Refreshing Gazpacho Soup: Slurp your Tomatoes!

Hot late summer days mean I need a cool soup recipe. One with minimal cooking: that is easy and tasty. Plus I want to use some of my garden produce. This classic Spanish soup called gazpacho is perfect for all of that and my family loves it. It absolutely must be made with ripe summer tomatoes, never ever attempt it with any less than the best vine ripened fruit. You can get great tomatoes at farm stands, farmer’s markets and even the grocery store; look for the grown local label for the best flavored tomatoes. Please do not use greenhouse tomatoes grown far away and shipped while not really ripe. Your soup will not be full of tomato flavor and it will taste disappointing. These ripe locally grown tomatoes are vital to the flavor of gazpacho.

I make my gazpacho in the blender but I believe a food processor works okay too. No heat, minimal fuss.

My version allows you to add chopped raw veggies in the amount you prefer just before you slurp it down. I prefer its fresh pure flavors to those soulless restaurant versions that are gelatinous and crammed full of a wide assortment of chunked veggies…uggh.

I once had a version of gazpacho similar to mine in a Philadelphia restaurant made with golden yellow tomatoes which was beautiful looking and quite tasty too.

Warning: you do need to peel the tomatoes but that goes pretty fast. I heat about a wide sauce pan filled 3 inches deep with water to a boil and pop the ripe tomatoes in for 2 to 3 minutes. I put in 4 at a time; done in a couple batches. Let them cool a bit and then peel off the skin and cut out the blossom end (top) and they are ready to use. You can easily halve this recipe; just one blender-full of tomatoes for that and half the rest of the ingrediens.

One more important instruction: gazpacho HAS to chill really good; make it early in the morning to serve as a late lunch or better yet; for supper. The colder the better, I actually put my soup bowls in the freezer for 15 or 20 minutes and yank them out just before filling and serving this cold summer delight.

It is a flexible recipe; depends on the size of your tomatoes. This should make close to 60 ounces or just shy of 2 quarts; cut in half if you don’t want too much. But you will wish you had made more…I promise! It will keep 3-5 days in the refrigerator.

tomato juice for thinning the soup

skinned tomatoes ready for soup making

I am about to press the puree button!

Still in blender, just pureed soup.

Summer Chill Gazpacho

Soup ingredients:

8 to 10 ripe fat tomatoes (large ones)

About ¼ cup EVOL; best you can afford

2 slices white bread (GF if you have celiac)

1 lemon

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1 to 1 ½ tsp. sea salt

Toppings:

2 large tomatoes diced, heirloom if possible

1 cup diced burpless cucumber

2 scallions, sliced thin, green and white parts

Directions: peel the tomatoes as described above. When I peel them I do it over a bowl to capture the juices and seeds. I save them, strain off the seeds and I add back the juice as needed to thin the finished soup. Put 4-5 tomatoes in the blender; add a slice of bread broken up, 2 tbsp. olive oil, the juice of half a lemon and one garlic clove. Put the lid on and blend well. Note: do not fill the blender more then ¾ full. Taste; add salt; ½ to ¾ tsp.

Repeat entire process with the rest of the ingredients and thin with reserved tomato juice – it should be thick but not porridge thick. Just know that it will thicken as it rests and chills in your refrigerator. Mix the two batches together in a big glass bowl; never metal because of the acidity of tomatoes and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Then chill it at least 3 to 4 hours.

Serve with bowls of toppings to sprinkle on top of the thick soup; diced ripe tomatoes, scallion slices and cucumber ( preferably burpless) cut in small dice. If you want to guild the lily, top with croutons (gf ones if you have celiac), I don’t bother.

Note: gluten free bread often gives a slightly different texture to the soup; somewhat less smooth in the look of it and the taste. It’s okay as it doesn’t affect the flavor: it still is delicious and a bowl of it is so very refreshing on a hot day. Serve with a sandwich and you have a perfect summer lunch.

Note: This recipe has not been changed but some additional information is in this repeat posting of this most delicious soup!

I used some chunks of gf sourdough as my croutons in this bowl. Used zucchini not cucumber in topping.

