Ahhhh, Gazpacho

I don't have a problem with turning on the stove or the oven in the summer, though I know that some people do. "Too hot...heats up the house, blah blah blah." That's why we have air conditioning, right? And of course, every year you hear somebody drag out the old "fry an egg on the sidewalk" line. A friend from grad school did actually try to do that very thing, in what was probably a heat induced delirium. She had a smooth flagstone walk in front of her house (old railroad housing that had only swamp cooling in the summer and no heating in the winter) so one blistering July afternoon she cracked an egg directly on the rocks - it did cook on the bottom and around the edges, but I wouldn't say that it was actually fried. If I remember correctly, the yolk was very runny (e.g. very runny).

And then there are those off-the-grid folks who set up their solar ovens every Sunday afternoon to sun-roast a chicken or braise a brisket in their front yards. And, sure, every now and then we used to dust off the Coleman stove and make bacon and eggs and boiled coffee in the backyard on a Saturday morning - but that was more about pretending we were camping (and smelling bacon frying outside - the best!) than any honest attempt to keep the house cool.


I love the heat, but there are a few days each summer when even I find it oppressive. The days when the air feels dead it's so hot...when we take a water bottle with us just to walk to the end of the driveway to get the mail...when it's even too hot to get in the pool. And it's those days when I make gazpacho. Ahhh, gazpacho. In our house it's never just "gazpacho", it's always Ahhh, Gazpacho. Well, for me anyway...for Nik, not so much. In the wonderful Almodovar movie, one of the women on the verge of a nervous breakdown makes a batch of gazpacho, to which she adds a bottle or two of sleeping pills with the intention of killing herself. Events transpire, suicides are delayed, gazpacho is eaten, characters are sedated...but most memorable (to me) is the oft-repeated comment whenever a character finds the gazpacho in the 'fridge..."Ahhh, gazpacho." Indeed.


Fresh, crunchy, savory, spicy, cool...and so easy to put together. It is the perfect no-cook meal when it is too hot to do anything more than turn the page in that book you've been reading all summer. With a glass of white wine or a cold beer...ahhh!




Of course, this is a baking blog, and gazpacho isn't even cooked, so here's the baking part of this post. Croutons.

As if gazpacho isn't crunchy enough, we always top it with a handful of croutons. If you've got a leftover half a loaf of bread in the house (I've been using slightly stale pan de mie), just cube it up, toss it with generous amounts of dried thyme and oregano, ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, some smoked paprika if you have it, a bit of garlic powder, salt and olive oil (to slightly moisten), spread them out on a baking sheet and put them in a 225 degree oven for an hour or so until they are crunchy.











Ahhh, Gazpacho

Bell Pepper........................a handful, finely chopped
Celery..............................a handful, finely chopped
Cucumber, peeled................a handful, finely chopped
Onion (red or sweet).............a small handful, finely chopped
Parsley.............................1 Tablespoon, chopped
Garlic...............................1-2 cloves, grated
Red Wine Vinegar.................2 1/2 Tablespoons
Olive Oil............................2 1/2 Tablespoons
Spicy V-8 Juice....................12 oz.
Worchestershire Sauce...........2 Tablespoons
Habenero Hot Sauce..............2-3 shakes
Crushed Tomatoes................28 oz can
Salt..................................1 Tablespoon

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl.
Let chill for at least 2 hours.
Top with croutons.
Enjoy!