gazpacho two ways: traditional red (from jose andres) and green (from bon appetite)

For months my husband and I planned to tear up half of the cement driveway that sits to the left of our house. We had 10 feet of concrete slab that was a total waste of space and didn't make sense to maintain since we have one car (and hope to keep it that way) and a scooter. We thought the space should be turned into our family garden.

After dragging our feet for most of the spring and early summer, Matt finally rented a jack-hammer. It took only (!) seven hours of drilling in the sun, in temperature that exceeded 100 degrees, to get the job done. We removed the concrete and assembled the elevated garden beds. Then we tilled the hard clay, added bags and bags of soil, and got to planting. We're growing basil, jalapeños, Corsican mint, Kentucky Colonel mint (hello mint juleps! and mojitos!), heirloom tomatoes, kale, marigolds, milk weed, jupiter's beard and a host of other bee-welcoming and butterfly-attracting plants. 

In just under 5 weeks we have started to reap the benefits of our hard work. Otis is in charge of watering the plants every morning and every evening. Theodore, being slightly less helpful than his older brother, usually takes the garden spade and swings it in the direction of the tomatoes until something falls off the vine (hopefully he outgrows this soon). There is an enormous satisfaction in knowing that we are greening the land, and our garden serves as our proudest DIY-it to date. We've come a long way since I tried to grow a strawberry plant on our fire escape in Brooklyn. I lovingly watered that silly plant and placed it in the sun, but the result of all my effort was a pitiful yield - a single and sad looking berry that didn't even taste good. 

But times have changed and this garden is a total thrill. It's thriving and it's growing. I can't tell you how amazing it felt to pick some of the gazpacho ingredients  from our little plot of Earth....

Patricia's Gazpacho 
(Courtsey of Jose Andres via Food + Wine. With thanks to the Truffle Table  in Denver for suggesting this recipe.)

Ingredients

2 pounds ripe plum tomatoes (about 10), cut into chunks

8 ounces cucumber (1 cucumber), peeled and cut into chunks

3 ounces green pepper, in large pieces

1 garlic clove

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

Spanish extra-virgin olive oil

Salt

Garnish

1 tablespoon Spanish extra-virgin olive oil

1 slice rustic white bread

6 plum tomatoes, with the seeds, prepared as "fillets"

8 cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cucumber, peeled and cut into cubes

4 pearl onions, pulled apart into segments

2 tablespoons Spanish extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

Sea salt

4 chives, cut into 1-inch pieces

Preparation

• In a blender, combine the tomatoes, cucumber, green pepper, garlic and sherry vinegar and blend until the mixture becomes a thick liquid. Taste for acidity; this will vary with the sweetness of the tomatoes. If it's not balanced enough, add a little more vinegar. Add the olive oil, season with salt, and blend again. Strain the gazpacho into a pitcher and refrigerate for at least half an hour.
• In a small pan, heat the olive oil over moderately high heat and fry the bread until golden, about 2 minutes. Break into small pieces to form croutons and set aside.
• To serve pour gazpacho into each of 4 bowls. Place 4 croutons, 2 "fillets" of tomatoes with seeds, 4 cherry tomato halves, 3 cucumber cubes and 3 onion segments into each bowl. Add a few drops of olive oil to each onion segment and drizzle a little more around each bowl. Add a few drops of vinegar to each cucumber cube and drizzle a little more around each bowl. Sprinkle sea salt on the tomatoes and sprinkle the chives over the soup. Serve when the gazpacho is refreshingly chilled.

NOTES: 
José's tips: If you want to be original, buy yellow or even green tomatoes. Also, if you want to save time, you can simplify the garnishes: Just use a few cubes of cucumber, tomato and green pepper.

* * *

I've been on such a gazpacho kick recently that I just had to try this green gazpacho recipe from July’s Bon Appetit magazine. It’s completely different from the traditional red gazapacho, but equally delicious. If you don’t want the soup hot (taste-wise, not temperature-wise) you can reduce the amount of jalapeño or increase the amount of yogurt. But personally, I love a soup with kick!

