Gazpacho

I’ll be the first to admit that this is cheat’s gazpacho made with tinned tomatoes not fresh, but when your own crop is nowhere near ripe and store bought are flavourless then I really am not going to apologize. If you’ve got tasty, ripe, fresh tomatoes go for it.

I’ve made this twice so far this summer.  First was Christmas Eve in Taranaki when I’d been rostered on for dinner on Day One.  Arriving at 3.30pm after a long drive from Auckland, I set about making it (after first refreshing with a cup of tea and slice of Christmas cake). I was under a bit of time pressure to chill the gazpacho down (yes, serves me right for using a cooked tomato sauce instead of fresh tomatoes!). In the end I poured small amounts to just cover the bottom of several ice cream containers and placed them in any fridge or freezer I could find and thankfully managed to get the soup to the desired chilled temperature. 

Having learnt my lesson, the second time was far easier as I made the entire soup dish at home, froze it and took it down with us early morning for a weekend in Tairua.  It was left to defrost during the day (out of the fridge), and reached perfect chill temperature just in time for dinner.  From there it was an easy assemble into glasses (I like to take these with me as I can’t always guarantee I’m going to find the right vessels at the holiday home).  It also won a gold star from me as the easiest, no-stress dish I’ve ever had to present at a shared meal.

The recipe is my adaptation and combination of two Jamie Oliver recipes – his Spanish Gazpacho from Jamie Does and his simple but wonderful tomato sauce from The Naked Chef, which I use for just about everything – pasta, pizza base, shakshouka et al.

For the gazpacho, I cook the sauce first and then, once chilled, add the additional elements for the soup.

It’s the perfect little starter for an outdoor evening meal or serve it at lunch with breads, cheese and antipasto platters.

Gazpacho

Basic sauce

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large clove garlic, crushed

½ - 1 red chilli, chopped & seeds removed or 1 small dried chilli, crumbled

2 tsp dried oregano

2 tins whole Italian cherry tomatoes (or Italian tomatoes)

½ tsp sugar

1 tbsp good quality balsamic vinegar

a handful of fresh basil or marjoram or Italian parsley (or combo of two)

salt & freshly ground pepper

1 tbsp good quality extra virgin olive oil

Additional elements to make the Gazpacho 

¼ of a day-old ciabatta loaf (250g)

1 tsp harissa (I use Greg Malouf Red Harissa)

¾ Lebanese cucumber, peeled, roughly chopped

1 red or yellow pepper, deseeded & roughly chopped

splash olive oil

splash balsamic vinegar

To serve

finely chopped red pepper

fresh herbs

extra virgin olive oil

good balsamic vinegar

sea salt & freshly ground pepper

For the tomato sauce

In a thick-bottomed pan, gently fry the garlic with the olive oil, then add the chilli, oregano and tomatoes.  Mix gently, being careful not to break the whole tomatoes (according to Jamie, this will make the sauce slightly bitter).

Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 1 hour.  Stir in the balsamic vinegar and sugar.  If you’re using as a sauce only, either chop or use a potato masher and crush the tomatoes into the sauce. Add the herbs.  Season well to taste and stir in the extra virgin olive oil.

Use as a sauce or leave to cool for the following Gazpacho recipe.

For the gazpacho

Slice the bread and remove crusts.  Place in a bowl with 100ml cold water for about 5-10 minutes.

Place cooled tomato sauce mix in liquidizer or food processor and whiz.  Squeeze the water from the bread and add the bread, pepper, cucumber, harissa and a splash of cold water to the bowl and whiz again.  The colour will change to a more pinky-orange because of the bread.  Add more water if required to get to the right “soup” consistency.  Adjust seasoning to taste.  Add more sugar if necessary. Either place in a covered jug in the fridge to chill or freeze. 

Serve at chilled temperature in soup bowls or glass (I prefer glasses). 

Drizzle the top with good quality extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar (or sherry vinegar, if you have it).  Garnish with finely chopped red pepper and finely chopped fresh herbs e.g. basil, thyme, marjoram, Italian parsley.

I offer teaspoons, but it can be either spooned or sipped from the glass.

Etcetera ... Afternoon Tea in the Country

Excuse me while I just ease or squeeze myself into the comfy trackpants and settle on the couch for a rest. I've just had afternoon tea with some food bloggers here at my home and there was so much good food that I am fit to burst. I didn't quite manage to taste everything but I have a little stash to try at work tomorrow. Well, there's got to be some good bits about a Monday back at work, isn't there?

I've "known" (in the blogging sense) Arfi since I first starting reading food blogs a few years ago and I finally got to meet her today.  Arfi blogs at HomeMadeS and arrived not only with some unusual little treats but a box of her homegrown limes and cartons of eggs for the rest of us to make use of.  Thank you Arfi, it was a pleasure to have you here.

Arfi didn't have too far to come as she lives nearby.  The others, making the road trip from Auckland, were:

Mairi, fellow Scot and author of Toast.

Alli of Pease Pudding and busy baker at her Pop Up Patisserie in Waimauku, as well as blogging and cookery classes when she has time!

Carmella at Easy Food Hacks.

Gillian from So So Simple.

Thanks for your lovely contributions and company.

The air was afresh with citrus notes. Mairi had delved into Ottolenghi's Jerusalem and baked a loaf bursting with flavours of orange marmalade and coconut.  In a similar, yet different, vein, Carmella produced a moist orange almond cake.  Alli had little iced lemon polenta cakes, luscious little lemon tarts and chocolate raspberry tarts. Gillian brought a crunchy chocolate slice and Arfi tempted us with some exotic looking delights.

In a state of doubt as to whether anything I made would succeed, I attempted two recipes, the star of which were some mini chocolate banoffee tarts.  Next up on my list were vanilla cupcakes with an apricot cream cheese icing.  The swirls on the cupcakes were thanks to this tutorial on Lydia Bakes - by far the quickest, simplest, easiest and most successful icing tutorial I have ever watched.  I was pleased with the results.

Alli was bemused with me for using recipes to make sandwiches but I swear these are the best cucumber sandwiches I have ever made and the salmon and herb cream cheese ones came a close second.

Most of us drank tea and I picked Twining's New Zealand Earl Grey which is a fragrant bergamot tea with orange blossom.  So refreshing, I managed four cups served in Bill's grandmother's tea set making its first official outing here. I think the plates matched the salmon very well.

Watch out for upcoming posts on those banoffee tarts and cupcakes (the sandwiches might get a look in too).