Pantry Beef Stew and Greek Lemon Chicken Soup

 

Every year we hike down to Florida to visit with our clients who either live or winter there.  I pack a cooler full of fridge food and take bags of pantry groceries so we don’t have to shop as much while we’re there.  When we head home I invariably have some goodies from Bayway and from Ted’s Smoked Fish and from the citrus store.  And, a few leftovers.  This year the leftovers were pretty sparse.  A heart of romaine and a couple of bell peppers and half a sweet onion. 

 

Thanks to two days on the road and consequently two days of crummy road food, both of us had grumbly tummies when we finally got home.  The first evening we’d just gotten home and so we pulled out the Triscuits and the smoked fish dip from Bayway along with the smoked salmon from Ted’s.  Easy peasy. 

 

Saturday we slept.  And, slept.  And, slept.  Then when I finally got to the kitchen I really didn’t feel like cooking.  One of the recipes I’d read was from a Pampered Chef cookbook.  It was for Greek Lemon Chicken soup.  That sounded like it’d do really well with a grumbly tummy.  And it did.  It was so easy to put together.  I even used a can of chicken!  We had this for dinner and then I had it for lunch for three days and was ready to make more when that was done. 

 

Then, Sunday evening we felt better but after working all day I just didn’t have the energy to cook a big meal.  Pantry stew was created!  There’s a recipe for beef and noodles from a gal who used to own a noodle making business.  It calls for a can of beefy mushroom soup.  Something I’d never used until I wanted to make that recipe.  Then, I couldn’t find it at the grocery so ordered a case from Amazon.  You’re seeing what happened here, right?  Use up the soup!  There was also a can of roast beef from Costco that’d taken a tumble on its way to the shelf.  Dented cans should always be used asap as long you know when the dent was created.  Otherwise, they should be discarded.  Too risky!  Note please that I didn’t measure, just dumped…

 

Pantry Stew

Ingredients:

Handful of carrots (par-cook til al dente)

Onion

Garlic

Olive oil

Red wine – maybe a quarter of a cup

Tabasco

Worcestershire

Consommé

Beefy mushroom soup 

Can of beef

Handful of peas

Noodles

Directions:

Heat the olive oil to shimmering in a sturdy saucepan.  Once it’s hot toss in the carrots and onions.  When the onion is translucent, add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes.  Then, deglaze the pan with  the red wine.  Add in a couple of good dashes of Worcestershire sauce and some Tabasco.  Then, pour in the soups and add the noodles.  You’re going to let the broth in the soups cook the noodles.  Finally, when the noodles are about three minutes from being done toss in a handful of frozen peas. 

 

Greek Lemon Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

2 c chopped cooked chicken

2 t olive oil

2 medium carrots, coarsely chopped

½ c chopped onion

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1-2 t lemon zest

¼ c lemon juice (I used double the lemon)

2 T snipped fresh parsley (I omitted this)

1 can cream of chicken soup

42 oz chicken stock

½ t freshly ground black pepper

2/3 c uncooked long-grain white rice

 

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven.  Add the carrots and onions and cook until the onion is translucent.  Add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes.  Add the lemon juice, zest, cream of chicken soup, broth, and black pepper.  Once this mixture boils, add the rice, cover the pot and simmer on low for 15-20 minutes.  If you’re using the parsley, sprinkle it on top when serving. 

 

 

Chicken Cacciatore and Glazed Carrots plus Sausage Chowder for Lunch

 

Every once in a while I pick up a cookbook and really want to cook my way totally through it.  Comfort in an Instant is one of those.  Even though it’s an instant pot cookbook I’ve done the time math and many of the recipes are quicker on the stovetop.  Risotto is ten minutes to reach power, six under pressure and ten to decompress.  Twenty-six minutes versus twenty-five on the stovetop…  Yes, I do think in numbers and Excel spreadsheets 😊   At any rate, this is really a fun cookbook.  Among the half dozen try now recipes was Chicken Cacciatore.   

Then, after a run through Aldi’s we stopped at Ollie’s to browse the cookbooks.  Where I found Field to Fork.  A collection of recipes from the Old Farmers Almanac.  I opened it to Maple Orange Glazed Carrots and that was all I needed to see.  Into the cart.   

While I was fixing dinner I also made a pot of The Brick’s Sausage Stew.  The Brick is a hole in the wall dive bar in Jonesville.  We’ve been there once.  I can’t particularly recommend it but it’s an institution so is worth a visit.  While I was doing my friend Gail’s review a couple of days ago we started chatting about soups and how good they are this time of year.  She texted me the recipe today and the rest is history.  Lunch tomorrow will be really good!

