Thursday, June 25, 2009

Gazpacho

Gazpacho

Phew is it hot out there! I know that I shouldn't be complaining considering where we are situated in the world, but I was extremely thankful that this week's BB recipe picked by Meryl was Ina's crisp and cool Gazpacho.

Yesterday afternoon Ian and I walked around the area, him in surfer shorts, and me in another summer dress. All the yards right now have these stunningly bright and brilliant flowers in the most vivid pinks, blues, purples, whites, and yellows. Although the flowers were beautiful, our reason for being out there was more than just flower gazing. Ian was teaching me (yes me!) how to use his old Nikon D40. Most people don't know this about me but even though I have been through four years of a BFA in Painting and Drawing, I can't take a good picture to save my life. So it was very nice of him to give me a short lesson and teach me the basics of his old "baby".

Gazpacho

After my lesson and running a few errands I quickly whipped up this fast and incredible gazpacho so that everyone could cool down. It was so flavourful and refreshing, especially served beside a rustic style roast beef sandwich. Of course I made a couple changes such as lowering the olive oil to a tablespoon, adding Mexican hot sauce to spice it up a bit, incorporating a couple of squeezes from some key limes, switching the onion for a milder tasting leek, and changing up the white wine vinegar for some pure Quebec Apple cider vinegar.

If you are looking for a quick dinner to cool you down this summer, look no further, you won't be disappointed. Plus you won't have to eat your vegetables for a week!


Gazpacho
this is my version of Ina's Gazpacho

3/4ths of an English cucumber
2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded
4 Italian tomatoes
1 leek
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups Motts Garden Cocktail Tomato juice
1/4 cup Apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp. cup good olive oil
1/2 tbsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1-1/2 tbsp. lime juice
2 tbsp hot sauce, or Franks Red Hot

Roughly chop the cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, and leeks into 1-inch cubes. Put each vegetable separately into a food processor or blender fitted with a steel blade and pulse until it is coarsely chopped. Do not over process! After each vegetable is processed, combine them in a large bowl and add the garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, hot sauce, lime, salt, and pepper. Mix well and chill before serving. The longer gazpacho sits, the more the flavours develop.

15 comments:

♥peachkins♥ said...

So perfect for Summer dinner!

Simones Kitchen said...

Ofcourse my first thought after reading about your photo lesson from Ian was 'Did she make these photos herself??' but I think it looks like Ian's style, so probably not.. :) But maybe you should try it! It's fun!
I love gazpacho but - I have to admit here - I have never made it myself. Just don't know why. There so many recipes I've never made. *sighs deeply* Probably due to a serious lack of time! But this looks delicious and I just bookmarked it to making it next week. Gotta be a first time for making gazpacho and it might as well be with this delicious recipe!

Btw; I am very impressed with you finding all that information about good old "Holland" (aka The Netherlands)

Deb in Hawaii said...

Your gazpacho looks great. I cut down the oil too. It's a perfect summer lunch or dinner.

Suzie said...

The soup looks perfect - and so do your pictures. I love the napery as well - super summery.

Valérie said...

Indeed, this is perfect for our weather now!

I love gazpacho, but only made it once at home. It wasn't a very good recipe, it came out very bland. I think the storebought tomato juice adds a lot of flavour, as strange as it is to say. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

Laurent has also been teaching me how to improve my photography. I have a long way to go, but it's a lot of fun!

Creative Classroom Core said...

Ive always wanted to try Gazpacho - it look so fresh and refreshing!

Anonymous said...

I could eat soup year-round (yes,even in summer) because I think it is a great way to fit a lot of things: flavor, vegetables, meats, etc. But a chilled soup is even better. Great idea with the lime! I bet that played nicely off the heat of the hot sauce.

Anyway, I found you on FoodGawker and am writing to say that if you have any photos that aren’t accepted there, I’d love to publish them. Visit my new site (below), it’s a lot of fun! I hope you will consider it.

Best,
Casey
Editor
http://www.tastestopping.wordpress.com

A.D said...

2nd day in a row and still mercifully cooling in this weather with just enought of a zest to keep one tongue in check. Haaaa thank you Christie !

Penny said...

Your version of this wonderful soup sounds wonderful. Pictures are lovely.

Marian (sweetopia) said...

Yum! I've made Ina Garten's gazpacho before and it's definitely a winner... tried other (non-Ina) recipes but they were too 'oniony', or too this or that... Ina scores every time!

Enjoy the leftovers if you have any- it makes lots doesn't it!?

Hilary said...

I don't actually like gazpacho that much (cold soup - weird) but I must admit it is looking pretty refreshing right now, since we're also having a bit of a heatwave.

And in my opinion, one is ALWAYS allowed to complain about the weather in eastern Ontario or western Quebec. It is too hot or too cold 90% of the time.

Meryl said...

I wish I would have thought of using a milder onion family member--a lot of people seem to have done that and I think it's a really good idea! Glad you liked the recipe!

Chef Shoshana said...

Loving tomato season also! I am in culinary school and have to do a demo tomorrow, so developed a quick gazpacho variation that I just posted: http://naturalchefshoshana.blogspot.com/2009/06/recipe-classic-tomato-gazpacho-with.html

Eva said...

Gorgeous pics!

Aggie said...

You have such a pretty blog! I loved the soup...and loved all the veggies you get from it! Your photos look great!