Gazpacho!

I was excited to finally get going on this. Gazpacho is one of the simplest recipes in the book and is traditionally served as a cold refreshing soup. I wanted to get this done while there were still decent tomatoes available... certainly not the height of the season, but better than February!


I started this recipe yesterday. First I made the Balsamic glaze which took quite a lot of time, around 4 hours I think. Basically, you very carefully reduce 2 cups of balsamic vinegar to about a half cup, carefully controlling the temperature the whole time.

Sorry about the poor picture quality, the only device I hand at hand was my iPhone... not the best in terms of quality but hey, it's what I had.

Next I chopped and peeled and chopped some more, (there are about a dozen ingredients in this gazpacho). When all mixed together, the ingredients have to sit in the fridge overnight. Here's how they looked before their trip to the chill chest:

Pretty isn't it? Very colorful and had a wonderful fragrance too!

After a night of rest, the veggies jump into the blender where they are pureed into a smooth refreshing soup. You could taste each of the flavors, lots of acids but balanced with some cucumbers and there is a tiny bit of cayenne pepper in here that gave it a nice little kick.

Once pureed, you spoon it into a bowl and drizzle some of the balsamic glaze on top. I am not at all artistic and I am sure I drizzled more than they would at the French Laundry but I thought it looked pretty and the sweet acidity really was a nice complement to the soup.

So there you have it! One recipe (two if you count the glaze) down and a lot more to come. I had a lot of fun with this, and luckily my neighbors have said they will help eat the results. Not sure what's next, maybe another recipe with the balsamic glaze.

See you soon!