gazpacho.

Today was another like so many this summer: hot toothpaste, cool shower, general sweaty unpleasantness. For comfort, I like to think about this:


[Wistful sigh.] For now, though, I'll just continue to enjoy all the great summer produce, like the tomatoes which made this possible.

Before today, I'd never actually made gazpacho. But I have a feeling that this will become one of my summer staples from now on. It has two main benefits: one, that it requires a good amount of chopping, which I find soothing; two, that it requires absolutely involvement from the stove or oven. Plus it's tasty! The vinegar gives it a nice bite, while the cucumbers and pepper add depth. There's nothing bland about this gazpacho.

I adapted it a bit from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything - added a bit of red onion, left the crusts on my bread, and, more significantly, cut way back on the water. Bittman calls for 5 cups of water; I ended up using 1 1/2 and loving the consistency of my soup. Hmm. The original amount seems like it would produce an incredibly watery soup, but perhaps it just depends on how hefty your tomatoes are once they've been cored and seeded. Or something like that. In any case, you might want to add the water a bit at a time and adjust to your consistency preferences. I also missed the step that told me to peel the tomatoes - oops. But I didn't mind the peels and, while getting rid of them might have meant a slightly more uniform smoothness, even liked the slight texture they gave the soup. I'll probably leave them on in the future, too. You could use any combination of tomatoes; since I made this on a non-farmers'-market day, I just combined a few different kinds (plum, on the vine, a big wonderfully lumpy one) from Sue's, along with some cute yellow grape tomatoes.


Beware that making this could get a bit messy. The directions say to process everything (including the 5 c. water!) all together. I have a 7-cup food processor and could barely manage in two batches; there was a noticeable puddle of pink gazpacho-juice by the time I was through. Because of this, I combined all of the chopped veggies in a large mixing bowl, then added the vinegar and the salt and pepper before processing it in two batches, adding half the water and oil to each. Therefore, the directions below are adjusted accordingly, though if you have a mammoth food processor/blender, congratulations, and feel free to toss in everything in one go.


Basic Gazpacho
adapted from Mark Bittman, How to Cook Everything

approx. 3 lb. ripe tomatoes, cored, [peeled,] seeded, and roughly chopped [*optional]
1 red or yellow bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and roughly chopped
2 Kirby cucumbers, peeled and roughly chopped
approx. 1/8 red onion, chopped (about 1 - 2 tbsp.)
4 slices stale white bread (about 4 oz.), crusts removed (*I used my favorite sourdough from Metropolitan Bakery and, because I almost never plan enough in advance to have stale bread lying about, simply toasted the slices and let them sit for 15 mins. or so. Leaving the crusts on added nice taste and texture. Dipping slices of the bread in the soup is delicious, also.)
1 c. plus 1 1/2 - 6 c. cold water
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
1/4 c. good wine vinegar (*I used red.)
1/2 c. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine the chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, pepper, onion, and garlic in a large bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste, along with vinegar.

2. Soak the bread in 1 c. water for 5 mins.; squeeze out excess water and set aside.

3. Place half the bread in the food processor and process until finely chopped; add half the veggie mixture and 3/4 c. water. Process until smooth; add more water if needed. Then with the motor running, slowly add 1/4 c. olive oil. Pour into separate bowl; repeat with the rest of the veggies, another 3/4 c. water, and another 1/4 c. oil.

4. Refrigerate until ready to serve; the flavor will improve over a few hours. Serve with the same bread you used in the soup, if desired.

butternut soup.

When yesterday I realized I had a few butternut squash rolling around that needed to be used, it was an easy decision to make soup out of them. Given our spring-like temperatures, of course, it seems a bit off-season, and this will probably be the last batch I make this winter. But it's a great way to use up any last squash you have lying around, and there's always next fall's squash to look forward to!

Winter Squash Soup
from Barefoot in Paris

2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 c. chopped yellow onions (2 onions - *I use 2 small or 1 1/2 large)
1 15-oz. can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 1/2 lb. butternut squash, peeled and cut in chunks (*a 2-lb. squash works well)
3 c. chicken stock/broth
2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 c. half-and-half


1. Heat the butter and oil in a stockpot; add the onions and cook over med-low heat for 10 minutes, or until translucent. (*Don't rush the onions! The soup has a much more well-rounded flavor if you let them cook the full time.)

2. Add the pumpkin puree, butternut squash, chicken stock/broth, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer over med-low heat for about 20 minutes, until the butternut squash is very tender. (*Depending on your squash, this might take closer to 30 minutes.)


3. Process the mixture through the medium blade of a food mill. (*This was the first time I'd actually used a food mill. I normally use a food processor, pureeing the soup in batches until it's smooth but not too watery; I think that I actually like the results from the food processor better as it seems to give the soup a more integrated texture than the mill.)


4. Return to the pot, add the half-and-half, and heat slowly. If the soup needs more flavor, add salt to taste.


Makes 4 servings, according to Ina, though I usually get at least 5.

mushroom soup.

This soup is something of an ongoing experiment. My mom adapted it slightly from a 1970s issue of Bon Appetit kept from when she and my dad were first married, and I've tweaked the recipe a bit further. It seems like it would lend itself to further experimentation: a splash of white wine, perhaps, or maybe some caramelized leeks. Different varieties of mushrooms might also be interesting. Hmm. As is, this is a satisfyingly creamy mushroom-packed soup that is a cinch to make and only gets tastier as it sits. (In fact, I made it a few hours ahead and then reheated it for dinner; the additional time lets it thicken and brings out the sherry.) With a big green salad on a gloomy-gray weeknight? Yum.

Mushroom Soup
adapted from Bon Appetit and Mom

20 oz. mushrooms, sliced*
4 tbsp. butter, divided
1/2 c. finely-chopped onion
Kosher salt to taste
4 - 5 tbsp. flour
10 - 14 oz. chicken broth
2 - 3 tbsp. sherry
1 1/2 c. milk

*Note on the mushrooms: The original recipe calls for a pound of mushrooms. Since it's easiest to find 10-oz. packages of cremini (baby bella) mushrooms, I just use two of those. I like to chop them finely with the slicing blade of my food processor (see below) but the soup would also work if they were more coarsely chopped.


1. Melt 2 tbsp. butter and cook the onions for 2 minutes at med-low heat. Add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt and cook ~8 minutes, until they've let off some of their liquid but aren't too cooked down. Set aside. *Note: In order not to crowd the mushrooms, I do this step in two pans, dividing the butter, onions, and mushrooms between them. More dishes, yes, but better results.

2. Melt the remaining 2 tbsp. butter in a large saucepan, then whisk in the flour. Off the heat, add the chicken broth and the sherry; return to med-low heat and whisk until smooth and slightly thickened, about a minute.

3. Stir in the milk and mushrooms (if your mushrooms have let off a large amount of liquid, you might want to strain some of it out to avoid a watery soup), then add salt and/or more sherry to taste. Let the soup cook on low heat, stirring frequently for 5 minutes or so, to let the flavors blend.

A sprinkling of fresh parsley before serving brightens up the flavor.


Makes around 4 servings, depending on additional broth/milk.

The soup will thicken as it cools; these measurements of broth and milk yield a fairly thick consistency, particularly when reheated. (The original recipe called for 2 c. milk but I found that too, well, milky.) I might decrease the flour and increase the chicken broth to thin it a bit, especially if serving it as an appetizer. I did use skim milk and found it quite rich enough, though you could probably add a glug of whatever you have on hand and adjust the broth accordingly.

I'll continue to play with this one; if you make some adjustments of your own, please let me know!