Garlic Fest 2012 & Ajo Blanco Recipe

The Garlic Festival, hosted by Pikes Peak Urban Gardens at Harlan Wolfe Ranch, took place on Saturday afternoon and marked the last summer event for the Flying Carrot. This is not to say you won't see us out and about this Fall, just that our busy time has passed. We are just so excited that the Flying Carrot is seemingly becoming a recognizable feature in the community, with several people approaching us to say that they remembered seeing us at various different events. This is excellent, and our future plans include an assessment about the outreach and effectiveness of the bus (feel free to leave any comments you have about the bus at the end of this post). 

The Garlic Festival was such a fun, relaxed event, and I received many requests asking for the "Ajo Blanco" soup recipe that I prepared for tasting. This soup is served cold and features garlic quite nicely. I used a combination of Spanish Roja and Siberian garlic from Harlan Wolfe Ranch. Besides having great flavor, this soup is simple to prepare and good for you! There is no dairy in this soup, the creamy texture comes from almonds and country style bread.

Ajo Blanco

Also known as white gazpacho, ajo blanco is highly popular in the Andalusia region of Spain. To save time, you can buy slivered, blanched almonds without the skin at most grocery stores.  

2  cups bread, day old country style or fresh bread,

   loosely packed, torn into 1-inch pieces

4⅔ cups water, divided

1  large clove garlic, coarsely chopped 
   (or 2 smaller cloves)

2  cups almonds, blanched, without skin

2½ teaspoons sea salt, divided

½  cup sherry vinegar

½  cup extra virgin olive oil

Optional garnishes: Thinly sliced apples or melon, green grapes, toasted sliced almonds

Method:

1. Soak the day old bread in 1⅓ cups of water in a medium bowl for 10 minutes. If using fresh bread, there is no need to soak it.

2. Process the garlic and almonds in a food processor until finely ground. Stop halfway through the process to scrape down the sides of the bowl. 

3. Add the soaked bread and any soaking water (or the fresh bread), 2 teaspoons of salt, sherry vinegar, and olive oil, and blend for 2 minutes or until smooth. This will form a very thick paste.

4. Transfer mixture to a large, nonreactive bowl and whisk in the remaining 3⅓ cups water (use 4⅓ water if using fresh bread)until you have a smooth soup. Alternately, add enough water to the food processor to thin and emulsify the paste, then transfer to bowl and whisk in remaining amount of water (note: this is the method I found easiest and used when preparing the soup for the festival). Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours until well chilled.

5. To serve, stir the soup well. Taste and adjust seasoning with ½ teaspoon of salt or more if desired (you may also omit the extra salt). Ladle 1 cup of soup into a chilled soup bowl, garnish and enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Teresa Barrenchea, as presented at the Worlds of Flavor International Conference & Festival 2006

Check out the gorgeous piece of community art created by many who attended the festival. Remember, we eat with all our senses. Think about how your food tastes. How does it look? How does it make you feel? What word would you use to describe it?