Chilled Buttermilk Soup with Beets, Cucumbers, Radishes, and Dill (Page 85)

RECIPE #806

• Date: Wednesday, August 6, 2008 -- 8pm
• Location: Bloomington, IN
• Kitchen: My Apartment
• Fellow Chef: Matty
• Recipe Rating: C+
  

Matty and I made a dinner last week where we selected recipes based only on how long they took. This chilled soup was super-fast so it made the list, despite my concern that it really sounded bad. How was it? Just look at the picture. How do you think it was? Seriously questionable. That lovely pink color comes from a mixture of buttermilk, sour cream, and pickled beet juice (Side Note: if you click on the link below, there is a picture of this recipe on Epicurious. Note that the soup there looks much more appealing, and WHITE. Now, I haven't been in kindergarten in a long time now, but I am pretty sure that white (buttermilk and sour cream) + red (pickled beet juice) doesn't make white. You know what color it makes? It makes the Pepto Bismol pink you see above). Anyway, floating in the scary pinkness were cucumber, dill, radish, and pickled beet. The whole thing was then briefly chilled before serving. In all fairness, it didn't taste nearly as bad at it looked. It wasn't particularly good, but I wouldn't really say it was bad either. It was refreshing in a way, with a tang from the buttermilk and a strong pickled flavor from the beets. The dill was too intense -- I would cut the amount in half if I were to make it again. Matty described this soup as the "runt of the meal," and indeed it was outshone by both the salad and the steak. I can't in good faith recommend this recipe, but it also wasn't as repulsive as the picture suggests.

Here is the recipe.

My special gentleman was in Berkeley last week while I have been in Palo Alto, but now he has joined me, Em, Brian, and Sam in the sunny South Bay. The picture below is of Sam having some tummy time with my special gentleman. Aren't they cute together?

Today the five of us headed up Santa Cruz to the beach. It was Sam's first beach trip, and he seemed to enjoy it! He is an amazingly well-mannered baby and was definitely a trooper on our little day trip.

I love being in math academia, but one serious downside of this career choice is the lack of geographic flexibility. Math jobs are extremely competitive and the further you get in your career the harder it is to get a job. I am currently a post-doc which is a temporary three year position. Once you finish your post-doc you try to get a tenure-track job. The market is tough though, so generally people don't have a lot of options. I have been lucky so far (I love Indiana!) but some people certainly end up living in places they don't like. I have lived all over the country (Wisconsin, South Carolina, California, Massachusetts, Indiana...) and I was pretty happy in all those places. But, for instance, I really wish I had the option of living near Em, Brian, and Sam. I sometimes wish I had the type of job where I could just make the decision that I wanted to move near them and then do it. In math academia (unless you are one of a very small number of superstars) it doesn't work that way. I love my job enough that it is worth it, but it is a significant sacrifice. I mean, just look at that baby -- would you want to live near him?!? Especially if he was parented by two of your best friends!