breeze is just drifting through, I just love it!!!
I love cucumbers and use them in smoothies with yogurt and milk. Never thought of making a soup out of these cool fruits!!! I am definitely trying this! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Please try and make this soup. I made it and loved it and it has since become a family favourite. Thanks for visiting my blog and have a wonderful week!!
sharing this recipe with some friends tonight–they are growing cucumbers and were wondering how to make cucumber soup!
`Omg thanks so much for planning to share this tonight. I am keeping my fingers crossed and hope things go as planned, but mostly, I hope you enjoy the soup as I did. Please give feedback if you can and wish you a wonderful weekend!
I loveeeee cucumber, but never thought of making soup with it before. Sounds like a great idea, especially for this insanely hot summer. Thanks for the great recipe Liz 🙂
And it’s easy to make. I loved your roasted carrot soup. I’m gonna give it a go!!! thanks for visiting! Have a pleasant day!
I love cold cucumber soup…
I am just the opposite, I love all my soups hot. It’s really funny how people love different things. Thanks for visiting!!!
Agree Liz. I was in Tanzania on the last day of a 5 week installation job and the bosses wife served chilled tomato soup. I forced it down me and half an hour later I was so sick, they took me to hospital which was an hour before my flight. It transpired a had contracted cerebral malaria and it may have been the chilled s soup that saved my life. However, the experience never left me and I will never touch a chilled soup again. Andy
Hi Andy
Omg celebral Malaria is a killer. I am so glad it was diagnosed in Tanzania before you left. A friend of mine died here in Canada because the symptoms started after she came back from a trip in East Africa, but nobody figured out it was Malaria and by the time they did it was too late. It was such a sad story. At least you’re still alive and well and wincing from the thought of cold cucumber soup. Thank God your life was saved. Have a pleasant weekend, Andy.
Liz
This brings memories from watching a favorite film with our cousins =) thank you for sharing!
Hope they are happy memories. Thanks for visiting!!
I love cucumbers but have never had cucumber soup. Definitely have to try it. I usually prefer soup hot so I will probably wait. The weather is really hot here too and expected to stay that way until the weekend. Going to BBQ a lot! 🙂
Hope you enjoy the BBQ. Cucumber soup is very nice. It can be cooked or even just blended raw with some yoghurt, avocado and some herbs, as a cold soup. I love my soup hot too, and like you, would rather wait for the right time. Thanks a lot for being here. Hope you have a lovely week!
Was I surprised when I looked at how you make it! I did not check when I saw the post on Facebook, but now that I have a few minutes…..it just sounds so flavorful with the other vegetables and milk and lemon zest. I will definitely give this a “go”. I can almost taste it now……hope your weather has cooled down a bit. Hot here too, loving it, but then we don’t have to contend with the extreme humidity.
I have just come from my walk. It’s 9.00pm but I’m sweating so much. We don’t leave the house during the day, it’s so hot and humid then, you just wonder. This soup is very nice. I have made it several times, but I always prefer my soup hot. I can’t stand cold soups, if the weather is not right, then I just wait. It will probably be raining tomorrow, then at least this heat can subside. Thank you so much for your support and friendship. I have now words to express how grateful I’m. Have a wonderful week and enjoy the soup, if you make it!!!
I never had a cucumber soup before ;-(
We eat gherkin soup in Poland, but I never tried a cucumber one
I bet is quite similar, but the best way of knowing is by trying. I have never had gherkin soup as well coz I mostly see them pickled. Wish you a pleasant week!!!
i prefer it served cold with a lil touch of cold chattatourie…..
very refreshing!
What is chattatourie? I have googled to no avail. Please let me know. I like learning new things! Thanks for stopping here after such a long spell of silence. Kind regards!
I’m not a massive cucumber fan and have never tried cucumber soup. This looks delicious though and I think my husband would love it.
It’s so easy to make. so you should try it sometime. Thanks so much for your continued support and for sharing all those lovely dinners. Wish you a lovely week!
My son loves cucumbers. I’ll have to give this a try it looks delicious.
I love cucumber and have given this a go many many times. Thanks for stopping by. Have a lovely week!
Oh my gosh. This looks fabulous! And what a great excuse to eat soup in the summer – I will definitely be making this, thanks for the inspiration Liz!
Thanks for stopping by. I love this soup coz it’s so easy to make but it also tastes very nice. I really enjoy eating it, anytime I make it. Have a wonderful week!!