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Chefs Recipe: Chilled cucumber and avocado soup with brown shrimps and dill by Gary Durrant from Hunter 486
There is no need to just use cucumber raw – it is wonderful cooked and then cooled for a silky smooth soup – especially with the addition of delicious brown shrimps!
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- ½ clove garlic finely chopped
- 2 cucumbers peeled, seeds removed and sliced
- 1 medium avocado
- 650 ml vegetable stock
- ½ cucumber peeled, seeds removed and cut into small cubes
- 40g peeled brown shrimps
- 4 sprigs dill
Method:
Cook the chopped onions and garlic in a little vegetable oil till soft and translucent.
Add the cucumber and cook for approximately 10 minutes till the cucumber is nice and soft.
Add the vegetable stock, bring to the boil and then simmer for 20 minutes.
Place in a liquidiser and blend till nice and smooth.
Pass through a fine sieve into a bowl, and place this in a bowl of ice to chill the soup.
When the soup is cold, peel and chop the avocado, add to the soup and blend again till nice and smooth and season with salt and black pepper.
It is very important that the soup is cold before you add the avocado otherwise it will go brown and you are looking for a bright green colour.
To serve pour into a chilled soup bowl and sprinkle over the peeled brown shrimps, the cubed cucumber and the chopped dill.
The Chef: Gary Durrant
A classically trained chef with years of experience in exceptional high-end dining, Gary spent the first ten years of his career honing his skills at the world-famous Savoy, before moving on to work in several Michelin star kitchens in both France and London.
Gary’s philosophy is to create modern, light food which interprets the refined methods of classical French cooking in a contemporary way. Ingredients are treated with respect to let the flavours of fine produce speak for themselves. Each dish on the menu is beautifully cooked and prepared in an unfussy way, with a strong focus on cooking with the seasons.
In London, Gary has previous worked at The Savoy and Claridges, and his most recent position was at the Brompton Bar and Grill in Knightsbridge, where he spent 11 years as Head Chef.
The Restaurant: Hunter 486 at The Arch London, 50 Great Cumberland Place, Marble Arch, London, W1H 7FD | 0207 724 0486 | www.thearchlondon.com
Named after the 1950’s dialling code for Marylebone, Hunter 486 is a cosy little restaurant/diner in this contemporary five-star boutique hotel, The Arch London.