What did we think about the Chicken Cacciatore?  A five out of five.  Ditto the Maple Orange Glazed Carrots.  Those were amazing.  A dinner that left both of us totally satisfied and looking forward to making both dishes again.

 

Chicken Cacciatore

Ingredients:

2T olive oil

2 lbs bone-in, skin on chicken thighs

Salt and freshly ground pepper

4 oz cremini or white button mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 small bell pepper, thinly sliced (I used green, the recipe called for red)

2 cloves garlic (I used minced)

¾ c canned diced tomatoes and their juice

¼ c dry white or red wine (I used white)

2 large sprigs rosemary (I used ½ t crushed)

2 T drained capers

 

Directions:

This recipe works on the stovetop, in an instant pot and in a slow cooker.  I chose the stovetop because the math worked out that that was the quickest method.  Therefore all of the instructions are based on that…  

Heat the olive oil.  Sprinkle the thighs with salt and pepper.  Brown both sides.  Remove the thighs from the skillet and add the onion, pepper, mushrooms and garlic.  Cook until they’re tender.  It’ll take about five minutes.  Add in the tomatoes, wine and rosemary.  Cook for a couple of minutes to tighten the sauce.  Add back the thighs.  Cook on low for another 10-15 minutes.  Or, you can use medium and shorten the time.  Add in the capers just before serving.

Here's how it looked:

adapted from Comfort in an Instant by Melissa Clark

 

Maple Orange Glazed Carrots

Ingredients:

4-6 large carrots (I used baby carrots cut into coins)

1 T butter

¼ c maple syrup

2 T frozen orange juice concentrate

Pinch of salt

Pinch of ground nutmeg

Chopped walnuts – optional for garnish

 

Directions:

Cook the carrots until tender.  Drain and set aside on a warm stove. In a small skillet melt the butter and mix in the other ingredients.  Toss the carrots with the glaze.

adapted from Field to Fork

 

The Brick’s Sausage Chowder

 Ingredients:

1 package sausage (I used Polish Kielbasa) cut into medallions

1 medium onion, diced

1 medium green bell pepper, diced

4 Yukon gold potatoes or 2 large russet potatoes, diced

1 can hot chili beans

1 can diced stewed tomatoes

1 4 oz can of diced green chiles

1-2 T brown sugar

1-2 T chili powder

1 t garlic powder

 

Directions:

Saute the sausage, onion and bell pepper in olive oil just until softened.  Add the other ingredients, cover and simmer until the potatoes are cooked through. 

Thank you Gail!

 

 

 

A Good Week for Cooking!

 

Blogging has been way down my list over the last couple of years.  Life has been busy and interesting.  I’ll not go into all the details except to say we’re hoping for a MUCH better 2023! 

Over the last couple of years we’ve had way too much carryout and not enough good old-fashioned home cooking.  Hopefully that will also improve in 2023.  At least over the last week it has.  We’ve made four new recipes, four old favorites and one blast from the past.  How did it go?  Well, one of the misperceptions I find is that folks assume since I’m a good enough cook I don’t have many failures.  And, truly I don’t wind up with many two’s.  But, I do have failures.  Usually they’re ok enough to eat the meal.  But, then the leftovers wind up in the trash.  Last week we had two such failures.  I’d read a recipe for a lemon/orzo/chickpea/spinach soup.  It sounded fresh and wonderful.  It wasn’t.  I listed it as “blah to the max.”  Then, there were the mussels.  Enough for a meal after we used some for cioppino.  Another blah to the max. 

Fortunately the other two new recipes were REALLY good.  One was the aforementioned cioppino from Taste of Home.  Another was a Monte Cristo sandwich – made with a Bisquick mix from Betty Crocker Right Size Recipes.  Then the blast from the past was a tomato basil soup.  I think it was my mom’s recipe.  It’s in a “cookbook” of recipes I put together about 15 years ago and has no provenance listed.  It’ll be a regular in our rotation going forward.  Particularly since I now know it can be served warm equally successfully.  And, last but certainly not least were the old favorites:  cauliflower cheese soup and barley vegetable soup, both from Park Tudor Treasures.  Plus Alex Guarnaschelli’s French Onion Soup with Short Ribs and a Kate’s creation chicken pot pie.

Let’s start with the Tomato Basil Soup since it’s SO very easy!

