Friday, August 5, 2011

Free Recipe Friday


Welcome back to FREE RECIPE FRIDAY,
where you can pop in and pick up a recipe at no charge :) 
Today's recipe is brought to you by "HeatWave 2011!" 

On this Free Friday, we are servin' up GAZPACHO.
Gazpacho with Shrimp and Corn to be exact. 
Say it with me...guh-SPAH-cho...
OR, if you're from East Texas...guz-POCH-ohhh). 
Raise your hand if you've ever tried it!? 
Raise your hand if you've never heard of it!? 
Okay, so, quick foodie lesson. 
Gazpacho is a cold, tomato-based raw vegetable soup,
mostly consumed in the summer months
due to it's cold temperature and acidic bite.
There are many versions and variations,
but generally they all keep with a tomato base,
along with cucumbers, red onions, garlic, olive oil
and some type of vinegar or lemon juice....and most often
accompanied by some crusty bread or croutons. 
Lesson is over.

Let me first start off by saying that I have never actually had any desire
to eat COLD SOUP.  I can handle most all foods
at room temperature, even coffee...
but COLD SOUP?  Not so much.
But when I came across a blog with a recipe for Gazpacho on it,
the pictures made me want to try it instantly. 
And in case you didn't know,
the temperatures outside are definitely screaming 'summer months!'
So it was time to venture out and give it a try...and WOW!
This is also a great, simple, 'do ahead' meal -
and looks and sounds so fancy and bistro-ish! 

Gazpacho is also deceivingly filling,
especially with a few shrimp in your bowl!
It is SO yummy and fresh tasting,
I believe I will go eat some leftovers now!

Follow along and you too can learn how to create this very easy,
make ahead 'liquid salad.'

Gazpacho with Grilled Shrimp and Corn

4 med. ripe tomatoes | diced (we used grape tomatoes)
2 med. red bell peppers | seeded, deribbed and finely chopped
(we used one large orange one)
2 med. cucumbers | peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 med. red onion | coursely chopped
2 cloves garlic | minced
2 cups chicken broth
Side Note:
(we used 'Better Than Boullion' paste for ours - a very good product 
and is also available in beef, ham and tomato!  
If you are not using homemade broth,
please look for products that do not list salt as the first ingredient -
did you know that the ingredients
on products are listed in order of quantity in the product?)
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
dash of Tabasco
pinch of cayenne pepper
2 Tablespoons capers, drained
salt and pepper to taste
- - - - -
1/2 lb. (about 18 large shrimp) | peeled and deveined
2 ears fresh corn | peeled
olive oil for brushing corn
1/4 chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

Place the first 11 ingredients in a large bowl and stir to mix well.


Transfer half of the mixture to a blender or food processor and process until smooth.
Return mixture to the bowl and mix well.
Taste for seasonings and adjust if necessary. 
Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight
(Great to make ahead!).


For cooking the shrimp and corn, you can grill them both or saute in a very hot pan as we did. 
We even used CANNED CORN!  We drained it, and sauted it in a very hot skillet with a little butter and salt and pepper until some of the corn started turning golden brown. Add to the gazpacho.
If you grill the corn, brush with butter or olive oil while you turn the corn.  When the corn is cool enough to handle, scrape the corn from the cob and add to the gazpacho.

The same goes for the peeled, deveined shrimp.  You can grill it or saute in a hot skillet.
After we removed the corn from our hot skillet, we added the shrimp with a little olive oil and salt and pepper.  Either way is fine.


NOW, to serve, ladle the gazpacho soup into shallow bowls,
top with some shrimp (grilled or sauteed)
and sprinkle with some cilantro. 
Serve with some warm crusty bread such as ciabatta.


Enjoy this Free Recipe Friday!

3 comments:

  1. raising my hand, whoops no, putting it down, i have heard of it but never tried it, i mean,who really eats COLD soup??? but if you tried it and you like it i just might....it looks really yummy.

    I have a confession & and cooking question. I have never cooked shrimp at home (i take that back, 30 years ago I bought & fried breaded, frozen shrimp) but i mean real, good fresh shrimp because I have never really trusted shrimp bought here in land locked east texas! but you seem to cook with it & you have not died yet of food poison, so where do you buy yours locally that i might venture out and try??

    Buying shrimp and trying cold soup might be stretching myself a bit much, I might need to try the shrimp in a different recipe first! ;)

    Love your free recipe friday!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You are too funny! I bought 2 lbs. of fresh frozen shrimp at Brookshire's (Kilgore) and divided it up and have used it for two different meals. It looked great and tasted fine. We were assured when it was being weighed that it was 'wild shrimp from the gulf.' It tasted no different than fresh shrimp we purchased at Rosemary Beach (near Panama City) Florida. I am always a little scared when eating shrimp anywhere because I had a major reaction to it about 6 or 7 years ago. Not much of a problem since, but I figure if we eat at chinese restaurants alot and we eat their shrimp (and who knows where theirs comes from) then we can hopefully trust Brookshire's! :) As for the 'cold soup' - I failed to mention that I eat it at room temperature...any leftovers I might eat, I actually heat in the microwave just to knock the chill off. It has such an awesome flavor...you should try it! :)

    ReplyDelete

Followers