A Midsummer's Night Dream

This week has been all about new things. I taught my friend, Jay, how to cook for his new wife, Jennie, via email and cell phone. He went from Kraft Dinner (EW) and eggs to espresso and chili rubbed steaks and roasted asparagus in a few emails. This from someone who once said that my blog was useless! His calls were all day entertainment.

Q: "How do I buy asparagus"
A: "Umm, walk up to the asparagus sign, choose asparagus and pay for them"

Q: "Can I get ebola from the filet mignon?"
A: No, that's e. Coli

Q: "What do I do with the garlic?"
A: Open up the head, take out some cloves and peel them (I will show him how to smash like on Food TV at a later time!)

At the end, he e-mailed me telling me it was a total success and he was so proud. So proud that he is cooking again tonight!

Next, I got on a bike for the first time in years and ended up biking for 3 hours all over the West Side Highway with my friend, Todd.

Then, I decided to order gazpacho at 'WichCraft and loved it. Until last week, gazpacho was of no interest to me. I came right home & found Ina's recipe for her bestselling gazpacho from her days at Barefoot Contessa in East Hampton...I made it yesterday for the first time and it was chunky with a bit of a kick. It's perfect to take for lunch with a sandwich during the summer and looks beautiful for entertaining as well (bonus- you can make it day before and it looks great in martini and shot glasses).

Ina Garten's Gazpacho- The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook
Serves 4 to 5

1 english (also called hothouse) cucumber, halved & seeded, but not peeled
2 red peppers, cored and seeded
4 plum tomatoes
1 red onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups tomato juice (the Contessa highly recommends Sacramento brand, I used Campbell's)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup good olive oil
1/2 tbsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp ground black pepper
few drops of Tabasco (I added!)

Roughly chop cucs, peppers, tomatoes and red onions into 1 inch cubes. Put each vegetable separately into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until it's coarsely chopped. Don't overprocess- it shouldn't be pureed.

After you process each vegetable, combine them in a large bowl and add the garlic, juice, vinegar, olive oil, s&p, Mix well and chill before serving. The longer it sits, the better it is. I also added 4-5 drops of Tabasco.