4 medium sized cucumbers
10 medium-sized tomatoes
2 large onions
2 medium-sized green peppers
3 teaspoons garlic, chopped
14 oz. French bread, trimmed and crumbled
3 cups cold water
6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
6 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup olive oil
5 teaspoons tomato puree

Peel and coarsely chop cucumber, tomatoes and onion. Seed pepper, remove pith and coarsely chop.

Put cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, green pepper, garlic and bread into a bowl and mix thoroughly. Stir in water, vinegar and salt. Puree in batches in blender.

Pour puree into bowl and whisk in olive oil and tomato puree. Serve with small croutons, finely chopped onion, cucumbers and green pepper.


2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
4 cups water
3 cups fresh corn kernels
1 bay leaf
1 whole star anise
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup heavy cream

Asian Beet & Cucumber Relish
1 1/2 beets, peeled and diced
5 cucumbers, peeled, diced and seeded
1/4 cup Little Rosie’s Filipino Salad Dressing
1 bunch cilantro, chopped

Heat oil in large saucepan on medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir 2 minutes or until translucent. Add water, corn, bay leaf, star anise and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 25 minutes. Add heavy cream; simmer 5 minutes. Remove bay leaf and star anise.

With center part of cover removed to let steam escape, puree soup in batches in blender on high speed until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

For the relish, toss together beets, cucumbers, cilantro and dressing.

Break Hills Own Crab Cake or Salmon Cake into bite-size pieces. Gently place in soup with a teaspoon of the relish to garnish.

from Burgundy Room (cooking class with Michael Black, 2007)

4 Six ounce filets of Salmon
1 Pound of cleaned Maitake mushrooms
1 Pound of Soba Noodles
2 Carrots Julienne
2 Daikon Radish Julienne
2 Cucumbers Julienne
2 ounces of Sesame Oil
1 Cup Soy Sauce
4 ounces of Rice Wine Vinegar
4 ounces of Mirin
4 ounces of Sweet Chili Sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Season salmon with salt and pepper and sear in a hot pan with oil, finish in the oven at 350 degrees. Deep fry maitakes until crispy. Combine soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine vinager, mirin and sweet chili sauce. Cook soba noodles in boiling water and chill when done. Sauté vegetables until soft.  Combine sweet soy broth, soba noodles and vegetables and toss to coat. Top with cooked salmon and garnish with fried maitakes.

1 English cucumber, thinly sliced
1/2 lb. haricot verts, blanched
1/2 lb. carrots, thinly sliced
1 red onion, thinly julienned
3-4 heirloom tomatoes, chunked
1 bulb fennel, thinly sliced

Dressing:
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 cup white vinegar
zest of 1 lemon
2-3 TB. fresh dill, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

Mix and serve.