#W4DTAKEOVER: BOB BLUMER'S SUMMER SOUP & SALAD
EK: Today is our first #W4DTakeover. We have long wanted to invite guests to answer our weekly What’s 4 Dinner? conundrum. That’s why we’re so excited that our friend and fellow food-obsessed chef, cookbook author, and media personality Bob Blumer graciously accepted our invitation to be our first guest author!!
EK: ICYDK, Bob Blumer is one of the most creative and original thinkers working in today’s culinary space. Fun Fact: he is also an 8-time Guinness World Record holder—all for food-related records!! For those of you who are watching The Bear, you may know his friend, Matty Matheson, who sums up Bob’s style succinctly, “Nothing Bob makes is mundane or lackluster; he is a human love bomb.”
AU: When I first met Bob, I realized a couple of things: First, he has an incredible palate. Like he tastes things that I cannot, and he has the “flavor vocabulary” to easily articulate it. The second thing I realized is that Bob Blumer was one of the very first faces I saw when the Food Network was in its infancy. He was The Surreal Gourmet!!
EK: Yes! Bob is probably best known as the creator and host of three pioneering Food Network shows (Surreal Gourmet, Glutton for Punishment and World’s Weirdest Restaurants) that have aired in more than 20 countries. He has also written seven award-winning cookbooks in which he transforms ordinary ingredients into wow-inspiring dishes with simple techniques and whimsical presentations that have become his culinary trademark. His newest book is called Flavorbomb and he’s got two of his most flavorful recipes for you today…
BB: Thanks Anthony and Elizabeth! I’m excited to be your #W4DTakeover guinea pig!
EK/AU: We are thrilled to have you cook for us this week! What are you making?
BB: I have the ultimate summertime “soup and salad” dinner. Both can be made in advance, and assembled just before serving, so it’s a cool, low-stress way to have a delicious light summer meal with a little pre-planning… They are my Heirloom Gazpacho and my Radicchio Caesar.
EK: What do you do to make an ordinary menu offering into something extraordinary?
BB: Cold soups and salads are summertime staples, but they are often thought of as an opening act that exists solely to support the headliner. To me, anything less than stellar is not worth making—or eating. As Elizabeth and Anthony know, I’m a bit obsessive. Thinking about food 24/7 is my job—and making it taste good without playing by the rules is my game. As you will see in the recipes that I am making today, I apply the same take no prisoners approach to the humble soup and salad. In other words, I focus on building layers of flavor and texture into every bite and sip.
Warm weather soups and salads tick off many boxes for summertime dining and entertaining: They rely on seasonal ingredients in their prime, they rarely require you to turn on the oven or stove, and they’re perfect for al fresco evenings under the stars. Once you have some basic quality ingredients on hand, the difference between any dish that bombs and one that is the bomb is having the courage to season with wild abandon, add more of the good stuff (including traditional and unexpected ingredients), taste and adjust on the fly, and add finishing flourishes.
AU: You make it sound so easy. If someone was looking for a guide to maximizing flavor, where should they go?
BB: Thank you for asking! I recently wrote a cookbook called Flavorbomb: a rogue guide to making everything taste better. It documents all of the tricks, tips, hacks, and techniques I gleaned from street food vendors, line cooks, gumbo champions and Michelin-starred chefs as I worked and ate my way around the world for the past 25 years.
Anytime I set foot in my kitchen, I challenge myself to maximize the flavor potential of every single thing I make—even when I’m eating alone (full disclosure: I garnish my food when I eat alone). The way I see it, any dish can be elevated to superstar status if you take the time and make the effort to build layers of flavor and texture. I know I am already sounding like a broken record, but building layers of flavor and texture is my mantra.
EK: Are your soup and salads in the book?
BB: The gazpacho recipe is ripped straight from the book and the Caesar salad is a variation-on-a-theme, made with radicchio. They are without a doubt, two of my very favorite summertime recipes that rely on my mantra.
EK: I have had a version of both at your house several times. I am particularly a fan of the soup!
BB: I find that the majority of gazpachos are really disappointing. That’s because beyond basic ingredients like tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, celery and bell peppers, they just cover the bases with acid, heat and seasonings. If that’s all there is, that’s all you taste.
My recipe for Heirloom Gazpacho is based on three separate building blocks. I start with a rustic base of emulsified stale bread, garlic, almonds (borrowed from Spanish White Gazpacho), and olive oil. To the base I add the usual suspects: heirloom tomatoes, fennel (in place of celery), cucumber, onion, a blackened poblano (not so usual), and a big handful of basil.
Then I bring it to life with a generous amount of acid (sherry wine vinegar and lemon juice), and ground chilies which give the heat several dimensions. When I really want to pull out all the stops, I float a generous spoonful of creamy burrata in the center of the bowl. All of these extra steps deliver an over-the-top Gazpacho that screams with flavor.
BB: In the summer when Farmers’ markets are overflowing with tomatoes, I make a point to buy the “dented, ugly” tomatoes from the vendors because in gazpacho, it doesn’t matter what they look like, plus, as a bonus the farmers will give a discount! Because they are happy to earn some income from tomatoes that they might otherwise have to toss. Ultimately, this practice is good for you, good for the farmers and good for the planet!
AU: That’s a great tip! Ask the purveyor for “the seconds” or the “ugly” produce, because it’s gonna be cheaper and it all gets blended anyway!
BB: The salad is a pungent Radicchio Caesar, which is the latest incarnation of a salad I have been working to perfect for most of my adult life. As someone who’s been making Caesar salads for more than 40 years, I am always trying new ways to make it different.
Three easy swaps make my Radicchio Caesar an incredible Flavorbomb:
I use radicchio as the “green”. It’s a nice change from romaine, and I like how the bitterness of the leaves plays off the richness of the dressing.
The rustic breadcrumbs deliver a nice crunch with every bite
My dressing consists of the “best-of” of what goes into traditional Caesar salad dressings, but I use more of the anchor ingredients (garlic, anchovies, and Dijon) to make it more pungent.
BB: If I’m being honest, my favorite part of this salad is the rustic fried bread crumbs (in place of traditional chunky croutons). These deliver a pleasing crunch in every bite!
AU: If someone can’t find or doesn’t like radicchio, what should they use instead?
BB: You can certainly use romaine lettuce, chiffonade black kale, or any of your favorite greens—as long as they are not too delicate, because a Caesar dressing is by nature, quite heavy.
I hope your readers will give both of these recipes a try. And if they do, I’d love to hear their feedback—they can contact me on Instagram or email me bob@bobblumer.com .
BOB BLUMER’S FLAVORBOMB COOKBOOK GIVEAWAY!
Bob is giving away a copy of his informative and imaginative cookbook, Flavorbomb, to one lucky W4D reader! If you’re a paid subscriber, you’ll be automatically entered to win.
If you’d like to upgrade to a paid subscription, give the button below a tap before Monday July 31, 2023 at 11:59pm PDT.
How fun to hear from Bob! Great advice, and I can’t wait to try the dishes!
Thank you for letting me know. we are working on it.