Gazpacho

This gazpacho recipe is from Jaleo, a Spanish tapas restaurant in DC. I've had it in the restaurant and it is sublime! The chef gave out the recipe to the Washington Post several years ago, and I make it without fail every summer as soon as the real tomatoes are available. Last week I was seduced into buying a 20-lb flat of damaged/spotted tomatoes at the farmers market (only 69 cents/pound! and just as good as the regular ones once you cut out the bad spots!). Fortunately that impulse purchase coincided with record high heats, so I made two pitchers full of gazpacho in a short space of time.

I don't usually mess about with all the garnishes. Also I don't strain it, so it is literally something you can toss in the blender, blend, chill, and eat. Although last time I did make the croutons and they were great.

For the gazpacho:
10 (2 pounds) plum tomatoes, quartered
1 medium cucumber, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, or more to taste (THIS IS THE SECRET!! Rush out and buy some immediately!)
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, preferably Spanish (NOTE: I usually only use 1/4 cup or so. It's fabulously rich with the whole amount. Sublime, but not everyday fare.)
1 to 2 teaspoon salt

For the garnish:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, preferably Spanish
1 slice rustic white bread
12 cherry tomatoes, halved (or quartered if large)
1 medium cucumber, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4 pearl onions, quartered and separated into segments
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
Sea salt
4 chives, cut into 1-inch pieces

For the gazpacho: In a blender or food processor, add the tomatoes, cucumber, green bell pepper, garlic, sherry vinegar and water and blend until the mixture becomes a thick liquid. Taste for acidity (this will vary with the sweetness of the tomatoes) and add more vinegar if necessary. Add the oil and salt. Blend again briefly to thoroughly incorporate the oil. Pour through a fine-mesh strainer into a pitcher or large bowl. [I usually skip this step. Too much hassle.] Cover and refrigerate until cool, at least 30 minutes.

For the garnish: Meanwhile, in a small saute pan over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon of the oil. When it is shimmering, add the bread and cook until golden on both sides, about 2 minutes. Break the bread into small pieces to form about 16 croutons and set aside.

To assemble the soup, distribute the croutons, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and onions evenly among the bowls and drizzle with sherry vinegar and the remaining olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt and chives. At the table, pour the chilled gazpacho over the garnish. Serve immediately.

Recipe Source:
Adapted from “Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America,” by Jose Andres (Clarkson Potter, 2005, $35).

Did I say "sublime" twice in the same post? Try it and see if I'm not justified in a little hyperbole.

Amazing Alfredo Asparagus Chicken

• Four to Six chicken breasts (I used frozen boneless/skinless); whichever fit well in a covered saucepan without overlapping.

• One bunch asparagus, I cut the woody part off and then cut the tops in half so they were about 1.5" long.

• One 15 oz. can alfredo sauce (I've also made my own, which is yummier, but this was super easy/quick)

• Enough pasta for six servings. I used a "summer" pasta that was a macaroni weight, so it was nice and light.

• 1 small red-onion, diced to a nice size, not too small or it will just mush

• Salt, Pepper, granulated garlic, oregano (dried)

• Butter
Saute the onions in butter over medium-heat until semi-translucent, scrape to the side, add more butter and turn up the heat to high. Sear the chicken in the butter (both sides), forming a nice, brown crust.

Spinkle the chicken with salt, pepper, galic and oregano. Redistribute the onions around and on the chicekn, lower the heat to low-medium and cover.

Cook the pasta until ALMOST cooked, it should still be somewhat stiff. Drain, then put back in the pot with the alfredo sauce, warm the sauce over low-heat while the pasta finishes. Do not boil.

Remove the chicken from the sauce-pan (cover and keep in a warmed oven, or use a separate skillet for the next part).

Add a couple of tablespoons of butter to the chicken fat and onions in the sauce-pan, turn the heat up to medium, and then add the bottom, woodier parts of the asparagus. Add the tops of the asparagus to the pan once the bottom halves are almost halfway cooked, and then scrape the entire pan into the pasta and alfredo pot.

The asparagus will be soft but not slimy when it's cooked. If there is a large diameter difference between the bottoms and the tops, cook the bottoms until they're mostly done before adding the tops in, the tops (esp. the crown) will cook much faster than the woodier parts.
Serve.

Product Weigh-In:

If you have a Costco, and can get some of this pasta, it comes with two other macaroni weight

shapes and is AWESOME with light sauces. It's called something like their "Summer Collection" and was fairly inexpensive (esp. considering it's organic).

When pairing it with an alfredo sauce, I found that the twists were just heavy enough to stand up to the thicker sauce, but they didn't grab too much of it in a bite, so you were getting a balance of asparagus, alfredo and

pasta, vs. some thicker pastas (like fettuccine) that would outweigh the sauce+veggie duo.