Alton Brown's Gazpacho

It's dang hot but locally grown tomatoes are coming to market, so that makes it the perfect time to eat some cold soup. One of the best gazpacho dishes around is this application from Alton Brown.

One funny thing about gazpacho, I will always remember when I first learned of it. I was in a Spanish culture class in undergrad and we did a whole section on food. Color me interested for that unit! Yeah, my fascination with all things culinary goes way back... even further than college. Anyway, our professor, who lived in Madrid for awhile, talked about this cold soup they served during the oppressive summers. It always sounded interesting, but I never made it.

Fast forward a few years, then I heard AB talking about it. In fact several times over the years, he has three incarnations of this dish: one with grapes, one with bulgur wheat and one tradtional variation, and for me the traditional application from "American Slicer" had the most appeal.

Upon procuring in-season tomatoes (and really there isn't a good reason to have a tomato unless it is in-season), the gazpacho urge usually hits.


Start with 1 1/2 pounds of tomatoes. The most time consuming process in making the soup is prepping the tomatoes. Each tomato must be concassed, which starts by scoring the bottom with an X and dropping into boiling water for about 15 seconds. Aftert that, cool the tomatoes in ice water for about one minute. The skin will easily remove starting at the scored areas. Once the tomotes are peeled, core and cut in half at the fruit's equator. Remove the seeds and pulp, placing in a mesh strainer to catch the juice.

After the tomatoes are prepped, chop them coursely. Place the tomatoes in a large mixing bowl and add the rest of the vegatation:

1 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 small jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 medium garlic clove, minced

To the bowl add the liquid items:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 lime, juiced
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon toasted, ground cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Take 1 1/2 cups of the mixture and puree in a blender (or use a stick blender, which I do). Return the puree to the bowl and stir to combine. Chill for at least two hours, then devour with crusty bread!