Tart Tomato Mousse Recipe
Buying Fresh Produce, Cooking With Tomatoes, Spring Cooking Tips
Take advantage of springtime with fresh food, fresh recipes, and original meals.
The Bounty of the Season
In terms of food, winter is the season of hearty chops, tangy chili, and substantial vegetables such as yams, potatoes, pumpkin and peas. Spring brings the fragrance of flowers, the warmth of the sun, and the bounty of fresh produce. Grocery bins overflow with newly harvested vegetables: Red peppers, green asparagus and broccoli, crisp white onions, tender golden carrots, and crimson tomatoes. It is time for spring cooking and for perfect complements for perfect vegetables of contrasting textures, flavors, shapes and rarities.
Produce-Buying Tips
Shopping for produce entails selecting vegetables for light spring recipes. Since vegetables are the centerpiece, this requires some skill. When buying asparagus, look for firm tips and a bright green color; avoid woody stalks or whitish streaks. Broccoli needs to be firm, with a dark green or purple hue. Tomatoes commonly displayed in grocery bins come in five types:
- Garden
- Beefsteak
- Plum
- Cherry
- Grape
All tomatoes need to be firm with a bright red color and a distinctive tomato scent. They taste best eaten at room temperature or cooked at a low temperature that doesn't dispel its natural flavor.
Sides and Entrees
Light colored meats, such as fish or chicken, don't dilute the flavorful impact of vegetable sides. "Spring chickens" are also a delicious accompayment to seasonal fare, and a longtime favorite of every culture. (Henry IV of France coined the famous phrase: A Chicken in Every Pot.) Such a meal is inexpensive, low in calories, nutritious, and visually appealing. There are also several tatstes to create, using a variety of cooking strategies. Spring vegetables and spring chickens can be added to such standard recipes as Pasta Primavera , Buffalo Wings, and Egg Salad. Here is an unusual recipe for
Tart Tomato Mousse:
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 pureed fresh tomatoes
- 1/3 cup tomato juice
- 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 6 eggs separated
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 cups confectioners sugar
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 tsp lime juice
Directions:
- In a small bowl, pour the 1/3 cup tomato juice.
- Sprinkle in the gelatin; set aside for five minutes.
- In a large bowl, whip the cream until just stiff.
- Cover and refrigerate.
- In a large bowl, combine the egg whites with salt; set aside yolks.
- Beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add confectionary sugar.
- In a small bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Add to confectionary sugar mix.
- Add the egg yolks one at a time, alternating with the dissolved gelatin and remaining confectionary sugar.
- Fold in the egg whites. Beat in the minced tomatoes and lime juice.
- Spoon into eight individual serving dishes.
- Chill for three hours.
