Gazpacho time !!

The other day my sister gave me this beautiful basket of tomatoes from her yard in the banana belt of Sunnyvale. Maybe all of Sunnyvale is a banana belt...where I live two blocks for the edge of Monterey Bay is certainly NOT. I can't grow tomatoes here, except tiny cherry tomatoes that ripen in October. Please don't write to me about San Francisco Fog tomatoes, tomatoes are meant to be grown where it is warm and sunny, that's what makes them taste so good.

With this bounty at hand, my taste buds turned to the great summer treat: gazpacho. It's so easy and versatile, I knew I could put together a batch from what I had on hand.

I used my recipe from two summers ago. I didn't have a red onion so I used the sweet yellow onion I had on hand, I added celery since I had some, and used some roasted bell pepper from my freezer. Mostly it's just chopping and tossing it into bowl, the most tedious part is removing the skins from the fresh tomatoes. A couple of cups go into the blender, and added back to the bowl. Be sure to chill it before serving.

I enjoyed it before ushering for Much Ado About Nothing in the Glen and it made a refreshing appetizer before the meal I served to my nephew and his family last night.

Summer Soup : Gazpacho !!

It's hot today so I have gazpacho on my mind. In fact I just put some in the fridge to chill for tomorrow's dinner. I also promised my sister-in-law I would post this recipe soon. My brother is growing most of the ingredients in his garden. She got to taste it earlier this week. I made it to take on a one night camping trip we took to watch the Perseids meteor showers at Carrizo Plains.

Here's where we camped.

I knew it would be a warm night so a cold soup was just the ticket. It was !! We did see about a dozen nice shooting stars that night. The next day we headed to Lompoc for two nights with my brother and sister-in-law.

Anyway back to the gazpacho, I did a take off on a recipe by Alton Brown. I have served it several times to guests always with rave reviews. It's great as a starter or for lunch. The combination of flavors and textures are very refreshing.

Great Gazpacho

Ingredients

5-7 tomatoes, peeled and chopped

2 cup tomato juice

1/2 red onion chopped

1 cup peeled, chopped cucumber

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 clove smashed garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

1 lime or lemon, juiced

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

pinch cayenne ( optional)

5 fresh basil leaves, 1 avocado ( optional)

1) To peel the tomatoes, pour boiling water over them for one minutes, drain and cover them in cool water for another minute or so. They should peel easily that way. 

2) Chop the peeled tomatoes into small chunks and toss them into a bowl.

3) Peel and chop the red onion.

4) Peel and chop the cucumber and add it to the bowl.

5) Seed and chop the bell pepper, yes, in it goes.

6) Add the olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, cumin, smashed garlic, salt and pepper ( and cayenne). Toss together gently.

7) Remove 1 1/2 cup of this mixture and blend it for 20 seconds in the blender. Mix it back in with the rest and refrigerate for several hours, or overnight, which I prefer.

8) When you serve it, you can top it with a finely chopped fresh basil leaf and several chunks of avocado.

Feel free to add other fresh herbs and spices. The proportions of the vegetables are not that important, use more tomatoes, less cucumber or different peppers if you wish. I do find that letting the flavors marry overnight gives the best results.