My favorite thing about Gazpacho soup is you can really put whatever vegetables you want and blend it up. A trip to the garden or farmers market and pick up the ingredients. I use this recipe as a rough guide for my chopping and blending. I always add a jalopeno or some hot pepper into the blend. And usually whatever tomato juice, V8 or bloody mary mix I have in the refrigerator. Of course the garnish is also fun, be as creative as you want. Best served cold.
I found this recipe for Chocolate Balsamic Ganache and had to make some. This recipe is pretty simple and looks pretty fancy. I am not above making a brownie from a box, still baking in my book. Get your favorite brownie recipe and make them in a cupcake pan, you can make each desert. I then used some Creme Fraiche to frost each brownie cupcake. I put like four fresh raspberries on top and drizzled the chocolate balsamic ganache on top. Delicious and fabulous holiday presentation.
This ganche recipe is pretty versatile, if you cool it longer you can use it as a frosting or some people make truffles. Or use a flavored balsamic to add a flavor twist. Any way you want to use it’s yummy.
I have been intrigued by these roasted and grilled fruits, so far all I’ve ever done is grill up some pineapple. I was ready to expand my horizons. I teamed up with Maggie the Food Stylist and we came up with this recipe. We started by going on-line and searching for some ideas. We found these recipes for roasted strawberries.
Recipe from leite’s Culinari
The roasted berries are savory and sweet. It punched a lot more flavor into each bite. Sometimes the store-bought strawberries can be a disappointment, they look great but have no flavor. Roasting fruit extract the natural sweetness and caramelizes the juices. We decided to make a shortcake dessert out of the berries. I like to keep it simple and do what I know, and that’s Betty Crocker Original Bisquick just like mom used to make.
Make some fresh whipping cream and garnish with mint. A new twist to a classic dessert.
Food styling by Maggie Stopera www.maggiethefoodstylist.com
photoappetite 