New Century Appetizers

[Rebecca]

Let's create something new. We should have some rules or guidelines. So we need at least some consensus. How about it must contain gelatin (or Gelatine as Knox prefers to spell it). You can boil down your chicken or other gelatinous bones and hides as long as the perfected quantities can be supplied (able to be easily duplicated), but preference is given to gelatin. Later, if we succeed, we can branch out to pectin and Jell-O. The goal is to create a see-through preparation that is savory (sweet is way too easy) or melds perfectly with savory flavors and adds its own nuances. After we achieve something, we can name it later. Any ideas gathered from vintage cookbooks are encouraged, if not copyrighted. Form and substance is open. Can be a layer within something or stand-alone molded shape. Ok. That's 1-2-3: Contains Gelatin, Tastes Savory, and is Clear or See-Through. Submit your creations/kibbishes here.

 

There is no deadline and no prizes. Photos must accompany recipes.

[rancho_gordo]

You are a very bossy lady.

 

So a layered appetizer in a "v"-shaped cocktail glass.

I'm going to start with pureed flageolet, a gelatin layer with crab and red onions and then a thin layer of romesco. Like that?

[Suzanne F]

You are a very bossy lady.

. . .

Ooh, Rebecca, that means he likes you.

[Rebecca]

Thanks, Suzanne. I appreciated the inside info and need all the input I can get. I don't blog anywhere else, so I guess my naivete is showing. I keep apologizing but should stop. Especially in the field of FOOD. Few other professions have as many drama queens and enormous egos. Oops, there I go again with declarative sentences. Anyway, sounds like Rancho is off and running. Maybe we can call it, "El Jorge." Oh, and thanks, Admins, for moving this thread to a more appropriate spot.

[Rebecca]

Ok. I'm trying for a shrimp mousse under a gelatin layer of paperthin cucumbers and dill topped with a whipped froid chaud veloute. I also want to spend considerable time in the test kitchen with all sorts of clear liquids from clarified chicken stock to flavored waters. I also have to work for a living . . . ugh. What a fine mess I've gotten myself into.

 

I don't know how to add the accents and tildes and oomblats and general CPR to my stuff. Where do I find instructions to insert these?

[rancho_gordo]

whipped froid chaud veloute

 

What is this?

[Cathy]

It's chaud-froid, n'est-ce pas? Jellied white sauce.

 

How about a Bloody Mary aspic? Served in cubes, like a jello shot.

[rancho_gordo]

How about a Bloody Mary aspic? Served in cubes, like a jello shot.

 

A layer of that sounds lovely next to a layer of crab in aspic.

What dp they call those layered after dinner drinks? Angel's Tit? Pousse Cafe? Something like that. This could be a Jellied Angel's Tit. Attractive!

[Rebecca]

Correctamundo. Look it up in your Larousse Gastronomique. Actually, Joy of Cooking has a lot of sections scattered around that indicate a fascination with gelatin but sort of doesn't want to admit it. Bechamel aspic. Gelatinized white sauce. Basically just my cold potato cream soup without the potatoes and thickened with gelatin, chilled, then whipped. Or, in other words, my homemade chicken stock with cream, thickened, chilled, whipped. The classic aspic that left men in the dust in the 40's-50's was the tomato or bloody mary aspic. Their reincarnation as Jell-O Shots or Poppers with alcohol has brightened their reputation somewhat. Maybe its just become more fun since someone didn't put enough water in the Jell-O and jigglers were "invented" for the 4 year old kids. Return-to-childhood kind of thing. Whereas aspics were so awful the kids thought you had to be a grown-up to like them. Next, kiddies, we should do research on the mallow plants that live in marshes along the Nile in Egypt.

[Rebecca]

I may be so OVER gelatin already. Spent the whole weekend attempting an amuse-bouche creation. Couldn't find a V-shaped glass or martini glass anywhere, so torpedo that idea. Went to 82 vendors at a flea market. Determined not to buy a new one. Found a really sweet tiny ice cream parlor glass stamped "Mexico" for 25 cents. Bought that, then back at home I dug out my margarita glasses. Made the shrimp mousse, and the domed cucumber dill snow globe looking thing by using a Coffee Bean & Tea latte cup top and covering the straw hole with waxed paper and then taping it. Tried to figure out how to put Rancho Gordo in plastic (print, cut, engulf in laminate) inside the gelatin globe. Decided it wouldn't look appetizing. Had made chicken stock earlier in the day so I strained a couple of cups through cheesecloth and mixed in a packet of gelatin and cream cheese, andput in fridge to chill for frothing/foaming later for topping (snow effect). The theme was going to be "El Negrete Nevado" or "El Negrete con Nieve." Twenty seven dollars later, spent for ingredients and embelishments, must wave white flag to admit defeat.

[foodie52]

You are obviously not old enough to remember being forced to eat this kind of stuff as a child.

 

There is a reason aspic and chaud froids fell out of fashion...

[g.johnson]

I protest. What would pork pies be without the embedding jelly?

[Wilfrid1]

Quite right. And the Ukrainian restaurant on Second Avenue here in New York offers some enticing savory jellies as appetizers. The pig's foot in jelly is especially good.

[rancho_gordo]

You are obviously not old enough to remember being forced to eat this kind of stuff as a child.

 

There is a reason aspic and chaud froids fell out of fashion...

 

Oh Foodie 52 (as if that is your real name!), you have disappointed me.

Perhaps it fell out of fashion the same way music by George Gershwin did. Or Dior's "New Look"? Or good old-fashioned common courtesy?

[Rebecca]

But the thing is, though, it is all back, isn't it? Anything "gelee" is jellied with or without actual gelatin. And try to make it through most any food publication right now without tripping over that word.