When the weather is boiling, many a home cook turns to cool, refreshing salads.
Salads aren't frequently on the menu for Shawn Matijevich, the Lead Chef of the Culinary Arts & Food Operations online program at the Institute of Culinary Education, but when they are, he makes sure to use the best possible ingredients.
"I don't make salads all that often," Chef Shawn says. "But when I do, I go with what's in season, really ripe, and wants to be eaten."
For this recipe, Chef Shawn jumped at the opportunity to use one of his favorite oft-underrated summer ingredients: stone fruit. For his recipe, he chose a peach, plum and nectarine, but any combination of stone fruit will work.
But Chef Shawn, being Chef Shawn, had more in mind. He decided to take his simple stone fruit salad to the next level. His weapon of choice was a tool you may already have in your kitchen: a SodaStream.
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Chef Shawn added all of the sliced fruit to the canister of the SodaStream, ran the machine to inject carbon dioxide into the chamber and, by doing so, carbonated the fruit. Incorporating carbon dioxide gas makes the fruits fizzy, almost like solid bites of fruit soda.
This technique also works using an iSi canister. This tool, which is also sometimes called a whipped cream canister, uses CO2 cartridges to inject carbon dioxide into its chamber. Though iSi canisters work well for making whipped cream, Chef Shawn often finds himself innovating with the tools for recipes just like this.
"Lots of people have these cream whippers at home. There are a lot of fun things you can do with them," Chef Shawn says.
For the body of the salad, Chef Shawn created a hearty goat cheese mousse. Aside from being delicious, it literally acts as the glue to hold all of the elements together in the structured plating.
If you have leftover mousse, it will keep well for a few days in a sealed container in the fridge. It pairs great with greens and works well as a sandwich spread. It also tastes great eaten on its own with a spoon.
As a complement to the base of the salad, Chef Shawn chose to make a balsamic fluid gel rather than a vinaigrette in order to highlight the vinegar's flavor. Since the fluid gel is just vinegar and a thickening agent, it is sharp, bright and acidic — perfect to balance out the creamy mousse.
"The salad is so creamy from the goat cheese that it doesn't need extra fat from a vinaigrette," Chef Shawn says.
Here's how to make the salad at home.
Ingredients
For the Balsamic Fluid Gel:
- 150 grams high quality balsamic vinegar
- 2 grams agar agar
For the Goat Cheese Mousse:
- 240 grams goat cheese
- 100 grams heavy cream
- 100 grams sour cream
- 75 grams chicken stock (or vegetable stock or other flavorful liquid)
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
- Optional: other spices, such as coriander, cumin, ginger or cloves
For the Carbonated Fruit:
- 1 peach
- 1 white peach
- 1 plum
- 1 nectarine
- 30 grams honey
For Assembly and Serving:
- Carbonated fruit (recipe below)
- Balsamic fluid gel (recipe below)
- Goat cheese mousse (recipe below)
- 1 jicama
- 1 black radish
- 1 bunch upland cress
- Edible flowers (for garnish, as needed)
- Maldon salt (as needed)
Directions
For the Balsamic Fluid Gel:
- Mix the vinegar and agar agar together in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Make sure the mixture boils for at least 30 seconds.
- Remove the pan from the heat and pour the gel into a heat-safe container. Place that container in an ice bath. Let the mixture cool until it becomes firm.
- Once cooled, cut the gel into small pieces and blend it in a blender until it becomes smooth.
For the Goat Cheese Mousse:
- Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
- Optional: In a metal bowl, toast the top of the mixture with a handheld torch and fold in the toasted parts until desired level of caramelization is reached.
- Pass the sauce through a fine mesh strainer to remove any chunks.
- Place in an ISI canister and chill until the mixture is below 41Fآ°.
- Charge the canister with two whipped cream chargers before plating.
For the Carbonated Fruit:
- Cut your fruit into slices.
- Gently toss the sliced fruit in the honey.
- Place fruit slices into either an ISI canister or a SodaStream. If using an ISI, charge with two CO2 canisters. If using a SodaStream, follow the manufacturer's directions.
- Allow the fruit to sit under pressure for at least 2 minutes before carefully releasing the gas.
- Serve the fruit immediately, as it will lose carbonation the longer it sits.
For Assembly and Serving:
- Slice jicama into 1/16" thick slices on a mandoline or slicer. Tear into your desired shape.
- Slice black radish paper thin using a mandoline or slicer.
- To plate the salad, spread the goat cheese mousse onto the jicama slices like a sandwich. Invert onto the plate so that the jicama slices are on the outside and the mousse is in the middle hot dog style, using the jicama slices as the "buns."
- Place carbonated fruit, upland cress, black radish and edible flowers on top.
- Add dots of balsamic gel around the salad.
- Finish with Maldon salt or other finishing salt to taste.
- Consume immediately, as the carbonation is most fresh when eaten right away.
