farmer's market tomatoes - gazpacho

Remember the 10 pounds of San Marzano tomatoes we got at the Barton Creek Farmer's Market from Johnson's Backyard Garden? Well BBQ sauce wasn't the only thing that was made from them.

One of my favorite fresh dishes to make during the summer is a cold Spanish soup called gazpacho. If you're not familiar with gazpacho, it's basically a cold tomato based soup, typically made with cucumbers, olive oil, and other vegetables and spices. Sometimes, balsamic vinegar is used for a little added 'zing.' In this version, instead of using balsamic vinegar I decided to reduce a dark Belgian ale down to a glaze. Now, my version of gazpacho is pureed down pretty well, but still fairly chunky (almost like a salsa). The great thing about gazpacho though is you can do it to your own heart's desire. You can make it soupy, chunky, tomato-y, rustic, etc.... It doesn't matter since you're the cook. Play around with it and see how you like it!

Here's what you'll need to make a tasty bowl of gazpacho.

 - 2 to 3 pounds of tomatoes
 - 2 small cucumbers
 - 1 red bell pepper
 - 1/2 red onion
 - Reduced Belgian ale or balsamic vinegar
 - Serranos/Jalepenos (use according to your spice level)
 - 1 or 2 garlic cloves
 - Olive oil
 - Fresh lemon

First, bring a pan of the Belgian strong ale to a boil. For this recipe, I used a Maredsous Bruin.
Once it comes to a boil, let it reduce until it's only a couple tablespoons. It will look like a glaze.
Set the beer glaze aside.

Next, bring a pot of water to a boil.
While the water is coming up to a boil, cut an 'X' into the top of each tomato (like so). The reason for doing this? We're going to be boiling the tomatoes for a bit, and when you do this, the skin peels right off.
At this time, get a large bowl filled with water and ice for an 'ice bath.'

Once the water is at a rolling boil, add around 5 to 6 tomatoes at a time.

Keep the tomatoes in the boiling water for around 30 seconds, just until the tops are softened. We don't want to cook the tomatoes here.
Once they're done, transfer them to the ice water to stop the cooking process.

When they're cooled off, peel off the skins and transfer to a bowl. I used a salad spinner bowl so the juices would be caught at the bottom of the bowl.

At this time, just let the tomatoes cool down while we cut up the vegetables.
Peel the skin off the cucumbers, spoon the seeds out, then do a rough chop.

Dice up a red bell pepper.

Dice up 1/2 of a red onion.

Dice up jalepenos/serranos.
Now, all of the components are ready for the food processor.
Add the tomatoes, cucumbers and garlic cloves to the food processor first.
Puree until desired consistency is reached.
Now add the rest of the vegetables to the food processor with the tomatoes and cucumbers.
Do a really quick pulse to mix everything together.
Take off the food processor.
Add the reduced beer glaze, a little drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Mix with a spoon and refrigerate covered for at least two hours.

For presentation, add the finished gazpacho to a glass or bowl. Top with a drizzle of olive oil and zest a little bit of lemon on top too. Top with basil or cilantro, and a swirl of the lemon skin.