Julia and Me

This post has two purposes. Scratch that, it has three.

1) To update you on the veggie garden, albeit in a different than usual way

2) To give you a great no-cook recipe

3) To remind you all, even though you should know already, that Julia Child is one of the greatest cooks of all time.

Last month, for my birthday, I received Julia and More Company, a lovely book published in 1979. A vintage book, thank-you-very-much, not a re-printed for the masses because there's a movie out version. In the book, Julia in her always charming and often laugh-out-loud funny way holds your hand while talking you through hosting a dinner party, buffet, luncheon, or picnic. I've taken great pleasure reading this book, marveling at the lobster souffle for lunch and the diagram in the end of the book that explains what dishes are good for what kinds of parties, and why. What an amazing, clever, brilliant woman!

I paged through the book again this Saturday, with the dogs and the pot of Earl Grey, hunting for something to serve with Sunday night cheeseburgers and beer we were to share with our dear friends and their new baby. I was only half-way through the cookbook when it was time to go run errands, and I hadn't found the perfect thing just yet. Then, late Saturday night, I spotted it!

Gazpacho Salad.

Not some Rachel Ray chuck it in a food processor type of salad. That'll do sometimes, I suppose, but it would be so not Julia.

This one requires a bit of knife work, a bit of time, but turned out to be amazing, delicious and totally worth it in the end. I'm already dreaming of the next dinner party so I can unveil the dish to another group of friends.

Even though two solid pages of instruction are a bit overwhelming at first, it is really a simple, essential recipe to use time and again. The best part of all, however, is that nearly everything came from our veggie garden!

Here's the recipe, in short form, but please do pick up this book if you ever see it. You are guaranteed to learn something...

Gazpacho Salad

The basics are: there's several different ingredients which each get a little treatment, and then there's the assembly. Since it's a layered dish, don't fret too much about exact amounts. The worst that can happen is you have fewer layers in the end.

Bread crumbs-make fresh breadcrumbs from any plain white or mild sourdough, using your food processor. You'll need at least 2 cups but could probably go up to 4.

Tomatoes-Small dice a bunch of tomatoes, roughly 6 cups. Mix them in a bowl with a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of sherry or red wine vinegar, and then set them in a strainer over a dish. (You may want the juices later) Once they've drained very well, you should have around 3-4 cups of tomato dice.

Peppers-Again, small dice, using whatever you've got around. I used a green bell, a banana pepper (yellow in color), and a banana pepper that had turned red. You should have about 2 cups.

Red Onion-Mince these, and then pour boiling water over them, rest for 15 seconds, rinse, and drain well. This is one of Julia's tricks for taking some of the bite out of an onion that you plan on serving raw. You'll want about 1/2 cup of these. You may now add the red onions to the peppers.

Cucumber-One of the items that did not come from my garden. I had one and a half large ones, which I peeled, seeded, and diced. Next, sprinkle with a teaspoon or so of salt and the same of some red wine vinegar, plus a dash of sugar. Let stand for at least five minutes and then drain well.

Avocado- I used one large avocado, cut it into quarters so I could easily remove the skin, and then diced. I did this last to prevent discoloration. Obviously not from my garden.

Garlic and Herb Vinaigrette-in honor of Julia, I followed her directions to the letter, making my vinaigrette with a mortar and pestle. Don't feel obligated to do this, you can always use a blender. It will taste nearly the same. Take one large clove of garlic, mash it into a paste with some salt, add the zest from half a lemon, a dab of dijon mustard, some fresh herbs of your choice, (I used basil since it's in the garden) the juice from that half a lemon, and olive oil to make a nice creamy vinaigrette. If you like your salad spicy, this is the place to add a drop or two of hot pepper sauce, otherwise stick to salt and pepper.

Julia uses a very pretty straight-sided glass bowl, all the better to see the layers with. I don't have one, so I ended up using highball glasses, creating individual salads. It turned out rather nice that way, I think.

Now, we're ready to assemble:

Place a layer of bread crumbs in the bottom of the dish, no thicker than 1/4 inch.

Arrange on top of that the tomatoes, again about 1/4 inch.

Next, place 1/4 inch cucumbers.

After that, about 1/4 inch pepper/onion mixture.

Next, some of the avocado.

Top with some more bread crumbs, and then spoon a generous amount of vinaigrette over the top, being sure to catch the center and down the sides of the dish.

Repeat the process until you run out of veg, and be sure to end with a thin layer of breadcrumbs with more vinaigrette on top.

I tell you, it's one of the best summer salads I've ever had.

Sigh.

Special thanks to the husband, who took all the photos so I could get the salad done in time for company! More thanks, too, to R.L., who inspired me with an inspired gift.