Oof, it's hot here. At least we've been able to cool our wretched insides with wonderful gazpacho. As promised, I made very happy use of the series of posts on the subject at Lobstersquad. In the end I went for a sort of bastard cross of Ximena's basic recipe and her "final and best" version. I blush to admit that I followed her suggestion for those who are both chicken-hearted and undeserving, and substituted commercial mayonnaise for the single raw egg of the "very unorthodox, very delicious, by now quite famous gazpacho as served at the old ancestral home" -- but I quailed at the prospect of making the batch three days ahead and then serving it to guests, which is what we did. Bastardized and cowardly though it may have been, this version was a major hit. The guests positively clamored for a copy of the recipe, always a gratifying response to a new dish.

I don't think I've ever had proper, smooth gazpacho of this sort before. The kind we usually get around these parts is chunky, more along the lines of fresh uncooked tomato sauce or salsa in a bowl. That sort of thing can be tasty and refreshing, to be sure, but this was a revelation. Mine wasn't nearly as glossy smooth and gorgeous as this little cup of soup (isn't that just gorgeous?), but I blended and strained it until it was as smooth as I could possibly get it, and it was worth every bit of the effort, which really wasn't all that considerable, in any case. (I'm thinking that a food mill would come in very handy for this and a number of other things in my kitchen -- I'd love your thoughts about what I should consider when choosing which kind to buy.) We had four little bowls of garnishes to add at the table: tiny cubes of cucumber, minced red onion, chopped hardboiled egg, and little crispy homemade croutons. Lovely in every way.

Here's what I did:

This makes a lot of gazpacho -- I think almost a half gallon.

1 kilo fresh ripe tomatoes, chopped (this was about 4 good-sized tomatoes)
500 g canned tomatoes
1/2 onion, chopped
1 small clove garlic, minced
2 little bitty pickling cucumbers, peeled and chopped (half of a large cucumber would be about the same, I think)
1 red pepper, core and seeds removed, chopped
Tiny pinch cayenne
2 T mayonnaise (you could use a single raw egg instead)

I blended all this with a stick blender in a big bowl and pushed the puree through a fine-mesh strainer. Many annoying little tomato seeds were left behind. Then I returned the strained puree to the original bowl and started blending again, adding as I blended:

1/2 c olive oil, in a slow stream, then
2-3 cups cold water

Finally I stopped blending and stirred in

5ish T vinegar (to taste)
salt to taste

and transferred to my pitcher to chill. Everyone seems to advise that you can feel free to keep your gazpacho in a plastic pitcher or a glass one -- covered of course -- but if you use plastic, you should be prepared never to use it for anything else again, as it will absorb the flavors of the soup in a big way. I used this excellent glass pitcher, which I found at Crate and Barrel. No need for the ice insert for this purpose, naturally. The lid isn't airtight, so I draped a napkin over top, which worked fine and felt pleasantly low-tech.