Gazpacho is my ultimate cool soup for summer's hot nights, and the best-looking dish at my August dinner parties on the patio. But I felt the Iberian beauty needed a touch-up after decades of wearing the same red dress. The solution? A little protein "oomph" and a lot of elegance with my crab timbale. Seafood as an accessory never looked or tasted so good. --Brooke Parkhurst

Gazpacho

Serves 4

10 ripe, summer tomatoes

5 small pickling cucumbers, peeled

2 shallots

2 red bell peppers

1 medium bunch fresh basil

1+ tbsp. red wine vinegar

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Roughly chop first five ingredients. In a large bowl, toss them with 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar, a healthy pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours.

Remove chopped mixture from refrigerator and--working in batches--pulse in food processor until smooth. Pass the puréed mixture through a fine strainer, pressing well to extract as much liquid as possible. Pour the strained liquid into a chilled container and discard solids. Taste for proper seasoning, adding salt, pepper and red wine vinegar as necessary.

Garnish

8 oz. jumbo lump crab meat

1 cucumber, peeled, finely diced

1 red bell pepper

Handful basil leaves

Splash red wine vinegar

Kosher salt

Pepper

Toss all ingredients in a bowl and season to taste. Place a small ring mold in the center of the chilled soup and pack it full of crabmeat mixture, compacting it with the back of a spoon. Remove the ring mold and gently place on top of soup.