Gazpacho Cordobes (Page 88)

RECIPE #1192

• Date: Monday, August 2, 2010 -- 7pm
• Location: East Lansing, MI
• Kitchen: Our New House!
• Fellow Chef: Matty
• Recipe Rating: B
  

I was looking for some quick recipes that are left in The Book and this one caught my eye. I started by roasting tomatoes and red bell peppers, then peeling and seeding the peppers. I stirred in some cucumber, garlic, sherry vinegar, olive oil, bread that had been soaked in water, tarragon, salt, and pepper. I refrigerated the mixture for 8 hours then pureed it in a food processor. I chilled for another couple hours, then put it through a food mill. Relative to most of the recipes I have left, this one was a piece of cake! The gazpacho was pretty tasty. To be honest, my special gentleman and I aren't particularly fans of cold soups (with the exception of sour cherry soup). So did we love this? Well, no. Do I think it was a good version of gazpacho? Yes. In fact, I think it was as good as any gazpacho I have had. I just don't particularly care for gazpacho. It had good depth of flavor -- I think roasting the tomatoes and peppers added a lot to the dish. And putting it through a food mill at the end improved the texture a lot. So if I were forced to make gazpacho again I would probably make this one.

The recipe is here.

When we moved to Michigan my special gentleman and I resolved that we would not drive everywhere. My special gentleman and I both grew up in the Midwest, and while I was excited to move back my special gentleman had a few apprehensions about it. One was that he didn't want to have a car-reliant lifestyle. So in selecting a house we picked one close enough to his office for him to walk. It's about a mile and half from the door of the house to the door of his office, which is a pleasant walk twice a day. The house is also conveniently close to a bank, hardware store, grocery store, some restaurants, a dentist, a bowling alley, etc... We can walk most places. Indeed this morning we even walked to our new veterinarian with the kitties in their carrier. For my job I have two offices though. And while one is in the same building as my special gentleman's office, and hence a nice walking distance away, the other is another mile further from home. Two and a half miles is a bit far to walk each way every day, so I have decided to become a bike commuter. I hate to bike. I haven't owned a bike since college and in college I hated to bike. So I was more than a little skeptical of this bike commuting plan, although I did come up with it. Despite my skepticism, I committed myself to it, buying myself a bike that I love. It's a cruiser -- it has only one gear and back-pedal breaks. My special gentleman installed a big basket in front for me, a little bell, and a blinking light so no one hits me at night. I ride it at a very leisurely pace. I cruise to and from work. It's awesome.

This is my first week as a bike commuter, so Sunday evening my special gentleman helped me plot my route. Those of you who know me know that I am constantly lost, and I haven't figured out how to mount my GPS machine on my bike. Sunday evening the ride with my special gentleman went smoothly, despite the fact that it was the first time I had been on a bike in years. Monday morning I headed out on my own, in the rain, confident that I could make it! Three blocks from home my chain fell off the gear -- a problem I was completely ill-equipped to deal with on my own. My special gentleman biked over, fixed my bike, and then biked with me to my office in case it happened again. The bike was fine after that and I made it home at the end of the day, by myself, without incident. This morning I headed out once again. About halfway to the office I found myself completely lost. Eventually I made it. Tomorrow I am hoping to make it to and from work without incident. Truth be told, despite the difficulties I am liking this whole bike commuting thing. I am still having trouble imagining how I am going to do this in the winter, but for now, it's not bad at all.