Thursday, July 28, 2011

Gazpacho Garnish - Kicking It Up a Notch!

 photo GarnishSoup3.jpg Earlier this week I promised you a way to kick up the garnish on this gazpacho. This presentation technique takes a delicious, casual summer soup and turns into something elegant and worthy of company.

It's really quite simple and the only tool you need is a ring mold. If you don't have any and you're interested in working on presentation, I strongly recommend getting a set like this. You will find a hundred and one uses for it.

Here are some suggested ingredients for the vegetable salad that make up the bulk of the garnish, but you should use whichever vegetables you have on hand or whatever looks good at the market that week.

1 small cucumber, cut into a small dice
1 yellow summer squash, cut into a small dice
1 red bell pepper, cut into a small dice
1/4 bunch of cilantro, chopped finely
Salt and pepper
1 avocado

Make the vegetable salad by combining the cucumber, squash, bell pepper and chopped cilantro. Season with salt and pepper.

Cut the avocado in half and peel. Place the avocado cut side down on a cutting board and slice very thinly.

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Spray the ring mold lightly with cooking spray so the avocado won't stick to the mold once you're ready to remove it. Place the thin slices of avocado in overlapping layers around the ring mold as pictured above.

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Gently spoon the vegetable salad into the avocado ring. If desired sprinkle a bit more cilantro and salt over the top of the salad.

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Remove the ring and make sure the salad is holding its shape.

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Pour in your finished gazpacho and enjoy!

26 comments:

Lucy said...

That is such a pretty way to garnish the soup! I particularly love that it looks beautiful and complicated, but is actually do-able!

cristi said...

Marvellous! I adore avocado and the dish is so... Summertime!

Megan said...

How do you get your soup so smooth? Mine always seems chunky!

Apples and Butter said...

Hi Megan!

I grated the tomatoes on a box grater and strained them through a china cap which is basically a coarse-mesh strainer. Check out my last post for the full instructions and let me know if you have any other questions!

Jessica

Digital Printing said...

my eyes were caught by your plating. You gave me an idea on how am I going to decorate the foods on Friday! Very artistic!

Hopie said...

Oh see, now you're going to make me have a complex about my gazpacho that I just posted! This garnish looks amazing. I bet it's delicious too.

Anonymous said...

that's beautiful!
Thanks for posting!!!

Amanda said...

Where did you get those wonderful little soup bowls? They are so cute with those little handles.

Apples and Butter said...

Hi Amanda!

I got the at Crate and Barrel. No place is better for simple white dishware!

Jessica

Ciao Chow Linda said...

As the saying goes, "You eat with the eyes" then this garnish sure fulfills that. Beautiful.

rachel said...

Heartbreaking in it's simple, yet lush beauty. I can look at it all day.

Sydney said...

Beautiful. Love it. Had watermelon gazpacho the other day at Market restaurant and Paris and was perfect. Love love gazpacho.

Jessica | Cajunlicious said...

Jessica this look so beautiful & healthy! Delish!

Celia said...

I love it! Ring molds are so key - they make everything look pro. The garnish ingredients here look equally awesome; I'm such a sucker for avocado...

Anita said...

This dish is absolutely gorgeous. So pretty. Thank for posting. Great blog

Anonymous said...

Hi, I'm Angela from Australia and I am not sure how I found your blog but so pleased I did. It is simply amazing. I am somewhat different to your usual reader - I had a massive brain haemmorrhage a couple of years ago and wasn't expected to survive. I did, but can no longer taste food...your blog has helped me to not only cook wonderful food but also make it look wonderful.
Thank you so much.
Regards from Australia,
Angela

Karen Harris said...

I love little steps that make simple foods special and this is a great one. Great recipe, I'll be trying it soon. Thanks for the inspiration.

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Agrigirl said...

Absolutely gorgeous and your instructions are perfect. I've been eating a lot of it but never had a presentation like this. Tomorrow I am trying this!!

emiglia said...

This is gorgeous! I never put chunks of veggies in my gazpacho... I've always liked it the traditional way. I might have to try it like this though, if only because of how beautiful it is!

dinnerordessert said...

This dish looks amazing!

Unknown said...

brilliant!!!

Christin said...

I love the avocado presentations. Avocados are hands down my favorite food.

Ilvy said...

Your blog just made me hungry! Good job :) It looks like a fun take on a common dish, lovely.

http://indigo-mind.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

The presentation of this dish is absolutely beautiful! And I love avocado too!

Joyce Bock said...

Hi Jessica, This recipe is so pretty that I want to make it right away! Enjoying your blog alot. Love, Joyce Bock