Cold Cucumber Bell Pepper With Crab Soup Food

COLD CUCUMBER SOUP

Steps:

• Combine the cucumbers, bell peppers, green onions, jalapenos, cilantro, mint, dill, garlic, Essence, salt, cayenne, yogurt, 2 cups sour cream, olive oil, and white wine vinegar in a large bowl. Working in batches, puree the ingredients in a blender until very smooth. Transfer the soup to the refrigerator until well chilled, at least 2 hours. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve the soup, with each bowl garnished with a dollop of the remaining sour cream and some of the minced chives.
• Combine all ingredients thoroughly.
• Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch, published by William and Morrow, 1993.

COLD CUCUMBER AND YELLOW PEPPER SOUP WITH CRAB MEAT AND CHIVES

Steps:

• Make Soup: In a blender purée soup ingredients with salt and pepper to taste until smooth. Force soup through a fine sieve into a bowl and chill, covered, 4 hours, or until very cold. Soup may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.
• Just before serving, in a small bowl toss crab with oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste.
• Divide crab mixture among 6 soup bowls, mounding it in center, and ladle soup around it. Sprinkle each serving with finely chopped chives and garnish with diced yellow pepper and chive pieces.

CHILLED CUCUMBER SOUP

Steps:

• Combine the cucumber and tomatoes in a blender, reserving 1/4 cup of each for garnish. Add the bell pepper, onion, vinegar, 1 teaspoon each dill and parsley, 1 clove garlic and the sugar; puree until smooth. Pass through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl, pressing with the back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Season with 1 teaspoon salt. Refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, make the croutons: Heat the remaining clove garlic with the olive oil in a skillet over low heat. Add the bread cubes and the remaining 3 teaspoons each dill and parsley. Cook, stirring, until golden and crunchy, 10 to 15 minutes. Discard the garlic.
• Pour the soup into chilled bowls. Dice the reserved cucumber and tomatoes; sprinkle into the soup. Garnish with the croutons.

CRAB AND ROASTED RED BELL PEPPER SOUP

Steps:

• Make broth:
• Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in heavy large wide pot over medium-high heat. Add crab shells and sauté until fragrant, about 10 minutes. Add 10 cups water and next 8 ingredients; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until broth is reduced to 12 cups, about 30 minutes. Strain broth through sieve lined with cheesecloth. Cool. Spoon fat from top of broth.
• Make soup:
• Char red bell peppers over gas flame or in broiler until blackened on all sides. Enclose in paper bag and let stand 10 minutes. Peel and seed peppers. Transfer peppers to blender. Add 2 tablespoons butter. Puree until mixture is smooth.
• Melt 3 tablespoons butter in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add flour and cook until mixture is golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in broth, then red pepper purée. Bring soup to boil. Simmer until flavors blend and soup thickens slightly, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Soup can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
• Add reserved crabmeat and 1/2 cup chopped parsley to soup. Simmer just until crabmeat is heated through, about 2 minutes. Ladle soup into bowls. Spoon dollop of crème fraîche atop each. Garnish with parsley sprigs and serve.

CRAB CUCUMBER BITES

Steps:

• Peel strips from cucumbers to create striped edges; cut each cucumber into 16 slices, about 1/4-in. thick. Pat dry with paper towels; set aside., In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, lemon juice and pepper sauce until smooth. Fold in the crab, red pepper and onions. Place 1 heaping teaspoonful onto each cucumber slice. Serve immediately.

ROASTED RED PEPPER AND CRAB SOUP

Steps:

• Set the oven to broil, and preheat for 5 minutes.
• Place the red bell pepper quarters skin-side up on a broiler pan or baking sheet. Broil until the skins have blackened, then place them in a brown paper bag, or in a covered bowl and allow them to steam for approximately 10 minutes to loosen the skins.
• Once the skins have loosened, peel them off and discard. Coarsely chop the peeled, roasted peppers, and place into a large saucepan along with the chicken broth and chopped potato. Bring to a boil over high heat, then add the half-and-half, salt, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and basil. Return to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 45 minutes.
• Once the potatoes have softened, puree the soup in batches in a blender until smooth. Pour the pureed soup into another saucepan and stir in the crab. Heat over medium heat to warm through, about 5 minutes.

COLD CUCUMBER SOUP

Steps:

• Saute onion in hot oil 5 minutes over medium heat.
• Add garlic and cucumber and cook 3 minutes more.
• Add broth, lime juice, and sugar.
• Boil.
• Reduce heat and cover and cook for 20 minutes.
• Cool for a few minutes.
• Puree in a blender.
• Add yogurt, dill, salt and pepper to taste.
• Blend again.
• Chill and serve in icy cold bowls.
• Garnish with scallions.

COLD CUCUMBER SALAD WITH FETA AND BELL PEPPER

Steps:

• Set out cucumber slices decoratively on a plate and scatter diced mini pepper and feta cheese on top.
• Stir together clementine juice, mayonnaise, and sugar in a small jar with a lid. Season with dill, salt, and pepper. Cover jar and shake until dressing is well combined. Drizzle dressing over cucumber mixture.

CREAMY CRAB AND RED PEPPER SPREAD

Steps:

• Reserve 2 Tbsp. onions. Mix remaining onions with all remaining ingredients except crackers.
• Refrigerate 1 hour.
• Top with reserved onions. Serve with crackers.

CHILLED AVOCADO SOUP WITH CRAB MEAT SALAD

Steps:

• To make the soup, puree the avocados and garlic in a food processor until smooth. Place in a bowl and whisk in the buttermilk and milk or cream until desired consistency is reached. Depending on the avocado, more or less milk or cream may be needed. Add salt and pepper and chill.
• To make the crab meat salad, combine the lime juice, mustard and salt and pepper in a bowl. Whisk in the olive oil. Stir in the capers and peppercorns. Add the crab meat and toss. Adjust the seasoning and chill.
• Ladle the soup into 6 bowls, add dollops of crab meat salad and garnish with cilantro leaves.