Damon Lee Fowler

A sure sign of summer in a Southern kitchen is a bowl or window ledge full of vine-ripened tomatoes from the garden. But an even surer one in mine is a jug of cold soup in the refrigerator. From early June (May when we lived in Savannah) until well into September, there's at least one such jug or bowl of a soup that's as good cold as warm. Though it can be heated to warm us on the odd cool evening, it's mainly there to have cold, to soothe and stir heat-blunted appetites.

At the moment, there are actually two: this summer's first batch of vegetable soup (still not quite like my grandmother's, but getting there) and a summer squash puree with leeks and thyme.

I don't really follow a recipe anymore. It's the same basic formula Read More 

Easter dinner in our house always begins with a chilled soup. Even if the weather outside isn't exactly spring-like, it's a welcome reminder that warmer days are on the way. But mainly, it's because a cold first course can be made ahead and, as a bonus, is often the better for it.

My usual is a chilled carrot puree, but this year my spouse asked for vichyssoise, the cold soup that has become practically synonymous with the idea.

It may seem a bit old-fashioned, having been around for more than a century and unhappily, having been done to death (and all too often done badly) in the "gourmet" seventies and eighties of the last century. But when carefully and well made, vichyssoise is a deeply satisfying and delicious beginning for any meal (or as a meal in itself), and that should never be out of style. Read More