Tomato Basil Soup

Ingredients:

28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

½ c half and half

16 oz chicken stock

½ package basil ( we used about a handful of leaves)

½- 1 t sugar

 

Directions:

Combine everything in a food processor and process until smooth.  Refrigerate for a couple of hours to allow the flavors to blend.  You can serve this either cold or hot.

 

Chicken Pot Pie

 

Ingredients:

Shredded rotisserie chicken

Potatoes, diced and parcooked

Carrots, diced and parcooked

Mushrooms, diced and sauteed

Can of cream of chicken soup

Cream

Dry Sherry

Thyme

Gruyere cheese, shredded

Pie crust

 

Directions:

This is  one where you just need to put together whatever veggies you want with the chicken.  We were out of peas or they’d have gone in.  No parsnips either.  It’s pretty much a clean up the kitchen dish.  

You’ll want to dump the soup into a small saucepan.  Pour in about a quarter of a cup of sherry.  Then, enough cream to make a nice sauce.  Or less sherry and more cream.  Toss in about a couple of teaspoons of thyme.  Or whatever herb trips your trigger.  Then, a handful of the shredded gruyere.  Let that melt and toss in the chicken and whatever veggies you’ve cooked.  Pour everything into a pie crust lined casserole dish.  Crimp the edges of the crust and bake at 350 until the crust is nice and brown. 

 

Spicy Fresh Seafood Cioppino 

Ingredients: 

5 garlic cloves, minced

2 T olive oil

1 24 oz can tomato basil pasta sauce

1 8 oz bottle clam juice

1 c dry white wine or chicken broth (I used the wine)

Salt and pepper

1 t sugar

Crushed red pepper flakes to taste

1 t thyme

1 lb fresh littleneck clams (I was stuck with canned)

1 lb fresh mussels, scrubbed and beards removed

1 lb uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 lb uncooked bay scallops (I used a seafood medley from Trader Joes that also include calamari rings)

1 6 oz package baby spinach

 

Directions: 

Saute the garlic in the olive oil.  Do not let in brown.  Add in the pasta sauce, clam juice, wine and seasonings.  Allow it to simmer for 10 minutes.  Add in the seafood and cook until the shrimp is pink and the mussels and clams have opened.  Toss any that do not open!  Add in the spinach and stir to wilt it just a bit. Adapted from Taste of Home.  

We made another of our old favorites recently.  It's Alex Guarnaschelli's French Onion Soup with Short Ribs.  It's a long, complicated recipe and is totally worth the time it takes.  For me it pretty much sets the standard.  But, I'm not going to try and add the recipe to the blog.  Here are our photos:

LOTS of garlic in with the onions

The recipe calls for Korean short ribs but they're hard to find so I instant pot traditional short ribs.

Alex calls for 1/2 cup of shredded gruyere on each crouton.  She's exactly right!

You put the onion short rib mix on top of a handful of shredded gruyere.

Then, you pour in this magnificent broth.  

And, top it with a lovely broiled cheesy crouton of French bread.  Heavenly!

 

 

Red Lentil and Kielbasa Stew

Our annual trip to St. Pete Beach.  It's over.  This year I finally rocked the packing the cooler test.  Put all the stuff on the bottom and then pile on and dump 20lbs of ice on top.  We filled the cooler Thursday evening, started back Friday and got here late afternoon on Saturday.  Still with ice in the cooler.  YES!  All the stuff went into the fridge and I was left wondering what in the heck to fix for dinner.  There was a bag of carrots that needed to be used up.  And, some kielbasa.  How about lentils?  How about some nouc cham?  Known in Vietnam as dipping sauce.  How about two different dishes?

A bunch of the carrots got chopped and plopped in a tablespoon of olive oil.  Then, in went a similarly diced onion.  Followed by a couple of links of kielbasa, well diced.  And, about a teaspoon of cumin.  It smelled wonderful!  Once everything was nice and brown I put in a quart of chicken bone broth, a pinch of cinnamon and pepper.  And, a cup of red lentils.  And, half a cup of white wine.  Then, let everything simmer for about 15 minutes.  The lentils were meltingly tender and had absorbed most of the broth.  

The Vietnamese dipping sauce got a handful of chopped carrots and an equal amount of chopped zucchini.  I used a recipe from Hungry Huy and it was delicious!  He goes into a lot of detail about dipping sauce.  

This was a perfect winter meal.  And, best of all, it reheated beautifully for lunches the next week!