Green Gazpacho (Courtesy of Bon Appetit Magazine)

Ingredients

¼ cup white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1½ cups whole-milk plain Greek yogurt, divided

½ cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
4 oz. ciabatta or country-style bread, crust removed, bread torn into 1” pieces (about 2½ cups) 
1 medium English hothouse cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeds removed, cut into large pieces

1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped

4 large tomatillos (about 12 oz.), husked, quartered

4 scallions, cut into 1” pieces

2 jalapeños, seeds removed, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely grated

¾ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more

Piment d’Espelette or Hungarian hot paprika (for serving)

Preparation

• Whisk vinegar, lime juice, 1 cup yogurt, and ½ cup oil in a large bowl until smooth. Add bread, cucumber, bell pepper, tomatillos, scallions, jalapeños, garlic, and ¾ tsp. salt and toss to coat (make sure bread is well coated so it can soak up as much flavor as possible). Cover and chill at least 4 hours.
• Working in batches, purée bread and vegetable mixture in a blender until very smooth; transfer to a large bowl and season gazpacho with salt.
• Whisk remaining ½ cup yogurt in a small bowl, thinning with water a tablespoonful at a time, until the consistency of heavy cream; season with salt.
• Serve soup in chilled bowls. Drizzle with thinned yogurt and more oil and sprinkle with piment d’Espelette.

DO AHEAD: Gazpacho can be made 1 day ahead; cover and chill. Mix well before serving.

inspiration: the populist's cauliflower + pear soup with help from Food52

Ladies night boils down to this: great food, wonderful conversation, a few drinks and good friends. It's absolutely essential to my mental well-being and I'm quite certain that it makes me a better mother. I return home feeling refreshed and renewed and I should probably do it more often...

Back in November my friend Jo Ellen and I went to The Populist, one of Denver's best restaurants according to pretty much everyone. Now The Populist isn't cheap and ladies night isn't always this high-brow. Most of the time I opt for hole-in-the-wall type places that serve hummus platters, tacos, pho or Ethiopian food. But this get-together was special since my friend gave birth to her third child and this was our first time out together since mid-summer. We also really wanted to try the restaurant and the post-baby celebration gave us good cover. So on a chilly November night we went out on the town, got to the restaurant and sat down at our table shortly after we finished our first round at the bar (and yes, the cocktails were excellent). 

Now here's the thing about the meal: I'm still thinking about it. It was stellar. Exceptional! We ordered a bowl of cauliflower + pear soup, the butternut squash salad, curried chick peas and for my entree I chose the huitlacoche ("the Mexican truffle") agnolotti. Now I'm more of what you'd call a home cook and I thought the agnolotti was above my chef grade. But I'm really comfortable in the soup realm and so I though I'd take a stab at the cauliflower + pear. 

I scoured the internet for a recipe and found this one from the Food52 Community. It got great reviews and sounded like it would work really well. It was simple, straightforward and could be made using a cutting board and one pot (a.k.a. not much to clean). I loved the flavor of the pear and the sherry made it pop. Was it similar to The Populist's version? Not really. It was missing the dehydrated pear, which really adds a lot of texture, and it wasn't quite as smooth. But it was very good and the boys ate it by the bowlful. And in my book that's a success story. Next time I might serve it alongside some grilled cheese sandwiches. 

In case you were wondering how we finished off our ladies night...we concluded the meal with an excellent slice of lemon ice box cake that was lip-smacking good. I can't wait to go back to The Populist again and sit in their outdoor patio (that's covered with vines) once winter passes...

In the meantime, keep warm and enjoy the soup.

Cauliflower and Pear Soup (Adapted only slightly from Food52)

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 tablespoons of butter (you can make this vegan by omitting the butter and adding another tablespoon of olive oil)

1 large leek, white and light green parts, chopped

1 small shallot, chopped

1 head cauliflower, green leaves and trunk removed, florets chopped

2 small yukon gold potatoes, peeled and chopped

2 medium sized pears, peeled, cored, and chopped

5 leaves fresh sage (or about 2 teaspoons chopped)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

5 cups homemade vegetable stock or good quality store-bought

kosher salt + freshly ground black pepper

2 to 3 teaspoons sherry vinegar, or to taste (champagne vinegar also works)

2 tablespoons finely chopped chives, for serving (optional)

Preparation
Heat the oil and butter in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the leek and the shallot, and cook until they are soft, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.

