Good morning, GUSpachos! Turning out to be a better morning than expected here. I'm still in the afterglow of my trip to a mountain farm where my opera buddy and I enjoyed wonderful friendship, conversation, the fruits of a terrific garden and an evening in Tanglewood at Seiji Ozawa Hall to listen to three pieces by Berlioz.
Our host has always had a terrific garden and this year it is bountiful. He's the one who made me a lover of cold borscht a few years ago. I've yet to make it. He said he just adds whatever is in the garden that is compatible. He's a lover of jalapenos as am I. This time we had fresh blueberries, multiple salads from different veggies and gazpacho!!!! Heavenly.
So I came back and tried to duplicate the Korean cucumber salad to a lesser satisfying effect but still good. My gazpacho is yummy but anyone can do that and there are a million variations.
Now, Hector Berlioz!!!! Tanglewood is a combination of an open air "Shed" and an enclosed hall which has a retractable set of huge doors in the back for folks who want to sit on the lawn. This concert was in the hall, named in honor of one of the great conductors at Tanglewood, Seiji Ozawa. I discovered to my horror that I didn't know any Berlioz. He wrote music from around the 1820s to 1860s. Absolutely stunning -- even if you hate classical music, you would love Berlioz.
The orchestra was Tanglewood's student musicians who are extraordinary. The first piece, "Overture to Beatrice and Benedict" is from his opera based on the two characters in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Lush, gorgeous, heartbreaking. It was conducted by a young Tanglewood Fellow, Daniel Cohen -- who has an amazing career with great orchestras.
Then, "Les Nuit d'ete" which is a series of poems sung by a tenor, baritone and two mezzo sopranos. That was conducted by the totally amazing, engaging, wonderful Stephane Deneve. He also conducted the last piece, "Symphonie Fantastique" which brought the entire audience immediately to their feet. It is an incredible modern sounding tour de force for something written in the mid 1800s. I'm still buzzing over it.
Besides the music, we all felt rejuvenated because of the crowd. The average age was 97 we think. :-D Surely there were younger people there and the orchestra was completely young.
Another amazing thing in the few days I was in the clear air of the eastern part of the Berkshires -- 3 of us talked about smoking and quitting and why. All on the same page -- it made us sick. None of us want to go back to it but know damned well we would in a New York minute if some unknown crisis happened. So, we have great respect for the persistence involved in quitting because it is a life project that often needs repeating and fine tuning.
Hope I didn't bore you with my lovely time. If you get the time, listen to some Berlioz. He'll make you weep with joy.
Overture to "Beatrice et Benedict"
"Symphonie Fantastique" performed at the Proms in London by the amazing Mariss Jansons. This production is like a Met Opera HD simulcast performance with a great overview and interview with the conductor to start.
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I totally modified an online recipe to reflect my remembrance of what was in the salad I was served. Don't use a lot of dressing (like I did) because you'll be draining it off. You can always add more later but you need just enough for a quick pickle. I made the following for myself and ate the whole thing yesterday. You can adjust amounts depending on how many you are feeding and if you are just using it as I side dish.
Korean Cucumber Salad
1 cucumber thinly sliced in discs (I used a mandoline)
1/2 small red onion thinly sliced (I used a mandoline)
2 spring onions, thinly sliced down to some of the green
1/2 small orange or yellow bell pepper thinly sliced then diced
1 small jalapeno seeded, remove white pith and thinly slice and then dice
kosher salt
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
3 tblsps. soy sauce
2 tblsps. sesame seed oil (I used dark only because it was open!)
Coat cucumber slices with kosher salt and let drain in a colander for at least 15 minutes. Rinse salt off. Spread a kitchen towel on a baking sheet and then spread the cucumber on the towel. Ring out excess liquid from cukes.
Mix all veggies and in a bowl.
Whisk the vinegar, soy sauce and sesame seed oil and then pour on cuke/veggies and toss with a couple of forks. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
When serving you can add some sesame seeds and/or peanuts. I used lightly salted peanuts.
Gazpacho can be veggies or fruits. I wanted a tomato one and had extra cukes (gifts from our hosts). Use what works together and what you have at hand. Also -- measurements vary according to what you have. Always taste, taste, taste.
gchaucer2's Tomato Gazpacho
3 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes
1 cucumber, pealed
1 jalapeno, diced
1 bell pepper
1 small red onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
salt to taste
Dice the tomatoes. In batches puree in blender or food processor. I didn't remove the skin and can't taste it at all.
Grate all the remaining veggies either by hand (ohmygod!) or with your food processor grater disc thingy. You can throw in the garlic with another veggie.
In batches, blend the tomato puree with the grated veggies in a blender or food processor. Salt to taste.
Chill for a few hours before serving.
Here's an excellent
Alton Brown Gazpacho Recipe.
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