Cold Cucumber-Yogurt Soup

When I was in Boston last week, my favorite Bostonians and I made our way to a sidewalk cafe for a late afternoon cocktail. Feeling a bit peckish after a day on the water, we ordered an assortment of dishes to accompany our drinks and in the end, as it always happens, we had noshed enough to call it dinner. Each of us ordered something different so we could taste everything on the table: Creole fries with a garlic aioli, Thai shrimp tacos, focaccia with a white bean dip and a fresh peach cake for dessert.

I was intrigued by a cold soup on the menu that combined garden cucumbers and yogurt garnished with heirloom tomatoes and chives. It did not disappoint. Back in California, I vowed to recreate it without a recipe, and the result was pretty much on the money. There are many variations on this recipe; adding garlic, mint or dill would change it a bit, so experiment with abandon.

Cold Cumber-Yogurt Soup

2 English cucumbers, each about 12 inches long
2 Cups plain yogurt
1 Tablespoon honey, softened
1-2 Teaspoons salt, or to taste
2-3 Heirloom cherry tomatoes
Chives or scallions, chopped fine
Basil-flavored olive oil

Peel and seed the cukes, and chop into one-inch chunks. You should end up with about 2-1/2 cups of chopped cukes. Place in the food processor and combine with the yogurt, the honey and the salt. Process by pulsing to preserve some of the crunchy texture of the cucumbers; don't over-process into a puree. You should end up with about 3 cups of soup. Chill until ready to serve.

Just before serving, slice the tomatoes in half if they are quite small, otherwise quarter larger tomatoes into wedges. season them lightly with salt and freshly ground pepper. Chop the chives very finely for garnish and set aside.

Ladle into soup bowls and place the tomatoes in a decorative pattern on top of the soup. Garnish with the chives. Using a small spoon, drizzle the basil oil over all.

If you are a home gardener with more cucumbers than you know what to do with, this is one recipe that will come to your rescue. Try serving the cold soup in martini glasses garnished with a very small wedge of tomato for an elegant appetizer, or in soup bowls for a refreshing first course.

Serves 4.

The Perfect G&T: So Easy to Make and So Easy to Screw Up

It was not my intent to let so much time elapse between posts, but two things happened that played havoc with my schedule: I went to Boston, and while I was there I broke a toe.

Until the last event occurred, it was a wonderful visit with my family who had gathered to celebrate my son’s new house. We got in plenty of sightseeing in that iconic town, ate well, and laughed a lot. And I was delighted at the end of each day when my son The Professor served up ice cold Gin and Tonics, the quintessential summer cocktail.

Gin and Tonics were the ritual late afternoon summer drink of my parents and when I was old enough, I too learned to enjoy the refreshing zing of a G&T. But somewhere along the way, I misplaced my love for that drink and got totally absorbed in the wine thing. And while a chilled Sauvignon Blanc is indeed splendid on a hot summer afternoon, nothing but nothing hits the spot like a Gin and Tonic.

The Professor was serving Hendricks gin with Schweppes tonic, garnished with a wedge of lime. Hendricks is a lovely gin made in Scotland and is notable for its floral nose. Hendricks has toned down the typical juniper taste of most gins and what you taste instead is the infusion of rose petals and cucumber. The Wall Street Journal declared Hendricks the “Best Gin in the World” in 2003, and in the last few years Hendricks has become an urban legend of sorts. But it’s a little pricey: My favorite local liquor store, Ojai Beverage Company, sells a 750 ml bottle for $35. Hendricks is really hot right now even though it is apparently be too floral for some. (One surly mixologist on Chowhound.com declared, “Hendricks tastes like perfume from CVS!”)

Still, Ojai Beverage Company can barely keep Hendrick’s in stock and on my last visit they were out, so they steered me toward a limited edition London dry gin that they think is superb and is priced remarkably well: Broker’s. Never heard of it, says I. But Broker’s has an impressive pedigree, having thoroughly trounced Hendrick’s in the 2010 Ultimate Spirits Challenge in New York. And, get this, it was only $22 for a 750 ml bottle!

Broker’s has a stronger juniper taste than Hendrick’s but it’s softened with citrus and cassia, making it very smooth. One spirits expert said: “A classic old-style gin with no apologies. A retro type of gin of the kind before the sissified lighter gins started being blended.”

Some advice from the experts: since tonic water is so pronounced in a G&T, use the best you can find. And use single-serving bottles, not the giant-sized bottles that go flat quickly. Don’t use so much tonic that you can’t taste the gin. Keep your favorite gin in the freezer and your favorite tonic water in the refrigerator. Room temperature gin and tonic water poured over ice cubes just doesn't cut it.

Back at home, I started making G&Ts with Broker’s and Fever-Tree Indian tonic water, garnished with mint from the garden. In the evenings, I just plop down in the welcome shade of the back patio, elevate the foot with the broken toe on an ottoman, and sip an ice cold Gin and Tonic.

My Perfect G&T

Ice cubes (Try using tonic water ice cubes: Fill an empty ice cube tray with tonic water and freeze.)

2 Ounces Broker’s gin, chilled

1 6.8-ounce bottle of Fever-Tree tonic water, chilled

Fill a tall, narrow, chilled glass with ice cubes. Pour the gin over the ice, then fill the glass almost to the top with tonic water. Garnish with a wedge of lime or a sprig of fresh mint (wash with fresh water first). If you’re using Hendrick’s gin, garnish with a long wedge of cucumber to complement the flavor of the gin.

Designer Water, the Ojai Way

There wasn't a shrub or a blade of grass anywhere on the half-acre I bought in 1995, so the idea that this barren patch was included on the annual Ojai Garden Tour this year is supremely ironic. But there I was yesterday, greeting more than 200 visitors who traipsed through my garden admiring the landscape. "Oh," I could have said, feigning modesty, "it was nothing." Right. Nothing but years of hard labor, a truckload of boulders, river rock and gravel, dozens of trees, miles of irrigation lines, 30 cubic yards of mulch and an egregious amount of fertilizer.

But I never question if it was all worth it. It was and is and will always be worth all the expense and time. This garden is my sanctuary and a quiet respite for contemplation. There's enough space for entertaining, and the citrus and fruit trees, herbs and veggie beds are a source of edible treats year-round.

In the shade of the pergola, I set up a decorative urn of cool water flavored with sliced oranges, lemons and cucumber. I discovered this infusion years ago at Spa Ojai where guests love this simple but refreshing thirst-quencher. I added about a dozen slices each of Meyer Lemon and Blood Orange from the garden, plus an equal amount of peeled and sliced cucumber to two gallons of filtered tap water. I keep a small jug of this lovely water in the refrigerator all summer, and it's a tonic on a hot day when I'm working in the garden.