Hot? Hungry? Have I got a solution for you. It comes courtesy of Suzanne Goin and her “Sunday Suppers at Lucques.” It’s her recipe for Yellow Tomato Gazpacho and you can read it here. It’s INCREDIBLY easy, and INCREDIBLY rewarding. All you need are yellow tomatoes, a jalapeno, cilantro, garlic, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Oh, and a cucumber. I leave the cucumber for last because there’s a funny story about me buying the cucumber that involves a FOOD CELEBRITY from TV, but you’ll have to click ahead.
Ok, it’s not that great a story. I was at the farmer’s market buying all of my ingredients and then I read Suzanne’s instructions to get “3 Persian cucumbers or 1 hothouse cucumber.” I lifted a cucumber from a stand and I asked the man behind it, “Is this a hothouse cucumber?” and he said, “We don’t grow our cucumbers in a hothouse.” I was puzzled. “So is the same thing as a hothouse cucumber but you don’t grow it in a hothouse?”
A woman called to me. “What do you need it for?”
“Gazpacho,” I answered.
“Oh,” she said. “That’ll be fine.”
The woman didn’t look familiar but then, as she walked away, I saw who she was with: Gail Simmons from “Top Chef.” I was starstruck!
And now for the gazpacho and the detailed process by which you make it. To document how complicated it all is, Diana and I made you a video:
Suzanne says to use a real blender, but using a hand blender in a pitcher only gives you one thing to clean up afterwards and it’s visually dramatic. Here’s what you have when you’re done:
Chill for a while, pour into a bowl, add chopped onions, peppers, cilantro and cherry tomatoes and you’re done! And it really hits the spot, especially in the heat of summer.
But if you’re still hungry, as we were, you’d do yourself a service to buy some bread and to make Amanda Hesser’s recipe for Parmesan grilled cheese. This is a brilliant recipe because fresh Parmesan is something you should have in your fridge anyway. So you slice the bread thinly, you grate lots of Parm on top, grind pepper on top of that…
…close the sandwich up and then heat 2 Tbs of butter in a skillet. You add the sandwich…
press down, and cook til golden brown on one side and flip and cook the other side until golden brown too.
And that’s it! Diana thought it was a clever take on tomato soup and grilled cheese–am I the Thomas Keller of amateurs?–and, yet again, a lovely summer meal.
What a pretty dish. And an interesting brush with fame — in reality, with all the lighting and make-up, you might not recognize a ton of the people on TV. That’s what one of my friends in TV said, at least.
Adam, that lady shouting out to you at the market is sooo New York! Everyone’s in everyone’s business. Ha! Hey, isn’t a hothouse cucumber the same as English cucumber? Maybe that’s why it wasn’t in a hothouse because they just thought it was the English cucumber variety. Maybe next time you should look for the Persian cucumbers. I think they’re more interesting and you don’t have a big hothouse cucumber leftover.
I have to admit, right here and now, that I have a huge crush on Gail Simmons. Ok, I said it. Now carry on good people… AG, the meal looks muito delicioso!
Oh my goodness, for some reason seeing that you posted your own homemade video made me so excited! You should post videos all the time! Better yet, you should release your own DVD! Haha, ok I’m getting a bit carried away. Great gazpacho, Muchacho…
ok, hothouse cucumbers are the normal big watery American ones you have to peel to eat because they’re so tough and waxy. Persian cucumbers are the little narrow ones five or six inches long that you do Not have to peel to eat. English cucumbers are the really long ones generally wrapped in plastic at the store. there you go.
Thats such a great summer version of what could be winter comfort food for many people.
I’m definitely making the grilled cheese!
B
Hand to Mouth
Adam, I made this gazpacho a few days after you posted this and it was AMAZING. I agree that it was “easy” to do, though for me it was time consuming (I did not have an assistant and I feel like I used every single bowl I own in my house.) Regardless, it was supremely tasty and I will enjoy making it again next summer when yellow tomatoes are best again.
Also, I did find Persian cucumbers in my local bodega completely randomly. Who knew?!