Add the cauliflower, potato, pear, sage, and thyme, stirring to thoroughly coat them with the oil and butter. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until lightly browned, stirring frequently, another 8 to 10 minutes. You're aiming for a little caramelization around the edges for depth of flavor.

Add 5 cups of vegetable stock. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, lower the heat to just maintain the simmer, and cook until all of the ingredients are very tender, about 30 minutes.

With an immersion blender or regular blender, puree the soup until it’s smooth. If you're using a blender, you may need to do this step in batches, then return the soup to the pot. You're looking for a smooth, velvety texture, so take your time to blend thoroughly. Thin with more chicken stock, if needed, until you reach desired consistency.

Season to taste with vinegar and salt and pepper (this is key!). Serve the soup in heated bowls, garnished with chives...or with large pieces of french baguette (I picked up mine from Babette's at The Source). 

broncosnation, pumpkin cheese soup + ask a beer guy (or, sunday in denver)

I grew up with Yankee baseball. I can’t remember exactly how old I was when I went to my first game, but I was definitely pretty young, like maybe 4 or 5 years old. My mother grew up on the Grand Concourse, a stone’s throw away from Yankee Stadium, and my father is from the Bronx too- so Yankee baseball is in my blood. But that’s really where sports started and ended in our family. If it wasn’t Yankee baseball it was nothing. Up until last week I had never been to any other professional sporting events- no football, no hockey and no basketball. But things changed when my husband’s cousin Melissa, who was in Denver visiting us (again!), scored three tickets for the Broncos-Redskins game.

Excitement over the ticket-score quickly turned to worry, for the night before the game I came down with flu-like symptoms, including high fever and a sore throat. So I drank a few cups of hot tea with lemon and honey, popped a bunch of Halls cough drops into my mouth, managed to swallow a few ibuprofen and then went to bed…hoping that I'd feel better in the morning. 

Except that I couldn’t sleep. The pain was awful and swallowing, at this point, was nearly impossible. Knowing that something was wrong, I went to an Urgent Care Center (which thankfully accepted my insurance) and there I was given the diagnosis: acute tonsillitis caused by an extreme streptocchocal infection. Not exactly the news I wanted to receive. 

Now here in Denver football is like a religion and almost everyone is a parishioner, including Megan, the nurse practitioner who was treating me. She understood the severity of the situation - and we both knew that unless I was going to be medevaced or put in the I.C.U., I simply had to be in those section 509 seats! We both agreed that time was of the essence, so she took out the "big guns" (so to speak) and pretty much guaranteed that they would do the trick. 
I got a steroid injection in a place…well, let's just say it was in a location other than my arm…which made me feel like a true professional athlete. I began a course of antibiotics immediately, and as promised, by kickoff time I was feeling much better. I was almost as good as new.

As we made our way to the stadium I briefly feared that I would be outted as an imposter, as someone who had only recently learned the rules of the game (two weeks ago). But I was wearing bright orange threads and seamlessly made the transition from I-don’t-know-the-first-thing-about-football to hells-yeah-you-better-believe-I’m-a-Broncos-fan. It was awesome. 

The crowd was electric…all 76,000 people in attendance were cheering on the hometown team. I followed along: 1st down, 2nd down, another 10 yards so 1st down again, incomplete, touchdown and so on. You get the picture. It was amazing. There were fans, and players, and horses, and fireworks, and a half-time show that included a re-enactment of Thriller (it was Halloween weekend), cheerleaders, more fireworks, more horses, acrobats and lots of pretzel eating by yours truly. The people watching was great too. There were dedicated fans with painted faces, grandmothers with Broncos medallions hanging from their earrings, fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, older folks and younger folks. And lots of people in orange. At times the cheering was deafening, which is just the way I like professional sporting events...

So now I get it. This whole football thing.  It grasps the city of Denver every year. And every one of the season's 16 games are exciting, especially if the Broncos win…which they did on that beautiful autumn afternoon.  

