End of Summer Zucchini Soup & Smoked Salmon Tomato Cups From Grace-Marie’s Kitchen

The theme for the Saturday Tea class this week at Grace-Marie’s Kitchen at Bristol Farms in Manhattan Beach was Back to School Autumn Tea. This week the menu was End of Summer Zucchini Soup, Smoked Salmon Tomato Cups, Apple and Cheddar Bread, Caramelized Onion and Brie Croissants, Autumn Harvest Brandy Pear Cake and Autumn Berry Tapioca Parfaits. This is Part Three with the last two recipes from that class. I wanted to post about all of the recipes because all of them were wonderful.

I have to tell you, I love Bristol Farms Market. And no, they’re not paying me to say so. The store is five minutes from my house and I have been shopping there for about 20 years. They have all the items I can’t find anywhere else, for instance, within recent memory, Red Pepper Jelly, Sriracha, lamb shanks, Harissa, Red Current Jelly with Port, jarred chestnuts, apple smoked bacon and Parmigiano-Reggiano. They have the most marvelous cheeses. And if they don’t have what you need, they will get it for you. Recently I wanted to have some Mexican achiote paste, so I talked to the grocery dept manager, and he said he would get it and call me when it arrived. He has a little notebook in his pocket for this purpose. And sure enough, a couple of weeks later, my phone rang. Don’t you just love it when people follow up?

The End of summer Zucchini Soup started out with diced onion, chopped garlic, diced zucchini and chicken stock, with Italian Dried Herbs. This smelled so good when it was simmering away on the stove. I took lots of photos of it so I could get close and let the aroma waft into my nose.

While the soup was bubbling away, more zucchini was sliced into little thin strips and sautéed for the garnish. Grace-Marie sliced the zucchini into ¼-inch slices lengthwise, then turned the stack over flat and sliced them into ¼-inch lengthwise strips. These were sautéed in olive oil and butter until just tender.

When the zucchini and diced onion in the chicken stock was tender, the basil was added and it was pureed with an emersion blender until smooth. It smelled soooo good. And when I finally got to eat, it was so perfectly creamy and zucchini-y. *sigh*

This is an Afternoon Tea and the different treats are put on trays in the metal stands. There is every kind of tea you can think of in the baskets – I had Chamomile – and boiling water is poured out of thermos tea pots. The tea was really good with the Apple and Cheddar Bread.

Next Grace-Marie prepared the Smoked Salmon Tomato Cups. The filling was a tasty mixture of cream cheese, mayonnaise, Thai sweet chili sauce, horseradish, smoked salmon, cucumber and sundried tomatoes. The Roma tomatoes were cut in half, the seeds scooped out and the filling spooned in.

This filling is very adaptable and I think you could substitute the salmon with chicken, ham, shrimp, crab, cooked egg or leftover fish from last might’s dinner. Add your favorite herbs. Be creative.

Here are a few more zucchini recipes, if your garden is overflowing:

Grilled Zucchini, Corn, Bell Pepper & Potato Salad
Chilled Leek & Zucchini Soup with Pancetta
Stuffed Zucchini Flowers
Grilled Zucchini with Anchovy Garlic Caper Sauce
Sliced Chicken Salad with Zucchini Ribbons, Avocado & Oranges
Tomato & Zucchini Tian

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For additional recipes from Grace-Marie’s Kitchen, look under Categories in the right-hand column.

Grace-Marie Johnston

For more information about the cooking classes visit Grace-Marie online at Bristol Farms or email her at gmj@bristolfarms.com.