Tomatoes are one of the season’s blazing triumphs – plump and colorful to the eye, aromatic and juicy to all the other senses. It’s time to get your game plan in order.
Rhonda Foshay’s gazpacho was one of the lovely little perks of participating in the Sunriver Art Faire every August. Her husband Paul is a talented woodworker and his booth of exquisite furniture and burl bowls always stood kitty-corner to my booth of landscape watercolors. Right around the noon hour, as long as an appropriate lull in the crowd persisted for a reasonable amount of time, Rhonda would reach into her cooler, bring out the gazpacho and give my husband and me the high sign: “Come on you two.”
Steve and I would comply, plastic cups and spoons in hand. Her gazpacho was loaded with their sun-ripened backyard tomatoes, plus a plethora of other seasonal specialties that one associates with a fine-tuned gazpacho, including crunchy cucumbers, sweet bell peppers, and celery — with a garlicky, olive oil back. It would be delicious by any standard, but against the backdrop of Central Oregon high desert heat, that gazpacho was refreshingly exquisite.
After several years of my pestering, Rhonda finally remembered to write out the recipe for me, which I’m more grateful for than ever now that we are no longer hanging together at outdoor art festivals.
Naturally, once my own backyard tomatoes begin to ripen, it’s one of the first recipes I reach for. Indeed, the time to enjoy local sun-ripened tomatoes is upon us. They are truly one of the season’s blazing triumphs — plump and colorful to the eye, aromatic and juicy to the other senses. To say this blessing from nature represents the best of summer is hardly an overstatement. Especially in Oregon, where they seem particularly intense and sweet in character.
In just a few weeks, we will be up to our eyeballs in them. Because the local tomato crop is just beginning to ripen, we have time to get our game plans in order. Within my own household, that translates into a bounty of BLT’s; decadent pinwheel platters of juicy tomato slices with balsamic vinegar, fresh mozzarella and basil-infused olive oil; endless bowls of plump Sun Golds; and of course, gallons of Rhonda’s Most Wonderful Gazpacho.
To get you started, here’s Rhonda’s take on gazpacho, plus another take and a fresh pasta. All celebrating one of summer’s most treasured gifts: tomatoes!
Jan Roberts-Dominguez is a Corvallis food writer, artist and author of “Oregon Hazelnut Country, the Food, the Drink, the Spirit,” and four other cookbooks. Readers can contact her by email at janrd@proaxis.com or find additional recipes, food tips and information about obtaining prints and originals of her watercolors at www.janrd.com.
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August 12, 2020 at 07:00PM
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Tomato time - Corvallis Gazette Times
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