As soon as I
heard that I was making a Topaz appetizer (the birthstone for November) I could
already picture what I was making. It would take a little time to work out the
details but I knew I wanted to make some sort of aspic.
Not the
traditional old school with tomato juice and a leaf of lettuce, but something
that would be golden, delicious, and represent the yellow gem.
First, to make
the shape, I stole the idea from Pam who was thinking about making a form as
well. She heard about cutting up PVC pipe. So off to Home Depot I go. I find
a good 2" pipe and then begin to ask around how I can make straight cuts. (If I
take it home and try to saw it myself, It'll be so crooked.) There we are, two
guys sitting on the floor of the Home Depot with this giant industrial cutters
that slice through the pipe like it was a log of Swiss cheese.
Home I go.
Now, in
hindsight I should have wrapped the bottoms with wax paper or plastic wrap and
tied with a rubber band to hold in the contents. The slight imperfections in
each of the cuts allowed for the first layer of the gelatin to leak out and
spread throughout the bottom of the pan. No matter, I was confident that even
though there was some waste, this would then create a 1/2'' layer that would
"plug" the bottom. And so I went on to the second stage.
I originally
toyed around with incorporating golden fruits (mango, apricot, etc.) but the
more I went in that direction, the more it was feeling like a dessert. And I
knew that I wanted this to be more savory.
I saw a few
months prior on "Top Chef" someone made a poached egg yolk, and I wanted to try
it. After a few broken yolks, a few over and under cooked ones, I figured out
it took about 90 seconds to get a good "shell" around the yolk, while leaving it
think and slightly runny on the inside. Each one was then placed delicately
into the layer of gelatin in the PVC pipe.
I should note
that the aspic consisted of two simple ingredients: gelatin and white wine.
chardonnay, to be precise.
Once the egg
yolk was in place over the first layer of Chardonnay gel, then it was time to
cover it with the rest so that the golden yellow ball would be floating in the
middle of this pale yellow "gem".
What I did not
count on was that the new wine gelatin was still ever so slightly warm and
melted the "plug" at the bottom, thus causing everything to seep out and fill up
the entire pan.
No problem, I
just made more gel.
Two bottles of
wine and 7 packs of gelatin later I had enough. All that was needed was time
for it to set.
Once semi-solid,
I slid it out of the tube and into a muffin tin to help hold its shape. My plan
was to make this look kind of like a ring. So the muffin shape was lined with a
reddish purple butter lettuce leaf (with a small layer of diced apples soaked in
brandy for a surprise--topaz has been called the "golden apple of gems"). The
purple was because Pam was doing a purple amethyst dish with a not to topaz
(because the two apparently work well together) so I felt it was my additional
challenge to find a way to add purple into the dish.
I was very
pleased with outcome. Although I would have liked the gelatin to be harder so I
could actually carve facets in the gel, making it look more like an actual
gemstone, I'll save that for Iron Chef.
It was a
delicate dish, the wine gel was just right and the egg yolk broke to blend with
the apples and wine. A simple dish, with only 6 ingredients.
Gelatin, White
Wine, egg yolk, apples, brandy, lettuce
No seasonings,
no added flavors. Pure and simple.
Every time I
mentioned to Pam what I was planning, she would wrinkle her nose as though she
had just smelled a fart, not even allowing me the opportunity to continue my
description. But at the table, she (and everyone else who might have had an
aversion to the aspic) were all pleased, and every bit was consumed.
-ben
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