* * *

Since I've been bitten by the Broncos bug, I’m pretty sure that we will be hosting a game or two this season. I was thinking of starting things off with home made pretzels and various dipping sauces…to be followed by this Pumpkin, Cheese and Beer Soup which I spotted on Spoon Fork Bacon.  As the recipe title indicates, there's lots of cheese in this soup and the orange color from the pumpkin and cheddar makes it a perfect dish for the season- as well as for the novice Broncos fan who just can’t get enough of Eric Decker. Go Broncos! 
Pumpkin Beer Cheese Soup (Adapted slightly from Spoon Fork Bacon)

Serves 3 to 4

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil


1/2 yellow onion, diced


1 large leek, thinly sliced


2 garlic cloves, minced


2 carrots, peeled and diced


1 rib celery, diced


2 1/2 tablespoons fresh thyme


1 (12 ounce) bottle pumpkin ale


2 cups vegetable broth


1/4 cup unsalted butter


1/3 cup all purpose flour


2 cups whole milk (low-fat is fine)


2/3 cup pumpkin puree
 (I added another tablespoon)

3 ½- 4 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese 
(I used almost all of a .75 lbs. block)

1 tablespoon lemon juice


1 teaspoon dry mustard


1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika


1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg


salt and pepper to taste 
(this is key before serving)

simple butter croutons:


1 cup diced sourdough bread


3 1/2 tablespoon melted salted butter


1/2 teaspoon garlic powder


1/2 teaspoon salt


1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation:

For croutons: Place all the ingredients into a bowl and toss them together until they are evenly coated. Pour the croutons into a large skillet and place them over medium heat. Toast the croutons for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove them from the heat and allow them to cool and crisp. Set the croutons aside until you're ready to use them.


For soup: 

• Pour the oil into a medium pot and place over medium-high heat. Add the onion and leek and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes or until onions and leeks have become translucent. Add the garlic, carrots and celery and season with salt and pepper. Sauté the vegetables for 4 to 5 minutes and stir in 2 tablespoons thyme. Add the beer and broth and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes or until the vegetable mixture is fork tender. Remove it from the heat and set aside.

• In another medium pot melt the butter. Whisk in the flour to create a roux and continue to whisk for 2 to 3 minutes. Slowly whisk in the milk (about ¼ cup at a time) until there are no lumps remaining and the mixture thickens. Stir in the pumpkin puree and mix until smooth. Toss the cheese together with the lemon juice before stirring it into the milk mixture. Stir until the cheese sauce is smooth.  Stir in the remaining spices.

• Pour the cheese mixture and broth mixture into a blender and blend until smooth (or use an immersion blender which is what I did- it makes clean up much easier). Pour the mixture back into a pot and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes or until soup thickens slightly. Stir in the remaining thyme and adjust the seasonings (salt and pepper are key here).

• Ladle the soup into bowls and top with buttered croutons. Then serve! 

* * * 

Now what's football without beer? I wanted to find a seasonal beer that would pair well with the aforementioned Pumpkin Cheese Soup, so I Asked A Beer Guy. 

Chris Cohen, a friend of mine who's beer savvy, a Certified Cicerone and founder of the San Francisco Homebrewer's Guild (plus all-around awesome guy) had a few ideas:

"The pumpkin cheese beer soup is super rich and dense, with some seriously intense flavor. Many people think wine is the way to go when pairing with cheese, but beer lovers know that’s just ridiculous! You’ll want an intensely flavored beer that can stand up to the soup’s rich cheesy flavor and dense mouthfeel. If you want to keep things seasonal, go with a wet hop IPA like Sierra Nevada’s Northern Harvest Wet Hop Ale, or if you’re lucky enough to be able to find a bottle, grab one of Almanac Beer Co.’s Fresh Hop IPAs. Fresh hop IPAs are beers made with hops that have been picked within the previous day or so, and they often impart a grassy herbal hop character, though it depends on the hop varietal used. Fresh hop IPAs have the high abv, malt backbone, and big fresh hop character to stand up to a flavorful cheese soup, plus their herbal and grassy fresh hop character should pair perfectly with thyme or other herbs in the dish."

Thanks, Chris! You can find out more about Chris's work and beer consultation on his website, as well as beer related things on the SFHG  Facebook page. Now I'm ready to watch football, ladle some soup and drink beer! (Don't worry friends, I still won't wear fleece, jerseys or crocks.)

Stay tuned, Ask A Beer Guy will be back with beer pairing suggestions for middle-eastern pumpkin fatayer appetizers and pumpkin ravioli too!