Chilled Melon Soup - Two Styles

So I don't need to tell you that it has been hot this past week. The air conditioning has been on all week and I've been trying to avoid using the oven. One has to love D.C. summers.

As it is so freaking hot I decided to try my hand at a cool recipe this week. Something chilled and that does not use the stove. I decided it was time that I try a melon soup.

When I first moved to DC in 2003, I lived on Capitol Hill. On the hill, a few blocks from where I lived, is a pretty good German restaurant/bar called Cafe Berlin. It was here that I first encountered melon soup. I would walk the two blocks there on Saturdays, and during the summer I would eat outside on the patio. This soup was a great way to cool down a bit and its lightness was very refreshing. And let me tell you, you don't often think of the word "refreshing" with much of what one can get at an American German restaurant.

It was also a fun recipe to do as I tested my chef knives out against each other. Every now and then it still surprises me the difference a good tool can make in the kitchen. So I will just throw a little recommendation out there. When cutting up lots of melons my favorite knife is the 8" Shun Premier chef knife. The knife feels really light in the hand and it goes through an 8 inch thick melon without you needing to use any muscle at all. Lots of people use the phrase "cut through it like it was butter" and that is exactly what this knife did. And not hard just out of the fridge butter either. More like cutting through butter that has been sitting in the sun for an hour and your knife is actually a lightsaber.

Music: John Williams - Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (OMPS)

Ingredients for Chilled Melon Soup

• 1 ripe Honeydew or Cantaloupe, about 3 pounds, inner flesh cut into 1-inch pieces (about 5 cups)

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

• 3 tablespoons melon liqueur or Grand Marnier (recommended: Midori)

• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, or more if desired

• 2 tablespoons super fine sugar

• 2 tablespoons creme fraiche or yogurt, garnish

• Mint, for garnishing

Process for Chilled Melon Soup

In 2 batches in a food processor, puree the melon, mint, 2 1/2 tablespoons of the liquer, lime juice and sugar. Taste for acidity, you may add more lime juice here if desired. Place in a pitcher or bowl and refrigerate until well chilled.

To serve, ladle the soup into 4 shallow bowls. Swirl 1 1/2 teaspoons of the crème fraiche into the center of each serving. Garnish with fresh mint springs.

Yeah, I know, the Star Wars prequels sucked. But they did do one thing, they gave us one great cut off this album, "Dual of Fates". And let me tell you, its exciting to test out knives on melons listening to Dual of Fates. It makes everything more dramatic. And that is just what you need in a kitchen on a hot day...drama.