It. Is. Hot. In. Philadelphia. After a wonderful 4th of July
which was only slightly marred by work (quarter ends…the bane of accountants
everywhere) July 5th was a long day.
I walked out of work to discover that the world had become an inferno in…it’s
been that way for days. During my brief
spells of brain shake out at the office (that time when you let your mind
wander to pressing issues such as how many chores you want to get done when you get home
because it is unAmericanly hot out and most friends are out of town because there is a beach somewhere) I contemplated not only how much I wanted
my new mattress topper to be at my apartment upon my return and how I was going
to launder my sheets so they are nice for the new mattress topper…but I also
was thinking about what I had in my fridge to cook with.
In this infernal heat, and in my delightful apartment that
only has air conditioning in my bedroom, cooking has come to mean “what can I throw
together that involves no heat” so I had a vague plan for gazpacho. I looked up a few recipes to compare and
contrast to see what I had/would want to use/would like and decided that with
the epically delicious cherries I’d impulse bought on Monday (sorry I’m 100%
not sorry) I’d make…
Cherry Gazpacho –
from my brain
Ingredients (all
portions are estimates):
- ½ clove elephant garlic – check
- 2-3 stalks of celery – check
- ½ large cucumber – check
- 1 heirloom tomato – check
- 1-1 ½ cup cherries, halved – check
- Some onion (not enough to be overpowering, about a quarter inch slice of a medium onion) – check
- 1 tbs balsamic vinegar – check
- 1 tsp lemon juice – check
- Salt and pepper to taste – check
- ½ tsp frozen cilantro – check
Step 1: Cut all of the fruits and veggies up into sizable
chunks, peel all those that need peeling, and be sure to seed the tomato. I don’t know why you do that, but the Watermelon Gazpacho recipe I use says to do it so I keep with that trend
seeing as I know I like Watermelon Gazpacho.
Step 2: Toss all your fruits and veggies in a bowl, the perfect
kind of bowl is that bowl I inherited from my Teta, I hope you have a metal one of these too. Add balsamic, lemon juice, salt and pepper,
and cilantro. Toss.
Step 3: Slowly add the ingredients to your Cuisinart,
and blend. Now remember folks, that your
average Cuisinart (my amazing 9 cup…12 cup?...many cups Cuisinart food
processor) doesn’t allow you to fill it up too much with liquidy creations
because it gets angry and spills all over the place, so scope out some blended gazpacho and add some ingredients... make it work. I bet if you had a real blender then THAT
might work better and quicker.
Step 4: Put the whole gazpacho back into your mixing bowl and
stir, put the bowl in the fridge while you clean up.
Step 5: When you’re almost done cleaning, put a serving bowl
in the freezer, when you have finished cleaning then serve yourself in that bowl, put the rest of the
gazpacho into containers for lunches. Or your friends, like Mai who may get to
try some tomorrow.
DAMN I AM A GOOD GAZPACHO MAKER. Actually, to be fair I’ve only ever eaten
gazpacho that I’ve made, but I swear it’s perfect...ly lovely. This Cherry Gazpacho is tarter than the
Watermelon Gazpacho, but I like that. I
am totally digging the hints of spices and the punch every once in a while of
the garlic. Pretty sure a vampire will
never get me. The best part is, the
gazpacho cooled me down while I made Five Layer Bars (seen here: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Five-Layer-Bars-367589)
for Graham Cracker Day today, to bring to the office tomorrow (and save as treats for friends).
This speriment gets a +5 for cooling me down, +5 for very
easy setup and cleanup, +18 for flavor, +10 for health, +6 for my new mattress topper and laundered sheets, and +7 for Five Layer
Bars! Happy Sperimenting!
Cherry Gazpacho!
Five-Layer Bars!
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