Chilled Avocado Soup with Crab Relish

Irv Miller

Ingredients:

For the soup:
2-3 Florida avocados or 3-4 Haas avocados, pulp only (see instructions below)
1 green chili or banana pepper, seeded and minced
1 cup chilled vegetable broth
½ cup chopped sweet onions (such as Vidalia or Texas sweet)
½ teaspoon cumin seed
½ teaspoon whole coriander
1-2 limes, juiced
4 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon orange blossom honey (East Hill preferred)
1 small chipotle pepper in adobo (Embasa preferred)
½ cup half and half

For the relish:
6-ounces jumbo lump crab backfin, cartilage removed
3 tablespoons small-diced red onion
2 tablespoons red sweet pepper, rinsed and diced small
1 ear local sweet corn, boiled and kernels shaved off the cob
1 jalapeño, seeded and diced fine
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon southwest spice blend
½ bunch cilantro, chopped fine
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Zest of lime

For the garnish:
3 tablespoons chilled sour cream, thinned with 2 teaspoons chilled vegetable broth
4 tablespoons sliced scallion
1 corn tortilla, cut into thin strips and fried crispy
Pinch kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper

Instructions:

For the relish:
In a small mixing bowl combine all ingredients and stir to coat evenly.

For the soup:
To prepare the avocado: Hold the avocado on a cutting board and using a sharp knife, cut lengthwise into the skin and cut around the seed. Remove the seed. Use a spoon to remove the meat from the skin or just peel back the skin to remove. Cut the avocados into chunks.

Pre-chill soup cups or bowls. Place first 10 ingredients in blender. Pulse and puree and then add half and half, pulse again to blend. Pour into chilled bowls, and then top with crabmeat relish.

For the garnish:
Place sour cream in a small bowl and blend in a couple teaspoons of broth or water to thin. Divide the crabmeat relish evenly among the soup portions. Spoon over the thinned sour cream, and then top crab relish with crisp-fried tortilla strips and chopped scallion.