DU gourmet cooks! I need your BEST gazpacho recipe for

[CTyankee]

a very important upcoming party! Tell me your "secret" ingredient that makes YOURS the best!

Thanks, all!:hi:

P.S. Is there a small food processor I can get that won't take up a mammoth amount of space (I have a small kitchen)?

[Richard Steele]

1. My only "secret" is attention to detail, but here's my recipe:

1 1/2 pounds tomatos
5 or 6 cloves garlic
1 red onion
1 small cucumber
1 very mild Anaheim pepper (or green bell pepper, if preferred)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste*

Now the attention to detail:
Get the BEST fresh tomatos you can find.
Farmers' market, organic-food store, neigbor's garden- whatever it takes.
You want the ones that will have your entire car smelling like tomatos
by the time you get home- do NOT settle for less!

Peel the tomatos;
cut the ends off the cucumber and slice it lengthwise;
then take all the tomato and cucumber innards and REMOVE the SEEDS.

I dump the guts into a wire strainer and push them through
by hand to seperate the seeds out.
Toss the seeds, save the rest.

Quarter the pepper, discard stem and seeds.

Peel the garlic, and flatten it with whatever blunt object is handy.

Then everything goes in the food processor
until it looks like gazpacho, then into the fridge
in a sealed container for at LEAST 6 hours, preferably overnight.
That standing period is VERY important- you can't rush it.

I don't actually own a food processor myself, just a blender,
and it has a bad habit of over-liquifying things.
So I carefully mix in several small batches, AND
I set aside:
1 whole tomato
1/4 of the onion and anaheim pepper
1/3 of the cucumber
1/2 the fresh parsley, basil, and cilantro
And then I dice them by hand just as small as I can get them,
and add them back into the blended mix.

*SALT and PEPPER
I recommend using LESS salt than you think it needs initially,
then tasting it again after it has stood overnight, and adjusting
if it needs it.

And for the pepper, if you can find some whole Green Madgascar
peppercorns and grind them yourself, I really recommend it.
It's a light, spicy peppercorn which is ideal for cold dishes, IMHO.

And P.S: NO METAL BOWLS. That's a big no-no for the tomatos, unless
you want them to taste like a tin can.

[CTyankee]

2. Thanks so much! This looks great!

I have printed it out and will use it for my event!!

P.S. I have seen Spanish recipes for gazpacho and they include a water soaked piece of bread. Do you use that? (It wasn't in your recipe and I am reluctant to use it because I find it strange, but, who knows...?).

[Richard Steele]

3. Ah, I'm glad you asked!

I believe the bread is traditionally included not for FLAVOR,
but to adjust the final CONSISTENCY of the dish.
The wheat glutins act as a thickening agent.

I have never used it, because my recipe runs to the THICK
side of the spectrum already- if anything, you'll probably need
to add some water to achieve perfect Gazpacho consistency.

It needs to be a little thicker than an ordinary soup,
but not much. Thin enough so the stupidest person in the room
will still not think it's a SALSA, KnowutImean?
(I use bottled water if I need to thin it, because our tap water here is NOT fit for truly fine cuisine)

And I also forgot to mention an important point about the lemon juice.
Always bear in mind that there is NO SUCH THING as an absolutely
correct "recipe measurement" of fresh-squeezed lemon juice, because no two lemons
are created equal.

After you measure the 1/3 cup, only pour about 2/3rds of it into the mix.
Retain the rest to ADJUST the mixture once it's blended.
Taste, add a few drops, mix well, and taste it again after 10 minutes...
repeat as necessary!

It might be FINE at first taste, or you might end up adding twice as much
before it gets where you want it to be. That is the nature of fresh lemon juice.
The recipe I used the first time actually said "the juice of 1 to 3 lemons".

And on a personally NOSY note: You have got me really curious about
this 'event' you are making Gazpacho for. It is obviously VERY important to
you, and I am just ITCHING to know what your whole Gazpacho-quest
is all about.

[CTyankee]

6. OK, since you asked!

The party is a retirement gig, all female, featuring chocolate, strawberries and champagne. It is a dress up affair, the highlight of which will be retirement gifts of a hand made quilt by some participants and a fabulous sterling silver bracelet from Tiffany's. All food has to be "no fork" items. I had two recipes in mind, either grapes rolled in a cream cheese/roquefort cheese mixture and coated with toasted chopped almonds or gazpacho in peeled, 1 1/2" high cucumber "cups" that can be consumed in one or two bites. Both are ideas of Martha Stewart. I wanted to do something different and since a couple of professional caterers are among the contributors, I wanted to do the best I could.

Martha says put tiny diced bits of cucumber on top of each "cup" but I am thinking tiny diced hard cooked egg or maybe little thin slices of scallions. What do you think?

P.S. Thanks for the info on the bread. It did sound weird to me.

P.P.S. Do you NOT recommend using tomato juice instead of water to thin out the consistency (if necessary).

[Richard Steele]

8. OOh, that sounds pretty swanky!

I'd go with the diced egg, just because it already
has plenty of cucumber and onion...
but the scallions might LOOK prettier, and
that's important too.

Yes, I'm sure tomato juice would be a better way to go,
but I don't usually have any, so I cheat.

[CTyankee]

10. Yeah, well partner always has tomato juice on hand so

that's how it goes.

Just hoping the tomatoes from my "farm market" are not too greenhouse. Would that matter (as opposed to canned)?

[BlueCollar]

4. add 1 slice of a fresh avocado

to the finished soup. Dust it with salt and lay it gently in the middle....

[AngryAmish]

5. Go back to Russia!

Apologies to Barney

[eyesroll]

7. My recipe:

1 big can chopped tomatoes (NOTE: Unless you're in an area where tomatoes are in season in June, use canned. Use the ones that say: "Ingredients: Tomatoes." If you're using fresh tomatoes, peel and seed them first.)
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 red onion
1 bunch parsley
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded
4 cloves garlic
Bread crumbs from the equivalent of 2 slices of bread
1 big splash olive oil
1 big splash sherry vinegar
1 jalapeno (optional)

Chop everything small, then puree it together. Thin with a little ice water if you want. Let it chill for several hours or overnight.

Serve with the following garnishes (everyone can spoon on what they want to use):
Chopped hardboiled eggs
Sliced green olives
Chopped red or green peppers
Chopped red onions
Croutons
Chopped cucumber (skin and seeds are OK)

[SOteric]

9. Erm... yeah,

• Use a 50/50 blend of Bloody Mary Mix and V-8's Spicy Hot, (or Snappy Tom) in place of the tomato juice.
• Thicken the soup by adding in a bit of torn apart sourdough bread with the crusts removed, then whir with an immersion blender/stand blender/robot coupe/food processor. Add the chopped vegetables in when the soup has reached the proper consistency.
  
• use some amount of chopped fresh organic or roma tomatoes just for the texture they provide, make sure they're peeled before you dice them. (let me know if you need info on peeling tomatoes.)
  
• garnish with a small piece of shrimp, - they'll look gorgeous against the rest of the background colours.

Happy gazpacho-ing. :hi:

[CTyankee]

11. Yep, Legal Sea Foods in Boston always had shrimp in its gazpacho

and boy, was that good! Great recipe and thanks!