a fruit gazpacho

And now an idea that struck last night

.  I was looking at some cherry tomatoes and wondered how cherries would go with tomatoes.  Perhaps tart cherries with an heirloom tomato...?  So I decided to see if I could make a gazpacho based on some of the tart pie cherries I have and a tomato.  It was clear it needed cucumber, some garlic, stale bread, oil and so on - so here is the first try.

 

It is really delicious!!  I won't change it much the next time around.

 

Fruit "Gazpacho"

 

Ingredients

 

° 1 cup of pitted tart cherries

° a small piece of not terribly fresh whole wheat bread

° clove of garlic

° 1/2 garlic clove finely chopped

° a bit of olive oil or butter

° a half tomato peeled and chopped (I blanche them first to make the peeling easy)

° a small cucumber peeled and chopped

° 1/2 tsp chopped jalapeño

° 1 tbl vinegar (I used red wine)

° sea salt and ground pepper

°  50 or 60g or a couple of ounces of sour cream. (optional - it is plenty good as is, but this can add a bit)

 

Technique

 

° Remove the crust from the bread, rub the clove of garlic into the pores and fry the bread in a bit of olive oil or butter until it begins to crisp.  Alternatively you might start with garlic bread, which is what I was trying to simulate

° Combine the cherries, tomato, cucumber, jalapeño, vinegar, garlic fried bread, and garlic and blend with an immersion blender or put in a regular blender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Refrigerate

° To serve divide the gazpacho into bowls and add a dollop of the sour cream into each bowl.  You could top it with nice looking herb leaves or whatever.  I used a few chopped pecans.