Friends, family, readers. I know, it's been a minute. But I've been busy cooking a TINY HUMAN (coming soon!) so it is what it is, y'all.
Things have been busy in preparation: we acquired a chest freezer, for one thing, so there's been a lot of freezer loading happening in hopes of not subsisting on takeout in the beginning. TBD how well it will all work out - but rest assured I'll [try to] keep you posted. It's gardening season, too, and things are hopping out on Deck MiniFarm. I was hoping everything would be pretty well established before the Munchkin makes his or her appearance, but things are kind of neck and neck at this point. More on that in another post.
For today's deliciousness: a legit warm-weather recipe! At no point do you turn on the oven or the stovetop! (Well, assuming you have some grilling access. If not the stovetop might be needed. Sorry.)
I made gazpacho last night - first time making it, first time making a non-beverage in the Vitamix, and...first time using those tomatoes I canned last summer. (Did I tell you about those? It was kind of a debacle involving a severely overheated kitchen and possibly some loss of product due to paranoia about things not being fully blanched before going in a jar. This summer's excess is getting frozen.)
Anyway -- it was delicious! Also since nobody got sick from the tomatoes, which were not re-heated in the making of gazpacho, I guess the canning worked too. I paired it with marinated grilled skirt steak skewers (recipe below), and all was well. This particular gazpacho is of the smoother variety, not so chunky -- possibly due to my particular tomatoes + equipment. But I imagine it could easily be adjusted for chunkiness.
** No photos because....we ate it all too fast. **
The whole thing was super easy -- chop things up and stick them in the fridge for a bit, and quickly blend and grill. The sitting-in-in-the-fridge means that this is probably not everyone's weeknight dinner unless you work from home or get home at a reasonable hour, but it's a fresh and bright weekend meal for a hot summer day. The gazpacho really benefits from a good hour in the fridge, and the skewers marinate for at LEAST 30 minutes. So I guess you could make the marinade and chop the veggies the night before.
For the apparatus: Having a Vitamix made this incredibly easy. You could also, I imagine, use a food processor (a large one), or another brand of powerful/quality blender, or possibly even a stick blender with the right container, although that might be tricky. Either way, experiment!
Fresh Tomato Gazpacho (in a Vitamix or similar contraption)
Ingredients
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 2 large bell peppers, cored and seeded
- 1 small cucumber
- 1/2 medium red onion
- 2 pounds ripe tomatoes, cored [*Note from your blogger: I used about 4 pint jars of tomatoes, semi-drained as they had quite a lot of liquid in them. An alternate is a 28oz can of diced tomatoes, the higher quality the better, but generall skip the bland supermarket "fresh" tomatoes - they will be seriously lacking in flavor.*]
- 1/4 cup sherry vinegar [*Red wine vinegar is what I had - worked fine.*]
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon pimenton de la vera (Spanish smoked paprika), or sweet paprika [I had Hungarian sweet or spicy, no smoked, so went with sweet]
- minced red onion for garnish [I forgot this...it still worked. Could also use fresh minced radish for the crunch & bite.]
Directions
1. Mince the garlic, prep the vegetables
Put the lid on the blender and remove the center plug from the lid. Turn on the blender, drop in the garlic, and let it run until completely minced. While the garlic is mincing, chop the rest of the vegetables into roughly 2 inch pieces.
2. Blend the soup
Add the rest of the ingredients to the blender. Turn the blender on low, and gradually bring it up to medium speed. Blend on medium speed until the ingredients turn into a soup, about 30 seconds at most in the Vitamix - it will liquify quickly and you don't want it TOO thin. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt, pepper, or sherry vinegar if needed. Pour into bowls, garnish with minced red onion, and serve.
Important note: If you have time, let the soup rest in the refrigerator for an hour or two before serving. This is vastly improved when quite chilled.
Leftovers will keep for a couple of days in the refrigerator. Alternately, due to the lack of bread or dairy that are sometimes found in gazpacho, this should freeze fine -- just give it a good stir, possibly whisk, when defrosted.
Play with this recipe a bit! I think it would be tasty with maybe some corn kernels thrown in at the end, or garnished with a protein like some shrimp. There's a lot of room for creativity.
Grilled Skirt Steak Skewers
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1-inch piece of ginger, sliced [*I didn't have fresh, or even dried, so used powdered. It was fine - if you love ginger, though, making sure to have fresh is probably wise.*]
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 to 2 pounds skirt steak, trimmed of membranes and silver skin [*Note: you can adjust this -- I used about 3/4 lb since it was just for two of us. I didn't adjust the marinade proportions accordingly, but you certainly can.*]
- Olive oil for grill grates
- 25-30 bamboo or wooden skewers for grilling [*I have metal ones that I use and they're fine - just don't try to marinate on them!*]
Directions
1. Place bamboo or wooden skewers in a dish, cover with water to soak.
2. Place all marinade ingredients in a small bowl, stir to combine. Set aside.
3. Lay the skirt steak horizontally out on a cutting board. Notice the grain of the steak that goes up and down. Cut the steak into segments (along the grain of the meat), about 6 to 8-inches long. Then, with each segment, turn the segment so the grain of the meat runs in a line from left to right, and cut thin strips (1/4 to 1/3-inch thick, 1 1/2-inch wide, 6 to 8-inches long), angling the knife, cutting across the grain. [
*I can't say I really followed this religiously - I just cut at an angle once. It was fine. You can be as careful as you see fit.*]
4. Place the steak slices in a non-reactive bowl or dish. Toss with the marinade to coat. Chill and marinate for at least 30 minutes, up to 2 hours.
5. Preheat your grill, whether charcoal or gas, for high-direct heat. While the grill is preheating, thread the marinated skirt steak strips onto your pre-soaked skewers.
6. When ready to grill, brush the grill grates with olive oil (it helps to fold a paper towel, soak the towel in olive oil, and use long handled tongs to hold the soaked paper towel and spread oil on the grates). Working in batches if necessary, lay the skirt steak skewers on the hot grill grates, perpendicular to the grates. Grill for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until cooked through. Remove from grill and let sit for a few minutes before serving.