Red Lentil and Kielbasa Stew

6 servings

Ingredients

1 T olive oil
3/4 c diced carrots
1 medium onion, diced
1 t cumin
2 links kielbasa, diced
1 c dried red lentils
1 quart chicken bone broth
pinch cinnamon
1/4 t chipotle pepper
1/2 c white wine

Directions

Saute the carrots, onion and cumin in the olive oil for about 5 minutes.  Add the kielbasa and saute until everything is a bit brown - about 10 more minutes.  Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes. 

Mexican Sausage Soup

Back from a week and a half on the road.  Business trip to Atlanta and Florida.  Funny how those work best in winter.  Connie came back coughing and hacking.  He spent a good part of the day on the couch in the office.  My mission was to get him to eat some relatively healthy food for dinner - including what we call Jewish penicillin - chicken broth.  The problem is that he doesn't like soup.  Particularly brothy soups.  Lobster bisque?  Clam chowder?  Both are just fine with him.  Chicken noodle?  Um, no thanks.  So, I thought I'd make chicken and noodles.  Then, when I opened the freezer and saw the solid block of four chicken thighs I decided to come up with plan B.  There were three sausages in the freezer.  They'd thaw a LOT more quickly.  They went into a soup pot along with onion and green pepper.  Then, I headed toward the pantry to gather ingredients that'd work.  One of the recipes I'd read on eatyourbooks.com suggested using hash brown potatoes in a sausage soup.  That sounded good but rice sounded better.  Then, once everything was in the pot and simmering away, I made some sour cream with lime juice and cumin.  And, I grated some extra sharp cheddar.  A quick salad with bibb lettuce, sliced banana, mandarin orange segments and a jam dressing topped with toasted pecans and we were good to go.  This is a soup that'll freeze really well.  And, since Connie actually liked it, I'll be able to make it a few times a year!

Mexican Sausage Soup

3 sausages (mild or spicy Italian)
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
1 T olive oil or vegetable oil
1 quart chicken bone broth
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can gold and white corn, drained
1 can stewed tomatoes, chopped (regular diced tomatoes or Rotel will work)
1 16 oz jar salsa
1/2 c Uncle Bens converted white rice
2 t cumin

Slice and brown the sausages, onion and green pepper in the olive oil.  Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for about 15 minutes - or until the rice is tender. You can top this with sour cream and/or grated cheese.

Here's the salad too:

Chopped with Only the Basket

I felt like I was a contestant on Chopped.  Except all I had to cook with was the contents of my basket.  And, it was a pretty darned empty basket!  We'd gotten home from Alaska the night before at 2:00.  It was supposed to be 1:00 but weather delayed an incoming flight to O'Hare so we were delayed.  Once we got home we unpacked.  Well, we unpacked what we could since Connie's primary suitcase never made the Seattle to Chicago to Indy connection.  Five cookbooks, a glass piece with fireweed, a bronze moose, a couple of switchplates and a couple of zipper pulls.  We didn't go nuts on the mementos, just the photos. 

Needless to say, we slept in.  Then, we went to the office.  We were still pretty darned tired when we finally got home about 6:30.  I'd done a decent job of cleaning out the fridge before we left.  Except for some mushrooms that smelled to high heaven!  And, neither of us wanted to go to the grocery.  Besides, we'd not made a list so that would've meant two trips.  Not happening.  In my back pack I had two apples and two small bags of almonds.  I'd tucked them in in the event we had a quick transfer and missed lunch or dinner.  In the fridge I had some celery and a bit of blue cheese.  And, on the counter there was a bowl with one weak and wobbly red onion and three shallots. Shallots that were also pretty weak and wobbly. There was a big container of basil.  First thing I did this morning when I got up was deadhead the basil.  That we had plenty of. 

I decided the smartest move was to reach my hand into the freezer and we'd have whatever it was.  LOL, it was a container of five cups of chicken stock.  Ok, then.  We were having chicken stock. 

On the way back from the office I'd seen a recipe for a roasted red bell pepper and basil soup.  That sounded really good but the apples were going to be a salad.  Connie is not a fan of either fruit OR soup.  Both for a meal was pretty much overkill!  Unless, of course, I made risotto to go with them.  Since I wound up making my own soup recipe up, I'm not crediting the original inspiration...  We were off to the races!

I really can't tell you which I liked best.  All three were fabulous and I'll make them all again.

