Chilled cucumber, avocado and buttermilk soup

This chilled soup is a really simple one made with buttermilk, which has a slight tang. The cucumber is the base flavour; the avocado makes the soup silky, and the dill and mint add freshness. Make it in the morning and allow to homogenise for a few hours in the fridge, then eat for lunch when the soup’s extra cold. I find making the stock used in this recipe really therapeutic – fresh chicken stock is great in brothy or puréed soups, and freezes brilliantly.

SERVES 6

3 cucumbers, halved ● lengthways and deseeded 250ml of buttermilk, ● plus extra to serve 2 tbsps of lemon juice ● 2 spring onions, (both ● green and white parts), chopped

3 tbsps of chopped dill, ● plus extra to garnish a few mint leaves, plus ● extra tiny mint leaves to garnish

1 small garlic clove, ● chopped

1 large ripe but firm ● avocado, peeled and stoned

420ml of fresh white ● chicken or veggie stock, chilled (see below) 2 tbsps of good, fruity ● extra virgin olive oil Sea salt flakes and ● white pepper

FOR the STOCK

3–4 raw chicken

● carcasses (available from your butcher) or 800g of chicken wings 2 onions, quartered

●

1 bulb of garlic, halved

● horizontally

2 carrots, chopped

● into 3 pieces

2 leeks, chopped

● into 3 pieces a few fresh herbs, such

● as parsley stalks and thyme sprigs

1 bay leaf

●

8 black peppercorns ●

1 For the stock, place all the stock ingredients in a large, deep saucepan, cover with cold water and slowly bring to the boil. (For veggie stock, leave out the chicken carcasses and double the quantity of vegetables, adding two parsnips and some of the outer leaves of a cabbage. Place in a large saucepan, cover with cold water and cook gently for 20 minutes.) Scum will rise to the surface as it begins to boil so use a small ladle to skim it and any fat off. When the stock has reached boiling point, reduce the heat and gently simmer for 3 hours, skimming the top as it cooks – most of the skimming will need to be done during the first 30 minutes. (It’s important to make sure the stock doesn’t boil at this stage or the bubbles will knock away at the proteins and make the stock cloudy.) As the stock cooks it will begin to reduce; if the water level falls below the pot’s contents, add a little more cold water.

4 When the 3 hours are up, place a fine sieve over a large pan and strain the stock to collect all the flavoursome juices. At this stage, the stock may not have much flavour so you will need to slowly reduce the liquid in order for the flavours to be condensed. To do this, bring the stock to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer to slowly reduce, tasting it every so often, until you have the right intensity of chickeny-ness. Do not season your stock. Obviously, the stock will taste better if you season it but it will still need tweaking once it’s used in other dishes, so its better to leave unseasoned for now.

5 For the soup, coarsely chop five of the cucumber halves, transfer to a large bowl then add the buttermilk, lemon juice, spring onions, dill, mint, garlic and salt and pepper. Stir to combine, cover with cling film and leave to stand at room temperature for one hour to blend the flavours.

Dice the remaining cucumber half and set aside until ready to serve.

6 In a powerful blender, purée the cucumber mixture together with the avocado until smooth. With the machine running, slowly add the stock and purée until it is fully incorporated; this will take about 30 seconds. Transfer to a jug, cover with cling film and refrigerate for about 2 hours, or until chilled.

7 Pour the soup into bowls, then top with the chopped cucumber, drizzle with the oil and a little extra buttermilk. Garnish with the extra mint and dill and serve immediately.