Gazpacho shots with Heston's mustard ice cream

With the party season in full swing, please allow me to tempt you with an intriguing offering that's bound to surprise those taste buds and please palates as well. A combination of my zingy and refreshing gazpacho, with Heston Blumenthal's wonderful wholegrain mustard ice cream. 

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The good people at Maille recently asked me if I'd like to share one of my favourite recipes featuring their products. Of course I said yes. Maille is synonymous with excellence, fine ingredients and innovative products -- mustards, vinegars, salad dressings and other unique condiments -- many of which have graced the shelves of my larder and refrigerator over the decades.

Founded by Antoine Maille in 1747, in Paris, Maille stepped into history when its refined secret recipes caught the attention of Louis XV the King of France. Chosen by the most prestigious European Royal Courts (French, then Russian, Prussian, Austrian and Hungarian), Maille became the official purveyor of vinegar and mustard. Some 267 years later, Maille strives to "inspire the discerning palates’ quest for excellence and soulfulness".
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Let's now look at the dish I came up with using Maille products. Gazpacho shots with Heston's mustard ice cream.

I first tasted gazpacho in the 1980s, when a well-travelled colleague (whose husband worked with the Department of Foreign Affairs) served it at a dinner party. It was love at first bite and I've been making it every summer since then. I tweaked my friend's recipe to suit my tastes, as you do. One of my favourite ways to serve gazpacho is in pre-chilled shot glasses with a sprig of baby celery from the kitchen garden. It's so delicious, my guests often come back for seconds, and more.

And now, the ice cream. Regular readers will know that I adore unusual flavours in ice cream. Reading through Heston's tome, Heston Blumenthal at Home, borrowed from my local library, I was delighted to find his recipe for mustard ice cream (page 288). Heston suggests serving this with his red cabbage gazpacho (page 63). Wow. He mentioned that it can be served with potted meat or cured fish, and is also great with tomato gazpacho.

Perfect, I thought.

This is, perhaps, THE most extraordinary ice cream I've ever made, and I could barely wait to taste it. Let me tell you, it's good. Unusual, but very good. The mustard flavour is delicate and smooth, and it does indeed sit beautifully with classic gazpacho. One of the best things is that both the gazpacho and the ice cream are relatively simple to prepare.

​Let me know if you are adventurous enough to try this, my fellow cooks. I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

GAZPACHO
500g ripe tomatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
1 small Spanish onion, roughly chopped
120g Lebanese cucumber, peeled and roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, sliced
zest of a lime
sea salt and white pepper, to taste
50mls extra virgin olive oil
40 mls Maille red wine vinegar
50g bread, torn
250mls tomato juice
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
iced water, if needed

Combine the prepared tomatoes, onion, cucumber, garlic and lime zest in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper, then add the olive oil and red wine vinegar. Set the bowl aside and allow the flavours to infuse. Stir the mixture occasionally. 

Transfer to a blender or food processor, together with the bread, tomato juice, tomato paste and cumin. Whizz until the mixture is smooth. If using a Tefal Cuisine Companion, fit the ultrablade to the bowl, then mix on speed 12 for one minute. Lower the speed to 9 and mix for one minute, then increase the speed to 12 and mix for 3 minutes or so. The mixture should be smooth. 

If the gazpacho is too thick, add a little iced water until it reaches a good consistency. That is, it should not be too thick, nor too runny. Taste to check for seasoning and add a little more salt if required. Pour into a sealed container and chill thoroughly, for several hours or preferably overnight. The colder the gazpacho is, the better it will taste.

Serve in shot glasses or small soup bowls topped with a scoop of Heston's mustard ice cream (see recipe below).

Preparation time: 30 minutes at the most. If serving gazpacho as shots, this quantity will make a dozen shots. If serving in small soup bowls, it will serve 6-8.
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HESTON'S BLUMENTHAL'S RECIPE FOR MUSTARD ICE CREAM
Note, I have halved Heston's original recipe in the book.
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180g milk
420g cream 
70g caster sugar
15g milk powder
60g Maille wholegrain mustard 
Combine the milk, cream, sugar and milk powder in a saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until the sugar and the milk powder have dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the mixture into a jug or bowl. Set it aside and allow to cool. 

When you are ready to churn the ice cream, whisk in the mustard and mix thoroughly by hand. Pour into the bowl of your machine and churn until the ice cream is smooth. Transfer the mixture to a freezer-safe container. Seal and freeze for several hours or overnight. Scoop onto well-chilled gazpacho and serve immediately. This quantity will serve a dozen shot-sized gazpachos or 6-8 single serves of gazpacho in small soup bowls.

Preparation time: 30 minutes to make, then allow for churning time and freezing time. Best made the day before or several hours ahead of serving. 

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Maille moments...

This post is sponsored by Maille and I received a selection of products from the range for recipe testing and development in my kitchen. For more information about Maille, visit Maille Australia on Facebook or look for hashtag #MailleAustralia.

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Tell me dear readers, have you ever tried Maille products? Do you like gazpacho as much as I do? And what about unusually flavoured ice cream?