Recipe: Ad-Hoc Gazpacho
Sep. 23rd, 2010 10:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
coraaSo we got this whole big flat of heirloom tomatoes from the produce box. They are delicious, and we've mostly been eating them by making a salad of sliced tomatoes and a little salt. No other ingredients. Whenever we finish with the salad for the day, I put the bowl back in the fridge; the next day I slice up more tomatoes and toss them in with the leftovers.
Since tomatoes tend to weep liquid, especially when salted, by the end of the week I had a big bowl of tomato juice. So, gazpacho!
This is my 'made-with-what's-in-the-fridge' gazpacho, which accordingly is a bit variant. I had no bell peppers, so I subbed Anaheim peppers. I had no cucumber, so, for crunch, I added tomatillos and radishes instead. It's also more big pieces and less liquid than the gazpachos I've had (ie, it's almost like a very wet salad), although looking at gazpacho pics on Google Images, it looks like the almost-a-salad style is not uncommon either.
This gazpacho recipe, like most, is pretty easy because all it requires is chopping and mixing, and the active time it takes is maybe 15 minutes (although it does need to sit). Being gazpacho it is highly acidic and contains both raw green onions and raw garlic, but it's vegan and, assuming you don't use a gluten-y vinegar, gluten-free.
Anyway, recipe below the cut! This serves two as a meal (alongside bread) or four as an appetizer.
Ad-Hoc Gazpacho
3 good-sized ripe, fresh tomatoes*
2-3 Anaheim peppers
2 large or 3 small tomatillos
3-4 radishes
4 green onions/scallions
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup sherry vinegar**
2 tsp salt
pepper (to taste)
1 qt tomato water*** or tomato juice
Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce of your choice (optional and to taste)
* - I don't usually make a deal about "in season is better!" because that kind of moralizing gets obnoxious really fast. But in this particular case, the tomato flavor is so central that I wouldn't recommend making this with lackluster winter tomatoes. It's more a summer/fall dish.
** - Honestly, I cheerfully sub one vinegar for another if I don't have them, so I expect you could use wine vinegar or even cider vinegar no problem.
*** - "Tomato water" is the natural, uncooked liquid of the tomato that oozes out even if you don't juice/squeeze them: the liquid from the jelly around the seeds, the liquid that comes off if you salt them and let them rest, etc. If you work with a lot of fresh tomatoes, collect the tomato water; it's delicious. If you don't have tomato water (or don't have enough), though, bottled tomato juice works fine.
Cut the tomatoes into bite-sized pieces and put them, with their juice, in a bowl. Thinly slice the peppers and radishes and add them to the bowl. Quarter and thinly slice the tomatillos and add them to the bowl. Halve and thinly slice the scallion, both white and green parts, and add to the bowl. Toss well.
Add the crushed garlic, vinegar, salt, and pepper and toss again. Let sit until the vegetables have exuded some liquid, anywhere from 10-30 minutes. (Actually I doubt it'd hurt anything if you left it longer, it just won't help anything either.)
Once the veg have exuded some liquid, add the tomato water and/or juice and mix well. Add Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce to your taste: I made a pretty spicy gazpacho with four shakes of the Tabasco bottle, but add a little and taste until you reach your preferred spice level. (If you don't like spicy at all, you can leave it off; you'll end up with a very nice tart, garlicky soup.)
Cover with plastic wrap and chuck in the fridge for at least four hours, or up to two days. This is important as it will allow the flavors to blend and meld, and since there are so many strong flavors in it, they really need a chance to let go their hostilities and learn to live in peace.
Anyway! Immediately before serving, taste again and adjust the seasonings. You may find that it needs a smidge more salt, or that the spiciness has mellowed and it needs a bit more pepper sauce... or that the spiciness has intensified and it needs a bit more tomato juice. (No crime in that.)
Serve, drizzled with a smidge of good olive oil, if you have it. There are a million ideas for garnishes for gazpacho: more of the vegetables that were in the soup to start with, garlic croutons, diced avocado, olives, etc., etc. I usually don't bother, to be honest with you, unless it's a dish I'm making to impress somebody.
