Too hot to cook

It never gets too hot in Ventura, rarely over 85, which is good because most of us don't have air conditioning. But this summer has proved to be one for the books. While one heat spell doesn't a global warming trend make, this weather has been hot enough to get all of our attention.

Despite my complaining, it could be a whole lot worse. Sunday, I went to Ojai for the farmers market. I swung by the bank -- the one with the time/temperature on it. At 10:15 a.m. it was 100 degrees. Here in Ventura, we've managed to hit 95 some days and although my house is naturally air conditioned with the ocean breeze providing a constant source of cool air, the air has been so hot and sticky that Rob, the pets and I have been mostly lying around until sunset, when it gets cool enough for comfort.

Imagine, this was the year we were going to dismantle the pool; it's an above-ground pool and is easily taken down. I only used it three times last year and Rob hasn't used it in years. This year, though, I've been swimming daily.

I also have been trying this week to avoid cooking. Monday I made some bacon in the George Foreman grill, which doesn't get very hot. We had BLTs made with heirloom tomatoes and fresh lettuce from the farmers market.

Tuesday I got meat from our local butcher, hamburger and bone-in chicken breasts, which were on sale. Our outdoor grill was just made for this type of weather and the chicken breasts were perfect, grilled with just a sprinkling of onion and garlic powders, salt and fresh tarragon. We had the hamburgers fresh off the grill and saved the chicken for the next night.

I made a tarragon chicken salad and some cold cucumber/watercress soup. This has sustained me for the past two days and has proved to be the perfect hot weather meal.

Tarragon/chicken salad

1 large or 2 medium grilled skin-on chicken breasts
1 celery stalk, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
1/4 cup dried Morello cherries, nonsweetened (available at Trader Joe's)
1/3 cup slivered almonds
1 tablespoon fresh chopped or 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
3/4 cup mayonnaise
salt and white pepper to taste

Take skins off cold chicken breasts and chop into 1/4 inch pieces. Mix all the ingredients together except for the salt and pepper, which you add at the end to adjust the taste. Chill. Serve with crackers and sliced tomatoes.

Cucumber/watercress soup

1 cucumber, peeled and seeded and chopped into large pieces
1 cup watercress, use mostly leaves but some stems are good
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
cayenne pepper to taste
salt and pepper to taste
green onion, scallion, sliced

Using a hand-held blender, (you can use a regular blender, but the hand-held blenders are so much more convenient and so much easier to clean) blend all of the ingredients together until the cucumber and watercress are completely incorporated into the liquid. Wait until the soup is made to season. Chill the soup for 24 hours before serving. Some foam will rise to the top, so make sure to stir the soup. Garnish with sliced scallion.