2006 Gazpacho With Cucumber Granita Recipes

Steps:

• Chill 6 shallow soup bowls in the refrigerator. To make the cucumber granita: Place the cucumber in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Stir in the cucumber vinegar and salt, to taste, and place in a shallow, wide pan in the freezer. Run a fork through the granita every 20 minutes for approximately 2 hours. Keep in the freezer until ready to serve. (This can be done the day before.)
• Pass the tomatoes through a food mill using the finest attachment, then strain the tomato juice through a fine-meshed sieve. Season with salt (about 6 pinches) and chill in the refrigerator.
• Place a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat; add the olive oil. When warm, fry the garlic until golden; use a slotted spoon to transfer to paper towels. Season with salt and set aside. In the same oil, add the cubed bread and fry until golden. Remove with a slotted spoon, then drain on paper towels and season with salt.
• Ladle the chilled soup into the chilled bowls. Float a large tablespoonful of granita in the center of each bowl. Arrange the garnishes (garlic, bread cubes, shallot, green pepper, chili and cherry tomatoes) around the rims, or serve them separately and pass around at the table.

Steps:

• Peel the cucumbers, cut them in half lengthwise and remove seeds. Cut the cucumbers into chunks.
• Puree the cucumbers in a blender (or use an immersion blender) with the lemon juice, onion, green pepper, salt, mint, oil and water. This makes about 2 1/2 cups puree.
• Pour the cucumber puree into two 9-inch metal cake pans. Freeze.
• To serve, remove the granita from freezer 5 minutes before serving. Use a fork to scrape the ice into mounds. Add the scraped ice to the gazpacho immediately before serving. Or use an ice cream scoop or cookie scoop to make small balls of granita to garnish cocktails, cold soup or just as a palate cleanser.

Steps:

• Thinly slice one of the cucumbers to equal 1/3 cup. Transfer cucumber slices to a small bowl; cover and chill until ready to use.
• Coarsely chop remaining cucumbers and transfer to a blender. Add honeydew, bread cubes, 1/4 cup oil, vinegar, and 2 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt. Process on low speed, gradually increasing speed to high, until cucumber mixture is very smooth and creamy, about 90 seconds.
• Pour gazpacho into a medium bowl. Cover and chill until cold, about 1 hour.
• Right before serving, toss together reserved cucumber slices, feta cheese, mint, honey, and a pinch of salt in a small bowl.
• Stir and ladle gazpacho into 4 shallow bowls. Top evenly with cucumber-feta mixture and drizzle with olive oil.