Did we ever express how much we heart Daniel Humm? We deemed him our favorite chef after having one of the best meals of our lives at his New York restaurant, 11 Madison Park. We've been itching to go back, especially after the remodeling and re-conceptualizing of the restaurant a couple of weeks ago. Sigh...maybe next year.
B&B just came back from their European adventure and wanted to host a Tapas party to share some of their Spanish goodies. This was the perfect opportunity to try out Chef Humm's peach gazpacho recipe. Thank goodness for Facebook or this recipe would never have landed on my radar!
Daniel Humm's Peach Gazpacho with Toasted Almonds
adapted from Chow
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups blanched slivered or sliced almonds, preferably without skins about 6 ounces
3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
1 large thyme sprig
1 medium garlic clove, peeled and smashed
4 cups 1/2-inch bread cubes from about 8 ounces of country bread, crusts removed
1 3/4 pounds ripe peaches
2 medium cucumbers about 1 pound, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped
1 medium red bell pepper about 6 ounces, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup tomato juice
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar, plus more as needed
Salt and pepper
Tabasco or other hot sauce
30 to 40 very small mint leaves
18 to 24 very small basil leaves
Directions
Place almonds in a large frying pan over medium-low heat and toast, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and golden in color, about 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl to cool; set aside.
Place 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and the thyme, garlic, and bread cubes in the same pan and set over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until the bread is lightly toasted on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes. Discard garlic and thyme and transfer croutons to a medium bowl to cool; set aside.
Coarsely chop the remaining 1 1/2 pounds of peaches (you should have about 5 cups) and place in a large bowl. Add the cucumber, bell pepper, tomato juice, vinegar, the remaining 3/4 cup olive oil, 4 large pinches of salt, 2 large pinches of black pepper, 3 shakes of Tabasco, 3/4 cup of the toasted almonds, and 1 cup of the croutons. (Reserve the remaining almonds and croutons for the garnish.) Stir until well combined. Taste and season with more vinegar, oil, salt, pepper, and Tabasco as needed. Let sit at room temperature for about 2 to 3 hours to let the flavors meld.
Working in batches, place the peach mixture in a blender and purée until smooth.
Transfer to a medium-mesh strainer set over a large bowl and press through using a soup ladle; discard the solids in the strainer. Taste and season the gazpacho with more salt, pepper, vinegar, Tabasco, and olive oil as needed. Chill thoroughly.
Garnish with chopped peaches, croutons, almonds, basil, mint and a drizzle of olive oil.
I was thoroughly impressed with this recipe and it just reinforces why we heart Daniel Humm! I've never had peach gazpacho before, usually just the standard tomato, cucumber and watermelon. It was quite delicious and tasted very much like the tomato version because of the tomato juice.
Some things to note: It came out a lot thicker than I anticipated so about another 1/4 cup of V8 tomato juice and 1/4 cup of water was added in. Toasting croutons on the pan was also not a really good idea as there was uneven browning, resulting in some stale pieces of bread - would definitely toast them in the oven next time for even cooking along with the almonds.