Chilled Melon Soup?

A few years ago, I was in Chicago for a manufacturing technology show. While there I had dinner at the Park Grill in Millennium Park. Truly excellent food. One of the items I ordered was the watermelon soup, just out of curiousity. It was quite the culinary experience, one I wanted to attempt at home. You know, just to prove those TV announcers wrong - “do not attempt this at home”

The sous chefs (yes, plural) of the house were enlisted. Ok, they were instructed to pick seeds “or else” and place the watermelon in the blender. I had a recipe from epicurious.com and it sounded just weird enough to be good. So, at the behest of the executive chef (me - heh, heh) picking they did.

Besides, someone needed to go outside and cut some mint. The mint has made it’s way into other menu items, and is a hit in the mint tea my daughters make.

This time, it was added to the melon, along with ginger, and some other items I thought might add a little depth to the soup. You know, obvious things like a dash of salt (to perk up the taste buds) and a couple grinds of black pepper, to offset the sweet a bit. Now that is the point when the sous - girls departed in their excitement to try the soup. Although, again, the choice was not theirs, but the executive (I’m kinda getting used to this).

So, blend and plate. Or bowl as the case may be.

You should notice only one with feta sprinkled on it. That’s mine. The wife doesn’t do dairy, and the girls were not getting used to the lack of choice. It was tremendous, even the naysayers thought it good. So much so, we made the remainder into popsicles to be enjoyed later.

Oh, and paired with the slightly sweet white and later grilled ribeye, it was a very good evening.