There are of course peaches, strawberries, squash, lovely corn, sweet onions and a plethora of peppers. Tomatoes are high on my list of the amazing things I love about summer. In fact I made an awesome tomato pie last night. (It's a food network recipe, so check out the link) The thing that I truly can't resist about summer are the melons. They are sweet and fragrant and oh so lovely.I have been getting in beautiful small sweet seedless watermelon from GrowFood Carolina that have simply amazing flavor-- diced it up for a salad and took a piece to my General Manager to try. Before eating it he asks what I did to it: Did I pickle it? (yes pickled melon is awesome) or maybe I salted it, or tossed it in a light vinaigrette? Nope- I just diced it up and brought over a piece of heaven. It's hard to improve upon, I dare say, but when you have simply had your fill this is a great little recipe to try.
This gazpacho is fun because combines a lot of these wonderful flavors you get in the summer. It takes the sweetness of the watermelon and puts it in contrast with the heat of a few nice jalapenos (maybe you've been growing these in your garden) and then for a little added surprise at the end I use Blenheim's, a local spicy ginger ale to add a little more kick and to give it a little sparkle on your tongue. And because it is just packed with flavor I will usually just serve a small bit of it to wet the appetite, maybe even add some spiced rum to make it into a delicious summer shot for your garden party!
The method on this is pretty simple, really it's all about picking the right ingredients- go to your local farmer's market and remember as far as flavor goes, bigger isn't always better, there is a lot more sweetness packed into those small melons than the big boys. So basically you are going to combine everything and puree. If you have an immersion blender those work great, and you can just do it all at once in a big bowl, otherwise you will have to do smaller batches in the blender then mix it all together at the end.
2 lbs watermelon-rind removed and roughly chopped (one small one should do the trick)
1 quart strawberries, stems removed
3 cucumbers-peeled and seeded
2 jalapenos (I usually remove the seeds from one and leave them in the other, gives the perfect amount of heat and flavor
1 small red onion, sliced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup chopped mint
1 TBS honey
1/4 cup champagne vinegar
1 TBS salt
1 tsp black pepper
So puree it, chill it and serve it. I like putting it into glasses and finishing the whole thing with a 2 to 1 ratio, two parts gezpacho and one part gingerale. This, you guys, is going to blow your minds!