Peach Blueberry Crumb Pie

In eastern Pennsylvania we are past the peak of blueberry season, but both are still plentiful, and I was craving a great late summer pie. The resulting pie was delicious down to the last slice.

This is so easy to make: slice and dump together the filling, crumb topping gets made in the mixer bowl you just used for bottom crust. You can store any leftover crumb mixture in a sealed container in the fridge; it keeps a few weeks. This GF crumb topping is perfect for most any fruit pie.

I used a lot more peaches than blueberries; the proportions are up to you.To peel peaches; heat 3 inches of water to a boil, drop the peaches gently in 3-4 at a time and poach them 1-3 minutes. Allow to cool somewhat before peeling. I like to do that over a bowl to catch the juices as I slice each peach.

Bake and enjoy summer in a pie in just a few minutes of work. Don’t eat it piping hot; it should be cooled to close to room temperature. You could certainly serve this with vanilla ice cream. And this pie works perfectly with fresh nectarines. Bonus: no peeling required!

GF Blueberry Peach Crumb Pie

Crust:

1 c plus 2 tbsp brown rice flour mix (at bottom of recipe)

2 tbsp sweet rice flour

1 Tbps. granulated sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

6 Tbps. cold butter cut into 6 chunks

1 lg egg

2 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice

Directions:

Spray 9 or 10 inch metal pie pan with cooking spray, dust with white rice flour. I confess I forget to do this more often than I remember…still works.

Mix dry ingredients in bowl of stand electric mixer. Add butter and mix until crumbly and resembling coarse meal. Add egg and juice. Mix until it comes together into big chunks. Shape into a ball with your hands. Put it on a crust sized piece of wax paper (14 x 14 inches more or less), flatten the crust ball some; put on top of it another piece of wax paper and chill it all in your fridge 15-20 minutes while you prepare the filling.

Filling:

5 cups sliced fresh peaches, peeled and cut in thick slices

1 cup fresh blueberries – rinse and place in medium bowl

Mix with:

½ cup sugar

½ tsp. cinnamon

3 Tbsp. quick tapioca

Add and stir in

2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Let the filling stand while you prepare the crust, important for the tapioca so it does its job optimally.

Roll out pie crust in a pie bag or between the two sheets of wax paper, try to get the thickness even, no thick middle! Peel off one side of paper and place in pie pan, centered. Remove other slice of wax paper. Crimp edges all around. Fill with fruit mixture.

Crumb topping

Put all four ingredients in the same mixing bowl you made the bottom crust in and mix well with mixer paddle until crumbs form.

¾ c brown rice flour mix

½ c sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

1/3 c cold butter cut into six chunks

Directions:

Sprinkle the top of the pie with crumb mix; use as much as you like. I like about a heaping cup and a half of the mixture. Up to your personal taste… It sinks partially into the fruit mixture and adds lots of sweetness and eye appeal.

Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 45-50 minutes until bubbly and the crumb crust is light brown. I put a piece of aluminum foil on top for the last ten minutes. Cool at least 2 to 4 hours before serving at room temperature. I think it is best served the same day you make it, or no more then 10 hours after baking for optimal flavor. The crumbs will get soggy if too much time passes.

Note: if you find your bottom crust is not browning enough bake it empty at 375 degrees for ten minutes before filling it with the fruit. I have a bottom heat oven which gives me perfect pie crust if I put the pie on the very lowest shelf so I don’t ever have pale pie crust.

Brown Rice Flour Mix
2 c brown rice flour (finely ground)

2/3 c potato starch – Not potato flour!

1/3 c tapioca flour

Cowboy Cookie: Crazy Yummy!

My freezer is empty of cookies. This is Not good. Cookie baking was a priority for this week. I saw this recipe 9 years ago on the net. A year or two later I finally had time to throw it together. These cookies are created just like that; dump and blend and then there is a bit of stickiness in the shaping of them but no matter, just wash those sticky fingers and hands before you put on the oven gloves!

