Ginny Maxfield uses canned stewed tomatoes, the kind with onions, celery, and peppers mixed in, to produce a cold soup that delivers all the advantages of gazpacho, but doesn’t require a whole lot of chopping. This was one of the slightly-chic-but-homey recipes that made Ginny’s restaurant, Maxfield’s, over the bridge in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, so popular for so long.
Chilled Tomato-Cucumber Soup
Karyl Bannister, Cook & Tell
2 14.5-ounce cans stewed tomatoes with onions, celery, and peppers with their juice
1 English cucumber, peeled and cubed
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon salt
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
Few shakes of Tabasco sauce
Sour cream
Chopped fresh parsley or chives, for garnish
Pour one can of tomatoes into a blender jar and put half of the cucumber cubes on top. To keep the cucumber from turning into mush, blend just until the cubes drop down to the blades. Transfer the first batch to a large bowl and repeat with the remaining tomatoes and cucumber cubes.
Add the basil, thyme, rosemary, dill, sage, salt, Worcestershire, and Tabasco, and mix thoroughly. Cover and chill for about 2 hours.
Divide the soup among individual bowls, top each serving with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of chopped parsley or chives, if desired.
Serves 4.
Karyl Bannister writes and illustrates the newsletter Cook & Tell, published ten times a year.
