Imagine my surprise to check Wikipedia and discover that the soup I have been calling Gazpacho, technically is not! According to that article, the traditional ingredients for gazpacho are stale bread, garlic, olive oil, salt, and vinegar. And my version has only garlic and vinegar from that list. As you can see, I persist in calling my version gazpacho anyway. Besides which, my Spanish-born son-in-law gave my recipe a stamp of approval years ago and that is enough for me.
My first gazpacho was created when we had a summer house on Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes in New York state. I began with a recipe from a Junior League cookbook published by the Finger Lakes chapter. Like many people on the lake we had a garden that thrived, giving us tomatoes and tomatoes and tomatoes, along with other vegetables that we chose to plant. Even better than our own garden, was Frank's garden next door to us. He grew everything from garlic and onions to peppers and corn in a plot about 10 feet by 10 feet. Such abundance came from his green thumb that we were the recipients of a summer's worth of vegetables.
There is nothing like a fresh ripe and sun-warmed tomato from a home garden. But no longer having a home garden, I do the next best thing and shop at The Boys in Delray Beach. And I am sorry for those of you who are still struggling with ice and snow, but we have fresh local tomatoes right now in enough abundance for this soup. Canned tomatoes are an adequate replacement for Northerners who can't wait until June.
Gazpacho soup with jalapeno slices and scallions
2 1/2 pounds tomatoes, cut into chunks
1 medium green bell pepper, chunked
1 medium red bell pepper, chunked
2 stalks celery, chunked
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small onion, chunked
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and chunked
2 large cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 cups tomato juice
ground black pepper to taste
Assemble all of the ingredients so you can easily put them into a food processor in batches. Set aside a couple of strips of peppers and cucumber to dice for garnishing each bowl when served.
In a food processor one batch at a time, buzz all ingredients until small chunks remain. Some people like their soup nearly liquefied; some like identifiable size pieces of vegetables. Stir together together all of the batches and pour into a large bowl with a cover (or plastic wrap).
Chill the soup for several hours and serve cold garnished with a few pieces of diced peppers and cucumber. If you really like hot foods, you can also add jalapeno slices and scallions as additional garnish as Jerry did.
1 medium green bell pepper, chunked
1 medium red bell pepper, chunked
2 stalks celery, chunked
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small onion, chunked
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and chunked
2 large cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 cups tomato juice
ground black pepper to taste
Assemble all of the ingredients so you can easily put them into a food processor in batches. Set aside a couple of strips of peppers and cucumber to dice for garnishing each bowl when served.
In a food processor one batch at a time, buzz all ingredients until small chunks remain. Some people like their soup nearly liquefied; some like identifiable size pieces of vegetables. Stir together together all of the batches and pour into a large bowl with a cover (or plastic wrap).
Chill the soup for several hours and serve cold garnished with a few pieces of diced peppers and cucumber. If you really like hot foods, you can also add jalapeno slices and scallions as additional garnish as Jerry did.
No comments:
Post a Comment