Notes: I like to use all dark brown sugar, I added walnuts, less vanilla and one batch I didn’t have quite enough Better Batter flour mix so I used a brown rice flour mix for the last ½ cup. I sometimes don’t bother to beat the eggs; added them one at a time though. I got the coconut chips at Freys Better Foods here in Hellertown. I just made them today using Cup 4 cup blend, another good option for flour blend.

Cowboy cookies have been around a long time. Popular with cowboys I assume! I have provided the recipe revised by it was published by Nicole Hunn in her fabulous blog, a great resource for gf baked goods.

They are sturdy and yummy. The flavor is a mixture of semi-sweet chocolate chips, cinnamon, brown sugar and oats with a healthy dose of butter. Totally. nummy. good.

I never heard of them before my first batch although apparently, they have been around for decades. I read today that Laura Bush baked a version of them in her smack down with another First Lady wanna be. They are hearty and really big so I am guessing they might well be from Texas!

My first batch made 24 cookies, the recipe said 20…. One other time 30 cookies. So, mine were a tad smaller than suggested but still really large. I ended up baking mine for 14 minutes, so I suggest you do likewise. If you bake them one sheet at a time they should be done in 12 minutes, but I would rather bake 2 sheets simultaneously. Some of the sets of six cookies were done on the parchment paper and one sheet was just on a cooking sprayed nonstick cookie sheet. Both ways worked fine. They spread some but not a lot so leave some space between them.

I plan to freeze most of them, so they last a bit. I am guessing success will be my ability to pull one of these big boys out of the freezer and snack down after work next week!

Cowboy Cookies, GF

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose gluten free flour (Better Batter works great)

1/2 tsp xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it) *BB does!

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp kosher salt

8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

1 1/2 cups coconut chips

2/3 cup chopped walnuts

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 eggs at room temperature, beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line rimmed baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper and set them aside.

In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, and whisk to combine well.

Place about 1 teaspoon of the dry ingredients in a separate, small bowl and add the chocolate chips to the bowl. Toss to coat the chips, and set the bowl aside.

To the large bowl, add the granulated sugar and the brown sugar and whisk to combine, working out any lumps in the brown sugar. Add the oats and coconut chips and mix to combine. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the butter, eggs and vanilla, mixing to combine. Add the chips and reserved dry ingredients, and mix until the chips are evenly distributed throughout. If necessary to bring the dough together, knead it with your hands. Divide the dough into 20 pieces, each about 2 ounces. Roll each into a ball and place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Flatten each ball into disk about 1/4-inch thick with your palm or a big spatula.

Place the baking sheets in the center of the preheated oven, two at a time, and bake until lightly golden brown all over (about 14 minutes). Remove from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes or until firm before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy these fat and tasty big cookies; no one will ever guess they are gluten free!

Postscript: these freaking cookies are addictive! They are subtly flavored by the combination of the above-named ingredients. My guy and my grandson Aiden loves them too. Trust me, they are the bomb!

Note to self; follow recipe exactly and they are even better…. I make sure to beat the eggs first before pouring them on top of the softened butter and the vanilla. I also remembered to add the chips last and watch them closely in the oven. This batch is so yummy I had to put most of them in the freezer to keep myself from eating more cookies. Perfect warm out of the oven. OMG: I am in love with these cookies!

Limoncello Tiramisu Teacups

I wanted a special dessert using some leftover ladyfingers. I only had 4 but honestly, I wanted to try making lemoncello tiramisu and a whole big dish of said tiramisu would destroy what is left of my waistline! I cannot resist tiramisu so making a small test version for a lunch dessert for someone’s birthday treat seemed like a good idea. This will make 3 full-sized desserts. I put mine in antique teacups, so fun and gives me a good shape to create it within. Use whatever cup you have; in 4–7-ounce size.
I used homemade Limoncello using Meyer lemons my brother sent me from Texas. I altered the recipe I liked to make less of it and because it doesn’t have whipped cream and I wanted some of that in there.
Be sure to chill it about 3 hours, bare minimum of 2.

