Sunday 28 November 2010

gazpacho

yesterday was a typical sydney summer day, hot and muggy, when all you want to do is drink a long, iced something and wait for the cool of evening. i was feeling rested and a bit creative and i decided that i would make a cold tomato soup. i have made gazpacho once before, to a lukewarm reception but this time it would be different. this time everyone had seen jamie oliver make gazpacho. this time i could not fail, this time this odd liquified salad had been validated by the king of kitchen coolness.
i got out the not-so -trusty blender, i put in some crusty ciabatta, ripe red tomatoes, cucumber, sherry vinegar, virgin olive oil, salt & sugar. i coaxed the blender with sweet nothings and fiddled with it's dodgy switch until it roared into service....
the result was ok but a little bland. i added tabasco, parsley and coriander.
this time it passed the taste test and i served the slightly pukey looking mixture, wishing it looked better but remembering that jamie's was not the most colourful dish i ever saw.
the first mouthful was acidic but pleasant, the next a little bit hot. it got hotter and hotter. my attempt to create something with bite had worked, almost too well!
liam polished off two bowls and declared himself full so i had succeeded in filling the bottomless pit and on soup!
we followed up with butterscotch ice cream and a funny movie "in the loop"
all was well in my world

22 comments:

  1. The soup doesn't sound very good, but then again, I've never been able to get my brood to eat soup. And since I didn't taste it, really I shouldn't knock it, but the rest of the evening sounded wonderful.

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  2. sOUNDS LIKE A SOUPY MIXTURE KIND OF DAY TO ME.

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  3. I'm not very keen on soup but that sounds like quite a corker (Brit: something striking or outstanding).

    In The Loop is a great film about British politics. Utterly scurrilous and I'm sure very accurate about what really gets said when the great British public aren't watching.

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  4. Never thought of cold soup. Sounds delish actually, I'm watching my weight and this fits the bill. Minus the coriander, it's one of those flavours you eitherlove or hate. Sadly, I hate it.

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  5. gWhat a graeat result!

    Older generations of Australians used the word corker. Seems dead now - more or less.

    I've always liked soup and why people don't like it is beyond my capacity : like understanding how you hack inti the Pentagon computers

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  6. Sorry for typos.
    What
    Great
    beyond my capacity to understand
    into

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  7. Sounds awesome! Glad the kid approved. Sometimes it takes nothing short of a miracle to get the kids to try something different. Cool soup on a hot day sounds perfect!

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  8. Have you seen the film "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" - it's Almodovar and gazpacho figures PROMINENTLY in the storyline!

    Rent it, rent it!!!!

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  9. cece,
    nice to see you back!

    walking man,
    you would be right!

    nick,
    in the loop was very funny b ut frighteningly believable, if you know what i mean ;)

    baino,
    me loves the coriander but i know it's a love - hate thing!

    dad,
    lucky i have liam to eat the stuff no-one else likes :)

    karen,
    long time no see!
    nice to see you here. the soup was better when really well chilled. a long way from thangsgiving turkey, huh?

    megan,
    i'll be surprised if i can get women on the verge of a nervous breakdown at the local joint but i'll give it a go. if i see enough of almodovar one day i might understand why he is so great!

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  10. have you ever tried hot taco soup<><><>it isn't very good either<<<>i will tell you a good soup<><<>,.ministronie<><><>

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  11. Eheh..sounds good to me. Congratulations!

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  12. I'd quite fancy butterscotch ice cream if it wasn't for the fact that temperatures here are plummeting to sub-zero. In fact all the pavements look like vanilla ice cream.

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  13. Glad to Land at your magical poetry land today,
    How are you?

    Love your poetry talent, Please join us at Jingle Poetry Monday potluck tonight,
    First time participants can link in 1 to 3 old poems, poems unrelated to our theme are welcome!

    Sign in to follow our blog so that you are kept informed about our updates.
    Happy Sunday/Monday,
    Hope to see you in.
    xxx

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  14. putzy,
    i used to love minestrone but i made it too many times! last winter i made a lot of pumpkin soup

    nick,
    ice cream pavements ! :)

    budhaaah,
    welcome and thanks!

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  15. I love Gazpacho! But once I made a "creamed" gazpacho for Gary while we were dating (I was just 17). It was course one and it looked like vomit. Course two included a whole head of cauliflower steamed and then draped with cheese sauce. It looked like a brain with injury. He ate quietly and gingerly and oh-so-politely.

    He married me despite that disastrous meal, but heaves a sigh of relief that the above meal was never repeated. To this day he avoids Gazpacho (despite my protestations that UNcreamed Gazpacho looks quite different).

    Thanks for bringing back some good ole memories (or reminders of what NOT to have for dinner). : D

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  16. hi deb!
    yeah, my gazpacho wasnt creamed but it still looked .....well.....interesting.

    i can imagine that early date, it must have been a little daunting!
    i love cauliflower cheese and wouldnt have thought of brains but then not much puts me off, i can discuss all kinds of gross things while eating without turning a hair!

    megs, if youre reading still, i was right! they didnt have the movie at the local joint

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  17. Sounds to me like all you had to do is add some vodka and a celery stalk and you'd have yourself a pretty darned good bloody mary.

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  18. This raises a question for me, namely, do Australians not like spicy foods?

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  19. snow, aussies come in all levels of spice-liking :)
    i love all the flavours but can only deal with so much heat.
    hubby thinks food is only food if it has been cooked so cold soup of raw veggies isnt his thing

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  20. I mean in general, Kylie. Some cultures favor them, whereas others are neutral, and still others are in the bland category. Here, I would say it's neutral. I personally enjoy habaneros, which are the hottest thing I have access to, yet even a little heat is too much for Peggy. The thing about peppers is that one develops a tolerance for them. Because of this, I can literally drink tabasco, although it's a bit vinegary for my taste.

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  21. hmmm
    i think in general aussies are more fond of bland foods but our immigrant groups are often spice lovers and it's gradually influencing everybody

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  22. Come to think of it, the English settled Australia (well, there WERE the aborigines, of course), and no one ever accused the English of having an exciting cuisine.

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