Deconstructed Pesto Risotto

Ingredients:

1 red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T olive oil
1 c Arborio rice
2 - 2.5 c chicken stock
1/4 c chopped fresh basil
3 T butter, divided
1/2 c pine nuts
3/4 c shredded Parmesan, divided
8 large fresh basil leaves

Directions:

Saute the red onion in the olive oil.  Once its softened, add the garlic.  Don't let any of it brown.  Add the rice and let it get nice and warm.  Then, start ladling in the chicken stock one ladle-full at a time.  Let the rice absorb the stock before you add more.  And, remember, to be nice and creamy the rice needs to be knocked around a bit to release the starches.  So, stir and stir and stir again.  When the rice is about half cooked, toss in the chopped basil.  Then, just as the rice finishes, add a tablespoon of butter and 1/2 c of the shredded Parmesan.  While the rice is cooking, melt the other two tablespoons of butter in a skillet that's large enough to hold the eight basil leaves.  Let the butter get nice and brown before adding the basil.  Cook it until it's nice and crisp.  Brown the pine nuts in a dry skillet.  To serve, mound the risotto in the middle of your dishes.  Sprinkle with the additional Parmesan, then the pine nuts.  Top that with the fried basil leaves then drizzle with the remaining brown butter.



Blue Cheese and Apple Salad

Ingredients:

2 apples, diced (I'd use Gala)
3 ribs celery, diced
1/4 c toasted almonds, chopped
1/4 c blue cheese, crumbled
2 t lemon juice, or to taste
1/2 c mayonnaise

Directions:

Mix it all together and serve.


Roasted Red Bell Pepper and Basil Soup

Ingredients:

2 shallots, diced
3 T softened butter, divided
1 jar roasted red bell peppers, plus the juice
2 - 3 c chicken stock (I used about 2.5 c because that's what was left from the risotto)
1/2 c chopped fresh basil
2 T flour
4 oz jalapeno cream cheese
                          4 T sliced fresh basil

Directions:

Saute the shallots in a tablespoon of the butter.  Chop the red bell peppers and add them along with the juice from the jar.  Add the 1/2 c chopped fresh basil.  Add the chicken stock.  Cook for a few minutes just to blend the flavors.  Using an immersion blender, puree the soup.  Mix the other two tablespoons of butter with the flour and slowly add that to the soup.  Stir well and allow it to thicken.  Stir in the cream cheese.  Once the cream cheese is melted, serve and top with the sliced fresh basil.

Potato and Ham Chowder

There's this personality test called Myers Briggs.  It shows you how you relate to the world around you.  Introvert/extrovert.  Do you recharge by having alone time or being with others?  Sensing/intuitive.  Do you do well figuring it out or are you better having everything in black and white?  Thinking/feeling.  Head vs heart.  And, judgment/perceptive.  How do you make decisions?  Do you work on consensus then waffle or do you look at the facts and make a decision and stick to it?  I'm absolutely an extrovert.  A party at our house finishes up and I'm dancing around fully charged because I've spent time with SO many people.  Connie has gone to his corner to plug in and recharge.  Please do not disturb.  When it comes to making decisions I do the normal female thing and talk it through with Connie and sometimes my friends.  He takes that to be the judgment side.  It isn't.  Because once I make a decision it's tough to budge me.  That's exactly what happened here.  I read Rebekah's index of soups and stews and knew immediately what I wanted to make.  No reading of other recipes.  No trolling her blog.  Just THE ONE.  Potato and ham chowder. 

I LOVE soup.  Connie, not so much.  Needless to say, I was thrilled to see the subject for this month's Blogger C.L.U.E. Society.  And, I was equally thrilled to see that my assigned blog was Rebekah's.  Let's start with the Albert Einstein quote on her home page:  "There are two ways to live your life.  One as though nothing is a miracle and the other as if everything is a miracle."  That tells me that Rebekah is one of those glass half full search for the good kind of folks. 

Now, I just had to take a peek at some of her recipes to see what else was there.  To give you some good ideas, you know...  Cinnamon pear muffins.   Six flavor bundt cake.  I know, they sound fabulous.  No clue here when I'll need to make a dessert again but the bundt cake will be in the running.  And, the muffins may just get made next week.  Unfortunately, I've cooked for the last time this week...  We've got three theatre dates, a wine education class with appetizers, a farewell party for one of our favorite chefs, a Super Bowl party and a late night for me at my Columbus office.  Grocery shopping for Connie was easy this week - lunch fixings!  Then, there's the cheeseburger potato bacon soup.  It looks a lot like my beloved cheeseburger soup from Scotty's Brewhouse.  I've never added bacon to that and will do so next time I make it.  But, I stuck to my guns and made the potato and ham chowder.  Here's a link to Rebekah's original recipe:  Potato and ham chowder.

