Iced Curry Soup

It was unusually warm here today (near 80) and my husband was out driving in the city in a shirt, tie, and a car without air conditioning. I thought a cold dinner was in order. Thankfully, he liked it unlike our citrus-hating son who gagged on the first spoonful as though we'd fed him potted groundhog or something. I suppose it is a legitimate dislike-he had no idea it contained orange juice until he tasted it. I'm actually pretty surprised he could taste it beneath yoghurt and curry, but I guess if you really detest something, you'll spot it. I'm not going to force it on him-after all, I wouldn't want to eat a cucumber.

The soup worked well for Passover as it does not contain beans or flour.

The soup is spicy and if you're not used to curry, you can cut back on the powder quite a bit. I also used a generous grinding of black pepper which could be omitted. It wasn't flaming hot, but it did leave a bit of a burn.

From The Best Of Food And Wine Collection, 1988

You Will Need:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 large tart apple, peeled and chopped

1 large baking potato, peeled and diced

1/2 cup dry white wine (I actually used vermouth and it was fine)

2 cups chicken stock (I used vegetable stock) divided

1 thin slice of ginger

1 teaspoon salt (omit if using a salted stock)

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 cup fresh orange juice

1 cup plain yoghurt

In a pot, cook the onions and garlic over medium heat until softened but not browned-about five minutes. Add the curry powder and cook another three minutes. Stir in the apple, potato and wine. Cook until the wine evaporates-about three minutes. Stir in 1 cup of the chicken broth and the ginger. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook until potato is very soft-about 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and cool slightly. Puree the soup in a blender (carefully opening the pouring hole now and then to let steam escape) in batches until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and whisk in the rest of the stock. Chill several hours. Before serving whisk in the yoghurt and orange juice. Serve in chilled bowls (I used small mugs so it could be sipped).