Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Summer memories: Watermelon gazpacho


It's November and we're all missing summer a little bit now. Perfect time, then, to recall warmer days and post about one of my easiest and most refreshing of summer dishes, watermelon gazpacho. The beauty of watermelon gazpacho is that no perfect garden-ripe tomatoes are necessary. It has all the complexity of regular gazpacho with the refreshing kick of watermelon. 

Coarsely chop and throw this all in the food processor: one cucumber, one green bell pepper, half of a watermelon, half of a red onion. 



Process until liquid but still a little chunky...

like this.
Season to taste (and make sure you are tasting as you go since seasonings can be too strong with this delicate soup) with a few teaspoons of rice vinegar, a sprinkling of salt, white pepper, a couple shakes of hot sauce (I use Cholula original) and a touch of sugar if your watermelon isn't sweet enough.

Chill thoroughly for about 5 hours, less if temps outside haven't reached the 90s or you live somewhere with low humidity. Christmas in summer. Enjoy!

Serve in pretty bowl and garnish with bits of pepper, watermelon or cuke.


Saturday, November 9, 2013

Apple pie gallery, guest chef edition

November 3, by Amy Marash with homemade crust and golf-themed decoration.

November 7, by Jean-Francois Landeau with gala and honeycrisp apples.

November 4, by me, Gourmet magazine's four ingredient tarte tatin that only just survived the flip.
That cast iron pan is heavy! I used honeycrisp apples and ready-made pie crust instead of puff pastry.