I did make one change to the recipe.  Since I regularly save chicken bones to make my own stock, I used chicken stock instead of water and bouillon.  Saves a bunch of sodium too...

What did we think?  This was super flavorful and creamy.  Because Connie loves cheese, I added a bunch of shredded cheddar before serving the soup.  That did up the score for us!

Here's how you make the soup:

Potato and Ham Chowder

Ingredients:

3 1/2 c potatoes, peeled and diced

1/3 c celery, diced

1/3 c onion, finely diced

3/4 c cooked ham, diced

3 1/4 c chicken stock

1/2 t salt, or to taste

1 teaspoon ground pepper, or to taste

5 T butter

5 T all-purpose flour

2 c milk

 

Directions:

 

Add the potatoes, celery, onions, ham and stock to a stockpot.  Cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.  In a small saucepan, melt the butter.  Add the flour and cook for about 5 minutes or until the roux is a very light golden brown.  Slowly whisk in the milk.  Once the cream sauce has thickened, pour it into the other mixture.  At this point, you can add herbs to taste.  Or cheese. 


Here are links to the other soups and stews for this month: 

 

• Sue from A Palatable Pastime
• Lauren from Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Rebekah from Making Miracles
• Kathy from A Spoonful of Thyme
• Debra from Eliot's Eats
• Jean from Lemons and Anchovies
• Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Anna from annaDishes
• Lea Ann from Cooking on the Ranch
• Azmina from Lawyer Loves Lunch
• Christy from Confessions of a Culinary Diva
• Lisa from Authentic Suburban Gourmet
• Stacy from Food Lust People Love
• Heather from All Roads Lead to the Kitchen
• Christiane from Taking on Magazines
• Kate from Kate's Kitchen
• Karen from Lavender and Lovage
• Amy from Amy's Cooking Adventures
  

Almond Gazpacho, Weekend in a French Kitchen

Gazpacho.  One of my favorite summer soups.  That and vichyssoise.  I'm one who could pretty much live on soup.  My mouth is watering as I'm typing this so please pardon me while I run fix myself a bowl of gazpacho for breakfast...   Ahhh, now that was good.  I always make my gazpacho by taking two-thirds of the veggies and pulsing them in the food processor with just a little bit of beef base.  Those get mixed with tomato juice, Clamato or V8 depending on my mood - and my pantry.  Then, I add in a bit of Tabasco and some extra virgin olive oil.  The other third is very finely diced and put into a separate storage container.  When I serve the gazpacho, I ladle some of the soup into a bowl, top it with a big handful of the diced veggies and drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over the top.  One of our guests at a dinner party this past week declared it the best gazpacho he'd ever had.  The original recipe came from a cookbook called Indianapolis Cooks and Collects.

Here's what it looks like: 

Needless to say, I was entranced when I saw almond gazpacho on the Weekend in a French Kitchen recipe schedule.  Really?  Almond?  As I'm typing this, I'm recalling that one of the articles (yet to be fully read) in a New York Times recipe email is about the best gazpacho. 

"It is not the watered-down salsa or grainy sludge often served here under the name of gazpacho, but an emulsion of fat (olive oil) in liquid (vegetable juice and vinegar) that is light and fluffy on the tongue and a fantastic conductor of flavor, just like vinaigrette or hollandaise." 

Obviously, given my comments in the first paragraph I prefer the chunky gazpacho to the smooth.  So, when I read the instructions and found the first step to be soaking crustless white bread in water I cringed a bit.  Once the bread is soaked and drained and squeezed dry, it's put into the food processor with almonds, grapes, cucumber and garlic.  Then, ice water, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper are added.  The soup is put through a fine sieve and refrigerated until chilled.  It's topped with reserved almonds and garlic slices that have been crisped in some olive oil.  Then, it gets a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of piment d'Espelette. 

Once I got over the fact that this was not going to be anything at all like the gazpacho I love, I decided this was pretty darned good.  It's not something that I'll make with any regularity but is a lovely recipe for a starter for a dinner party.  Or a luncheon with a bowl of this and some great sandwiches. 



Here's the ingredient list for the gazpacho I make:

Indianapolis Collects and Cooks Gazpacho
6 c tomato juice
2 T olive oil
2-3 T lemon juice
1 c beef broth
1/2 c finely minced onion
3 tomatoes, finely minced
2 c finely minced celery
1/2 green pepper, finely minced
2 cucumbers, seeded and finely minced
1 t salt
1/4 t pepper
dash of tabasco