cooking away

While spring is my favorite season (blooming flowers, first signs of local produce, and the hope of warm sunny days after months of snow), fall is my favorite cooking season.  Flush with veggies and starting to crave jeans & sweatshirts, I can't think of anything I want to do more than cook.

Beyond that, cooking is also my way of decompressing and dealing with my over-active brain.  The mindless chopping and peeling and fussing are the perfect balm for my anxiety.  Plus, I'm not so bad at it so the results tend to be as enjoyable as the process.

This weekend, full of summer and the fair and weddings and otherwise over-committed days, I found myself longing for my kitchen.  So I've spent the better part of the past 24 hours in full-on cooking, baking and exercising my kitchen modes.  Thankfully my better half is an avid and enthusiastic cleaner upper and is the organized, recovery to my cook-and-destroy.  So he's been a great partner in my maniacal cooking fest.  Plus, he loves food and loves to cook himself so he's a truly willing participant.

Other benefits of my weekend onslaught included inspiration for our Christmas gift planning (we're doing all-homemade gifts this year - together) and making productive use of the abundant farmer's market. But mostly it tweaked the creative side of my brain which, quite frankly, feels as if it's been dormant for a few weeks.  Rushing through life headlong gives me that "just subsisting" vibe.  And that makes me even more anxious.  Riff on this recipe.  Tweak that spice mix.  Dream up a delicious cocktail.  And enjoy it all with the one I love.  Cooking is just good therapy all around.

I'll be posting recipes as I get a few moments here (I actually wrote them down for a change!) and taking a break here and there to, well, eat.  Therapy you can devour.  Delicious.

smoky spanish gazpacho

I actually started with a recipe and then abandoned all sense of order and made up my own.  In the end, I decided that this gazpacho was maybe the best one I'd ever made.  Smoky, spicy and yet balanced with the acidity and sweetness of the watermelon.  These measurements are rough, but you'll get there by tasting and adjusting both as you make it, and again after it's chilled.  Here's sorta how it went down.

In a food processor, combine the following ingredients.  You're creating a soup base with part and the rest is being set aside to stir in afterward.  You'll end up with a nice base and just enough chunk and crunch.

7 ripe Minnesota-grown, vine-ripened tomatoes - cut these in quarters and pull out the gooey, seedy part; chop about 2 tomatoes into 1/4" dice and set those aside
2-3 garlic cloves - chopped roughly
1/2 - 1 whole large red onion - about 1/4 of the total onion should be cut into 1/4" dice and set aside with the tomatoes 

1 large hothouse/English cucumber - peel this just a bit and cut 1/3 of the total cuke into 1/4" dice; set aside
24oz tomato juice
1 small or 1/2 of one large jalapeno pepper - seeded and minced (all of this goes in the food processor); add more if you like it super zippy
1/4 of a whole watermelon - dice about 1c of this and set aside
1T smoked Spanish paprika - I love the Penzey's brand for this
1/4c Sherry or red wine vinegar
2-3T good Spanish olive oil - or you can use any kind, just make sure it's fruity and delicious right out of the bottle since there's not going to be any cooking or infusing going on.
1t kosher salt

Zip this all together in the food processor until pretty smooth and chunk-free, and then pour into a large bowl or container that will fit in the fridge.  A metal bowl will help cool things quickly if you're in a hurry.  Then stir in the diced tomatoes, onion, watermelon, cucumber and
1 yellow pepper - 1/4" dice

Taste and adjust the salt and paprika, if needed.  Add more vinegar if you need that bite.  But don't go too crazy.  Flavors will meld and change as the soup chills, so re-season just before you serve too.

Chill this for a good couple of hours. Then, mmmm. Enjoy!