Tichi's Gazpacho, chef Jose Andres

When the farmers markets and our garden have fresh, heirloom tomatoes, we make gazpacho. Heirloom varieties have intense flavors that make this cool soup stand out. I prefer the tart varieties, but the acidity is adjusted with sherry vinegar, so any flavorful variety will do. Don't bother with store-bought varieties, they only taste like wet red cardboard.

This recipe is from chef Jose Andres' book, "Tapas: a Taste of Spain in America", which is fun, imaginative, and tasty -- authentic while using ingredients available in America.  This gazpacho is excellent and easy.  We halved the quantities to fit in our conventional home blender, and reduced the oil because the original seemed a bit heavy.

We've used various peppers from our garden including Spanish padrons -- I like the hint of heat they provide, but suggest you remove the seeds to keep it in check. It's easy to seed the cucumber: cut it in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and gel with a spoon. Use a tasty Olive Oil, you'll really notice it in the finished product.

1 pound Tomatoes, cored, cut coarse (red, yellow, heirloom, cherry)
4 ounces Cucumber, peeled, seeded, cut coarse
1 1/2 ounces Green Bell Pepper, seeded, cut coarse (red, or spicy work too)
1/2 clove Garlic, peeled
1 Tbs Sherry Vinegar
1/4 cup Water (or 4 Ice Cubes to help it chill faster)
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp Kosher Salt

Turn on the blender and add ingredients individually so they liquefy instead of sitting in a mass above the blade.

Add Tomatoes chunks, one at a time, then Cucumber chunks, the Pepper, then Garlic, Vinegar, Water (or Ice Cubes), and finally Oil. The order's not really that important, but this reduces the chance you'll have to poke things down in the blender.

Make sure you let it run a while with the Oil -- creating an emulsion gives you the big mouthfeel.

Taste and adjust Vinegar and Salt for balance. If you want more richness, add more Olive Oil and blend again.

Run the soup through a fine strainer (not a Chinois, it's too fine) to remove seeds and any bits of skin. This makes for a much more elegant presentation.

Straining the soup

Seeds and skin removed, less distraction, more elegant

Chill for at least an hour.

Serves 4, about 3 Cups