Home › The World's Kitchen › Cream of Cucumbers, Reine

Cream of Cucumbers, Reine

Peel four medium, sound, rather green cucumbers, cut into quarters, remove all the seeds and slice.

Have in a saucepan three-quarters of an ounce butter and add the cucumbers. Season with a teaspoon salt, two saltspoons cayenne pepper and one saltspoon ground nutmeg; mix the cucumbers well in the seasoning. Cover the pan and let gently smother on the range for ten minutes. Then moisten with two and a half quarts hot broth or hot water and let slowly boil for forty-five minutes. Heat in another saucepan one tablespoon butter, add two ounces flour, briskly stir for one minute, pour the cucumber broth into this pan, adding one and a half gills cream; briskly whisk for two minutes and as soon as it comes to a boil, gradually add half ounce butter, continually mixing until it is melted. Strain the cream through a sieve, then through a cheesecloth into a hot soup tureen and serve with bread croutons separately.