deVine Table

White Gazpacho

My first taste of white gazpacho was served to me by John Neumark, a great chef here in Seattle. I fell in love with this soup at first bite! This version was adapted from recipes by celebrity chefs, Joanne Weir and Hubert Keller.

A chilled soup is one of my favorite things to eat on a warm day when we’re dining on the patio. Not to mention, this is a great dish to serve to company because it’s made in advance. When your guests arrive, all you have to do is dish it up.

• ¾ c almonds
• 3 cloves garlic
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 slices stale rustic country-style bread, crusts removed, about 4 oz.
• 1 cup ice water
• 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 ½ c seedless green grapes
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

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Curried Sweet Potato Soup

This dish was part of our meatless week menu. It is wonderful for anyone who enjoys sweet, savory, and tropical elements. To speed up cooking time, you can cut the vegetables into small dice.

Serves 4 very hungry people

• 2 cups onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 T palm oil
• 1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
• 1 carrot, coarsely chopped
• 3 cups sweet potatoes (I used garnet), peeled and cut into 1 1/2″ dice
• 2 teaspoons Madras curry powder
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger
• 2 cups “no chicken” broth
• 1 cup coconut milk

In a large pot, saute the onion in the palm oil over medium heat for several minutes. Add the celery, carrot, sweet potatoes, and cook for 5 minutes longer. Add the curry powder and ginger and cook for another minute while stirring.

Prepped Veggies

Add the stock and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until vegetables are tender and you can easily stick a fork through a chunk of sweet potato. Stir in the coconut milk. Puree the soup until smooth either using an immersion blender or food processor. Serve at once.

Wine Pairing

We paired this soup with the Tyrus Evan 2007 Viognier from Del Rio Vineyard. Viogniers that emphasize fruit over minerality are my preference. This wine produced by Ken Wright delivers primarily pineapple on the palate. It’s a nice pairing with curry.

The challenge with this soup is that it is a little sweet. You want to be sure the wine you serve is as sweet as or slightly sweeter than the food. With that in mind, an off dry riesling would be a potentially good match with this dish.