Gazpacho—Red and White

Now that its summer featuring warm days and the Farmers Markets with their sumptuous tomatoes and other veggie delights, good cold gazpacho always comes to my mind.  There are so many different varieties of this wonderful soup but I am going to offer for your palate two: one red and one white.

 

Red Gazpacho:

Serves 6

1 clove garlic, halved

1 egg (if the raw scares you, don’t use it or coddle it first for a minute)

1/8^th Tsp. cayenne pepper

1/2 Tsp. salt

3 Tblsp. cider or wine vinegar

1/4 C. olive oil

1/2 small onion, peeled and quartered

2 large ripe tomatoes, cut up (If the tomatoes are not tasty, I have used the canned variety)

1/2 green pepper, seeded and cut in strips (you can also use, red, yellow or orange)

1 medium cucumber, peeled and coarsely cut

1/2 C. beef consommé

 

Directions:

In a blender, put the garlic, egg, cayenne pepper, salt, vinegar, and olive oil. Cover and blend on low speed for 5 seconds.

Add remaining ingredients, cover, and blend on high speed for 30 seconds.

Taste—and if you wish to make spicier add more cayenne, whatever.

Chill and serve very cold along with garlic croutons and chopped fresh parsley.

 

White Gazpacho:

Makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

3 cucumbers (preferably English) peeled

4 tomatoes, chopped

1/2  C. green onions, thinly sliced

1/2  C. fresh parsley, chopped

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 C. sour cream

1 C. yogurt

1 C. chicken or vegetable broth

3 Tblsp. red wine vinegar

Juice of 1 lemon

1 to 1 1/2 Tsp. salt

1 Tsp. white pepper

1 C. sunflower seed, roasted and salted, for garnish

 

Directions:

Dice one of the cucumbers and add to a bowl along with the chopped tomatoes, green onions, parsley, and garlic.

Cut the other two cucumbers into 1-inch cubes

In a blender, add one half the cucumber pieces and puree with the sour cream until smooth.  Add to the bowl of veggies.  Repeat this step with the other half of the cucumber pieces and the yogurt.  Add to the veggie bowl.

Add the stock, vinegar, lemon juice, salt and white pepper.

Stir well and chill for at least 2 hours.

Serve very cold with sunflower seeds.

(If you would rather not have veggie chumks in the soup, mix the whole in the blender to make a smooth textured Gazpacho.)

 

For easy access and printing of this and past recipes, visit Margot’s blog http://blog.tempinnkeeper.com  Call Margot for personal cooking help @ 721-3551.

Margot is a self-taught enthusiastic & passionate cook. Having been an inn-keeper for 5 years at her own inn, she accumulated a lot of good recipes which she loves to share.