Clemson Gazpacho

We've been seeing a lot of orange pop up around our house lately, ever since the teenager got her acceptance to Clemson University.  (Note: apologies to all my readers who are affiliated in any way with the University of South Carolina.  I still love you, and I hope you still love me after you get to the end of this Clemson-fest, but I gotta represent my baby.)

Anyway, we have lately been drinking out of these...

And wearing a lot of this...

All members of the family are participating in the Clemson-apparel-wearing.  

So I figured I should jump on the bandwagon and start whipping up some orange food.  When I ran across this recipe in Cooks Illustrated (which just for the record is actually called Creamy Gazpacho Andaluz), I was not expecting it to be orange...I was anticipating the typical red, tomato-y look of traditional gazpacho.

But lo and behold, because this is a creamy gazpacho, made with some pureed fresh bread and emulsified with olive oil, it turned out to be, well, orange.  I decided it was a sign, and so I re-named it.  Because even though I am a proud graduate of Georgetown University (go Hoyas!), I have a feeling the whole family is going to be rooting for the Tigers for the next few years.

So even if you are a South Carolina fan, if you are looking for a gazpacho that is smooth and spicy and creamy and a little bit different, this might be for you.  Orange and all.

Clemson Gazpacho, renamed and adapted from Cooks Illustrated

• 3 pounds (about 6 medium) ripe tomatoes, cored
• 1 small cucumber, peeled, halved, and seeded
• 1 small red onion, peeled and halved
• 2 medium garlic cloves, peeled and quartered
• 1 small jalapeno chile, stemmed and halved lengthwise
• Kosher salt
• 1 slice high-quality white sandwich bread, crust removed, torn into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for serving
• 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, plus extra for serving 
• 2 tablespoons finely minced parsley, chives, or basil leaves
• Ground black pepper
• Crumbled tortilla chips 

1.  Roughly chop 2 pounds of tomatoes, half of cucumber, and half of onion and place in large bowl. Add garlic, chile, and 1½ teaspoons salt; toss until well combined. Set aside.
2. Cut remaining tomatoes and cucumber into ¼-inch dice; place vegetables in medium bowl. Mince remaining onion and add to diced vegetables. Toss with ½ teaspoon salt and transfer to fine-mesh strainer set over medium bowl. Set aside 1 hour.
3. Transfer drained diced vegetables to medium bowl and set aside. Add bread pieces to exuded liquid (there should be about ¼ cup) and soak 1 minute. Add soaked bread and any remaining liquid to roughly chopped vegetables and toss thoroughly to combine.
4. Transfer half of vegetable-bread mixture to blender and process 30 seconds. With blender running, slowly drizzle in ¼ cup oil and continue to blend until completely smooth, about 2 minutes. Strain soup through fine-mesh strainer into large bowl, using back of ladle or rubber spatula to press soup through strainer. Repeat with remaining vegetable-bread mixture and 1/4 cup olive oil.
5. Stir vinegar, minced herb, and half of diced vegetables into soup and season to taste with salt and black pepper. Cover and refrigerate overnight or for at least 2 hours to chill completely and develop flavors. Serve, passing remaining diced vegetables, olive oil, sherry vinegar, crumbled chips and black pepper separately as garnishes.

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