Tag Archives: Spanish

Garden Gazpacho

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Yeah, I’m not sure anyone will read this with the inconsistency and long gaps between posts as of late.  But hey, at least my mom will!  Hi mom, you’re awesome!

Anyway, I woke up this morning and it was already hot.  San Jose gets a little toasty in the summer for a Northern girl like me.  I’m happy up to about 80, then above that I start perspiring considerably.  Our garden, however, loves the heat.   This is evidenced by the giant squash that seem to grow overnight:

We also have lemon cucumbers, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, serrano peppers, and heirloom tomatoes that are going along quite well right now (the only unsuccessful thing we planted was strawberries. :( ).  Our apricot tree recently fruited intensively for 3 weeks then was done.

So when I woke up this morning, Imembered how much I like gazpacho when it’s hot and that we had an awful lot of cucumbers that needed to be used in the garden.  A blender or a food processor makes gazpacho a breeze, really, so I threw some together and had it for breakfast with a cafe au lait (made with a Bialetti Moka Express generously gifted by a certain Mr. & Mrs. J/G from New York, New York, which makes some mighty fine caffeinated beverage!).  Gazpacho and espresso is not a bad combo.

So rest assured, all…I am alive and not yet reduced to subsisting off interesting reconstructions of instant ramen.

Honestly, I’m not much of a recipe follower…if you’re that way as well, I’d recommend you check out the Food and Wine Tips for making excellent gazpacho.  And go ahead, eat it for breakfast.  It’s pretty darn good!

 

Not all peppers are created equal

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I wouldn’t say I’m a terribly picky eater; I’ll eat most things (excluding tripe) and not complain about it, but there are some things I don’t hate but just don’t enjoy.  Bell peppers are one of these things.  I do generally like spicy peppers but prefer them raw usually.  Don’t ask me why, it’s just an arbitrary taste preference.

This is why I was particularly confused with myself when I went to the farmer’s market today and felt compelled to buy a small basket of tiny green peppers.  I’d never seen them before and never tried them, but the stall had an awful lot of them and other people seemed to be buying them.  The little hand-drawn sign said they were great just pan fried in olive oil with some salt.  So, in contrast with my preconceived notions of non-spicy peppers being not something worth going out of my way for, I bought a pricey little basket ($4!!).

Excited to try out my new purchase (and still a little hungry after the gym and a somewhat meager lunch), I heated up a pan with some olive oil, threw a large handful in, and put some sea salt on top, stirring occasionally until all the sides were blistered and maybe a tiny bit blackened.  I bit into one and they were addictive.  I had to fry some more up and threw in some squash blossoms for good measure.  They actually went very well together and looked colorful and pretty.

Apparently these Padrón peppers are originally from Spain.   Wikipedia tells me that they can be spicy or not spicy and you’ll never know until you eat them.  Turns out my batch wasn’t spicy, but I wouldn’t complain if a couple were.  Having that sort of adventure is sometimes fun in food, right?

If you see these little green peppers at your local farmer’s market, I recommend you pick up a basket and cook them in the minimalistic Spanish style.  They’re a great summer snack.  They’d probably be good for pickling, too.

Now I think I’ll take this Spanish inspiration and go have a little siesta…