I had cucumber to use up and came across Kerth Gumbs recipe for cucumber gazpacho with Parmesan Custard….I thought WOW I never made parmesan custard before..this sounds pretty good. I made a lot of changes to the gazpacho part of the recipe because I didn’t have some of the ingredients. Another difference is that I wanted my gazpacho to be lighter and left out the bread that often is blended into most gazpachos. I also used my own jalapeño brine that is infused with great flavors instead of Chardonnay vinegar but you can use Chardonnay vinegar if you don’t have delicious home made jalapeño brine from home made pickled jalapeños . I chose not to add bread to the parmesan custard and kept it lighter. The original recipe is made with basil oil but I used cilantro and chives instead for the oil. Portion size is difficult to to judge because it depends on the size serving. I’d say that it makes at least 4 servings.

2 English cucumbers – rough chopped

1/2 head celery – rough chopped

1-2 green hot peppers (I used 2 guero (greenish yellow chili) peppers) core & stem removed and rough chopped

1/2 cup fresh cilantro – leaves and tiny soft stems – rough chopped

1 Tablespoon fresh parsley leaves – chopped

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves – chopped

1 1/2 cups home made jalapeño brine (pickled jalapenos recipe from www.TheForkingTruth.com) or Chardonnay vinegar

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon Maldon salt

1 cup whole milk (parmesan custard)

2oz parmesan cheese – fine grated (parmesan custard)

2 eggs – beaten (parmesan custard)

non stick spray (parmesan custard)

3 bunches cilantro

1/4 cup dried chives

1 cup vegetable oil

optional garnishes fresh lemon verbena, edible flowers, cucumber slices

Directions

Make the gazpacho.

Blend the cucumber, celery, chili, cilantro, parsley, basil, brine or vinegar, sugar, and salt. Taste it and decide if you want to add anything. Put it into the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Make cilantro-chive oil (or scallion…if you use fresh scallions use the green parts and boil with cilantro)

Boil the cilantro for 20 seconds and immediately put into an ice bath. When the cilantro is cool you can blend it with about 60% of the oil and chives and then strain it. Keep the solids and blend again with the remaining oil and strain again. Keep to the side until ready to use. I do note that this makes more oil than you need but you can use it for salads and other things.

Make the parmasan custard.

Warm the milk in a large pan and add the parmesan and blend. Strain and let cool.

The custards need to be steamed in ramekins that are sprayed with nonstick spray. I don’t have ramekins so I used cup cake liners in a bamboo steamer.

Put a pan of water on to a medium boil. If you don’t have a bamboo steamer you can always a mesh strainer. The custards need to cook about 12 minutes.

Get your gazpachos ready and add one or two parmesan custards to each bowl. Top the custard with some cilantro/chive oil.

So pretty too I played with the picture on the computer.

ENJOY!

A special THANKS!!!!!! To chef Kerth Gumbs for his FORKING AMAZING recipe so that I could come up with what I made.