(25 bonus points to everyone who understands why I used that icon with this post!)
Since tomatoes tend to weep liquid, especially when salted, by the end of the week I had a big bowl of tomato juice. So, gazpacho!
This is my 'made-with-what's-in-the-fridge' gazpacho, which accordingly is a bit variant. I had no bell peppers, so I subbed Anaheim peppers. I had no cucumber, so, for crunch, I added tomatillos and radishes instead. It's also more big pieces and less liquid than the gazpachos I've had (ie, it's almost like a very wet salad), although looking at gazpacho pics on Google Images, it looks like the almost-a-salad style is not uncommon either.
This gazpacho recipe, like most, is pretty easy because all it requires is chopping and mixing, and the active time it takes is maybe 15 minutes (although it does need to sit). Being gazpacho it is highly acidic and contains both raw green onions and raw garlic, but it's vegan and, assuming you don't use a gluten-y vinegar, gluten-free.
Anyway, recipe below the cut! This serves two as a meal (alongside bread) or four as an appetizer.
 |
| From Food, Fall 2010 |
Ad-Hoc Gazpacho
3 good-sized ripe, fresh tomatoes*
2-3 Anaheim peppers
2 large or 3 small tomatillos
3-4 radishes
4 green onions/scallions
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup sherry vinegar**
2 tsp salt
pepper (to taste)
1 qt tomato water*** or tomato juice
Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce of your choice (optional and to taste)
* - I don't usually make a deal about "in season is better!" because that kind of moralizing gets obnoxious really fast. But in this particular case, the tomato flavor is so central that I wouldn't recommend making this with lackluster winter tomatoes. It's more a summer/fall dish.
** - Honestly, I cheerfully sub one vinegar for another if I don't have them, so I expect you could use wine vinegar or even cider vinegar no problem.
*** - "Tomato water" is the natural, uncooked liquid of the tomato that oozes out even if you don't juice/squeeze them: the liquid from the jelly around the seeds, the liquid that comes off if you salt them and let them rest, etc. If you work with a lot of fresh tomatoes, collect the tomato water; it's delicious. If you don't have tomato water (or don't have enough), though, bottled tomato juice works fine.
Cut the tomatoes into bite-sized pieces and put them, with their juice, in a bowl. Thinly slice the peppers and radishes and add them to the bowl. Quarter and thinly slice the tomatillos and add them to the bowl. Halve and thinly slice the scallion, both white and green parts, and add to the bowl. Toss well.
Add the crushed garlic, vinegar, salt, and pepper and toss again. Let sit until the vegetables have exuded some liquid, anywhere from 10-30 minutes. (Actually I doubt it'd hurt anything if you left it longer, it just won't help anything either.)
Once the veg have exuded some liquid, add the tomato water and/or juice and mix well. Add Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce to your taste: I made a pretty spicy gazpacho with four shakes of the Tabasco bottle, but add a little and taste until you reach your preferred spice level. (If you don't like spicy at all, you can leave it off; you'll end up with a very nice tart, garlicky soup.)
Cover with plastic wrap and chuck in the fridge for at least four hours, or up to two days. This is important as it will allow the flavors to blend and meld, and since there are so many strong flavors in it, they really need a chance to let go their hostilities and learn to live in peace.
Anyway! Immediately before serving, taste again and adjust the seasonings. You may find that it needs a smidge more salt, or that the spiciness has mellowed and it needs a bit more pepper sauce... or that the spiciness has intensified and it needs a bit more tomato juice. (No crime in that.)
Serve, drizzled with a smidge of good olive oil, if you have it. There are a million ideas for garnishes for gazpacho: more of the vegetables that were in the soup to start with, garlic croutons, diced avocado, olives, etc., etc. I usually don't bother, to be honest with you, unless it's a dish I'm making to impress somebody.
(25 bonus points to everyone who understands why I used that icon with this post!)