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Peach Crumb Pie

It is the start of peach season so get some peaches and whip up a delicious gluten free peach pie. This is an easy pie to create. Slice and dump together the filling, crumb topping made in unwashed mixer bowl you used for bottom crust. You can store any leftover crumb mixture in a sealed container in the fridge; it keeps a few weeks. I let my mix spin a few more moments in the stand mixer for extra big crumbs for this pie; love that look. If you prefer a solid crust just double the crust part and top your pie with it. Be sure to cut some slits for steam escape! And if you don’t have time, buy a ready-made crust but homemade is always best.

Please make every effort to use local fruit; can get peaches at orchards like Bechdolt’s near Springtown, at most farm stands and at farmer’s markets; one on Saturdays in Easton or Sunday’s in Hellertown. This pie really showcases great tasting peaches. If you use lousy peaches your pie will taste crummy. But, here’s the thing: store peaches can be poor in flavor and texture due to improper chilling so I strongly suggest you buy only locally grown, sweet, ripe peaches to make your pie. I love when they have a pink blush; it makes the pie so pretty and perhaps even tastier!

To peel easily; heat 3 inches of plain water, drop the peaches gently in 4-5 at a time and gently poach them 2-3 minutes. Use the lesser time for more ripe peaches. Allow to cool somewhat before peeling. I like to do that over a bowl to catch the juices as I slice each peach.

Bake and enjoy late summer in a pie in just a few minutes of work. Don’t eat it hot; it should be cooled to just warm if you like it so or room temperature or even a bit chilled. You could certainly serve this with vanilla ice cream. And this pie works perfectly with fresh nectarines, bonus: no peeling required!

Angie’s GF Peach Crumb Pie

Crust:

1 c plus 2 tbsp brown rice flour mix (at bottom of recipe)

2 tbsp sweet rice flour

1 Tbps granulated sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

6 Tbps cold butter cut into 6 chunks

1 large egg

2 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice

Spray 9 inch metal pie pan with cooking spray, dust with white rice flour.

Filling:

6 cups sliced fresh peaches, peeled and cut in thick slices, place in medium bowl

Mix with:

½ cup sugar

1/4 tsp. cinnamon (optional)

3-4 Tbsp. quick tapioca

Stir in 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice and ¼ tsp. almond extract

Let stand while you prepare the crust.

Roll out pie crust in a pie bag or between two sheets of wax paper, try to get the thickness even, no thick middle! Peel off one side of paper and place in pie pan, centered. Remove other slice of wax paper. Crimp edges all around. Fill with fruit mixture.

Crumb topping

Put all four ingredients in the same mixing bowl you made the bottom crust in and mix well with mixer paddle until crumbs form. If you let them go extra long you get big fat crumbs if you want that look and I did!

¾ c brown rice flour mix

½ c sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

1/3 c cold butter cut into six chunks

Sprinkle the top of the pie with crumb mix; use as much as you like. I like about a heaping cup of the mixture. Up to your personal taste… It sinks partially into the fruit mixture and adds lots of sweetness and eye appeal.

Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 45-50 minutes until bubbly and the crumb crust is light brown. Cool at least 1 to 4 hours before serving at room temperature. I think it is best served the same day you make it, or no more then 12 hours after baking for optimal flavor. The crumbs will get soggy if too much time passes. Mine was still very good the next day; just not as great as when really fresh.

Note: if you find your bottom crust is not browning enough bake it empty at 375 degrees for ten minutes before filling it with the fruit. I have a bottom heat pizza style oven which gives me perfect pie crust so I don’t ever have pale pie crust.

Brown Rice Flour Mix (Same as King Arthur GF All purpose blend)
2 c brown rice flour (finely ground)

2/3 c potato starch – Not potato flour!

1/3 c tapioca flour

Note: This post was originally blogged by me the late summer of 2015. Minor changes made.

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My World Without Wheat

My World Without Wheat by Angela E. Drake continues here

Author: Angela Drake

Refreshing Gazpacho Soup: Slurp your Tomatoes!

Peach Blueberry Crumb Pie

GF Blueberry Peach Crumb Pie

Cowboy Cookie: Crazy Yummy!

Limoncello Tiramisu Teacups

Peach Crumb Pie