gazpacho

#9, all right!

I have posted this a few times before as this is my favorite, after a lot of versions I would even go as far as to call it the ultimate...

In a blender put:

1kg big juicy tomatoes (halved)
1 green pepper (sliced)
3/4 cucumber (Peeled and sliced)
2 dessertspoons of grated onion
2 handfuls crumbled slightly stale bread (insides not crusts)

Whizz it until smooth. Take half out and put through a sieve, put back in blender and add:

3 crushed garlic cloves (maybe a little more if feel like it...)
4 dessertspoons good olive oil
3 dessertspoons really good sherry vinegar (i disagree a bit as think really good vinegar adds to it, if you haven't got it it doesn't matter and use whatever winevinegar you have, but if you have use it.)
Salt and Pepper

To thin add a few ice cubes before putting in fridge for a couple of hours. If you like it creamy add a hard-boiled egg at the last blend.

The recipe is supposedly for 4 but 2 greedy hungry people could manage it.

zoe1979 wrote: "will give it a whirl..." Good one, Zoe!

Unesco, about being wary of commercial seasonings ~~ the product I mention above is one I've used literally for decades. It's essentially a seasoned salt innocent of msg. I eschew garlic powder & the like in my cooking, but find that a dash of this stuff simply works. As a friend of mine put it, "It's what you use when you know the food needs something, but you don't know what."

You can make a facsimile at home, & thus know exactly with what you're working: creole seasonings. Thanks for the cumin tip -- that never would have occurred to me!

Anonimo, as always, you've elevated a regular recipe into something truly special. What is Pimentón de La Vera?

Re: the romas -- I was told that they've pretty much taken over the Mexican tomato market because they yield up to three harvests a year. Bummer. However, if you throw an over-ripe roma out into the yard, you'll get a great volunteer plant with tasty "bola" tomatoes. I try to seek out heirloom varieties at markets, but they are getting more & more scarce.

bix, Pimentón de la Vera is smoked Spanish Páprika, orginating in the Valle de la Vera. It is available in sweet (mild), bitter-sweet (semi-picante) and bitter (full strength, yet nowhere near as picante as hotter chiles.

That's a nice addition, I'd say!

Here's a little Gazpacho secret, make your fave Gazpacho recipe and then add a few large cold cooked and peeled prawns to it, adds a whole new delicious dimension to it.

See #7, Guruwil.