¡Que Viva España! Madame Thermomix’s Lemon-Scented Gazpacho

As I sit here writing this my nose is titillated by the enticing smells of delicious things to come. It is Valentine’s Day and my dear husband is preparing my dinner as he always does. Lucky me, I sigh.

This year is slightly different to previous years. John usually makes me an eight-course meal for Valentine’s Day but this year I’m only getting five. [Eight courses? Really? Why certainly, Dear Reader. There are eight letters in “I Love You” aren’t there?]

The reason I’m only getting five courses this year is because quite frankly we’re both rather tired from putting on the Tongham Tapas Fiesta on Saturday. It was a seven-course wine tasting dinner featuring seven delicious Spanish wines accompanied by a whopping twelve different tapas.

Yum! First course of this Valentine’s evening was foie gras with toasted egg-enriched bread made in the Thermomix (of course).

Madame Thermomix did the catering, calling on her trusty Best Friend in the Kitchen to save time and provide a very useful extra pair of hands in the kitchen, while husband John (Monsieur Thermomix?) organised and served the wines to the fifty guests of Tongham Village Hall. This was another one of our fundraising dinners for the hall, and I must admit to being not only tired from all the work but totally gratified in having succeeded in raising over £1,000 to help renovate Tongham Village Hall.

So five courses suits me just fine this evening, my love!
As I write this I can hear the Thermomix singing its happy “I’m finished!” tune and my husband striding across the kitchen to attend to it. More delightful cooking aromas make their way upstairs. We have finished the second course of the evening, a magnificent ceviche of organic wild salmon that melted in the mouth. I heave a voluptuous sigh. 

So how did my Thermomix help me in catering for a party of fifty people? First off, I made the sofrito sauce base in not one but two Thermomixes by chopping my onions, green peppers, garlic and tomatoes for about three seconds (yes, it’s that quick!) and then sautéing them for about five minutes (the Thermomix did all the stirring while I was preparing another dish) before adding paprika and passata and cooking for ten minutes. This formed the base of my sauces for two of my tapas.

I am called to the table for course number 3, an amazing escalope of veal with a porcini mushroom and white truffle sauce, accompanied by a lemon risotto with broad beans made in the Thermomix. I cannot help gasping with gastronomic pleasure.

Perhaps the easiest, tastiest recipe I made for the fiesta was gazpacho andaluz which I adapted to the wine we were serving by adding an extra zing of lemon. Looovely. With Thermomix you don’t have to peel and deseed the tomatoes or put the mixture through a sieve, so it’s fast and easy and oh-so-healthy. Unfortunately the only tapa that John didn’t have time to photograph before it was served to table was the gazpacho, so you’ll have to use your imagination as to the result. But trust me, it’s smooth and cold and gorgeous!

Our fourth course is a light and lovely salad with shavings of Spanish cheeses, Baby Manchego, Mahon and Petit Basque. No dressing to mask the flavours. We have found that thin shavings of hard cheeses, made with a vegetable peeler, seem to allow the inherent flavours to burst to the forefront so much more than a thick chunk of cheese. Try it and see what you think.

Course number five knocks my socks off. It’s a Mandarin Orange and White Chocolate Fantasia, complete with crunchy bits of orange caramel and amaretti. Orgasmic is the only word I can think of to describe the effect it has on me. We will recreate this recipe entirely in the Thermomix and report back here. I promise!

Madame Thermomix’s Lemon-Scented Gazpacho
Adapted from a recipe found on Forum Thermomix

Ingredients
zest and juice of two lemons
1 kg very red ripe tomatoes (unpeeled)
2 cloves garlic
50g green pepper
40g onion
70g cucumber
40g red wine vinegar
10g salt
8 ice cubes

200g water
100g ice

50g olive oil

Method

1. Roughly chop the first nine ingredients and place in the Thermomix bowl. Chop 30 seconds/Speed 5.
2. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Blend 3 minutes/Speed 10.
3. Add water and ice. Blend 2 minutes/Speed 8.
4. Add the olive oil and mix 30 seconds/Speed 5.

Chef’s Tip: Adding the olive oil at the end will stop the Gazpacho from separating so you can leave it for a few days in the fridge. Adjust the thickness by adding more water if you prefer a thinner soup.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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