Blue Lemon Restaurant @ Westport Farmers' Market

The Westport Farmers Market is the place to be on Thursday September 1st as clean up from the not so friendly Hurricane Irene continues all over town.  Come out to replenish your pantry and  fresh produce supply while helping out area farmers and producers.

Bryan Malcarney, chef/owner of Blue Lemon in Westport, will be the guest chef this week.  He has been in the same spot in Sconset Square for over eight years and has quite the following.  His presentation at the market  will include two seasonal favorites as he offers CUCUMBER DILL GAZPACHO (recipe below) and GOLDEN BEET GAZPACHO for tasting. The cucumber and dill version gains a little body with the inclusion of baking potatoes as a starting point.  After boiling them, they are peeled and pureed with crisp, just  harvested cukes, sour cream, dill and other seasonings. Combined, it forms a pleasantly rich, mild and refreshing chilled soup.

Malcarney will also offer his GOLDEN BEET GAZPACHO (recipe below), a sunny dose of  earthen flavor and packed vitamins. After cooking, the  golden beets are pureed in their own liquid and topped with a red beet puree and olive oil for shimmer and a flavor boost.

Chef Malcarney was generous enough to share his recipes with us:

Golden Gazpacho

2 lb. golden beets

1 yellow pepper

1 stalk of celery

1 lrg. cucumber 

3 cloves garlic

1 lemon

¼ cup sherry wine vinegar  

 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 ½ cups water        

1 bunch chives

salt & pepper

Put the beets in a pot and cover with lightly salted water.  Bring up to a boil and simmer until tender, about 30- 40 minutes.  Remove from the water and let cool.  Peel the cucumber and cut it, the pepper, and the celery into small pieces.  Peel the skin off the beets and cut into pieces.  Place all these ingredients in a blender with the garlic, water, and vinegar.  Squeeze the lemon and add the juice (no seeds.)  Blend this mixture until smooth.  Season with salt & pepper, add 2 tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil, then puree another 30 seconds.  Chill the soup for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.  Pour soup into bowls.  Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, garnish with finely diced chives, and serve. 

Notes:  You can adjust the body of the soup by adding more or less water.  At the restaurant we use a puree of red beets to garnish the soup.  You could simply cook a small red beet with the golden beets and puree it separately with a bit of water and olive oil so it has the same consistency of the gazpacho and use it as a garnish.  

Cucumber Dill Soup

Serves 6 to 8 

1 12oz baking potato cooked

3 lrg. cucumber 

1 stalk celery            

1 medium sized red onion

1 clove garlic            

¼ bunch dill

¼ cup tarragon vinegar  

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

3 ½ cup water

5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

½ cup sour cream            

salt & pepper

Peel cucumbers and chop into pieces.  Put the cucumber in the food processor with the cooked potato.  The potato should be cooled to room temperature or cold.  Add chopped celery, chopped onion, chopped dill (reserve a few nice pieces for garnish,) garlic, tarragon vinegar, lemon juice, water, and sour cream.  Blend this mixture until smooth.  Season with salt & pepper, for this recipe I prefer white pepper if available.  Then add 3 tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil, then puree another 30 seconds.  Strain soup through a small china cap strainer.  Chill the soup for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.  Mix well and pour soup into bowls.  Drizzle with remaining extra virgin olive oil, garnish with dill frond and serve.