Never fear food fans, she's baaack! After a week off that could not be avoided, I was eager to jump back to the cutting board and attack this week's perfect late summer treat: SALSA CRUDA WITH AVOCADO MOUSSE. I truly enjoyed trying this one from start to finish – it proved so festive and colorful to look at when finished and on display. Because of Chef Boulud's recommendation to pair the finished product with a salted margarita, I was moved to also garnish mine with some organic stone ground tortilla chips. I do think his suggestion for it to be eaten as a salad, albeit a chunky one, was indeed correct.
Sometimes we have raw horseradish in the store, sometimes we do not. Alas, this was one of those times for the latter. But I easily substituted some of the local jar variety, used the same amount called for, and it worked just fine. In fact, I really loved the pleasant double-kick the fresh radish mixed with the horseradish provided. The cucumbers and big juicy tomatoes worked in perfect tandem to temper the radishes and the little seeded Serrano peppers. I personally thought the mint leaves' nuanced flavor was lost somewhat in the mix, but no matter.
The mousse was a bit of a different story. Mine turned out about half as good as it should have – mainly because I had doubled the recipe. One of my avocados was perfect, the other was slightly under-ripe. Drat! It had looked and felt so convincing on the outside, before peeling and pitting. This proved to be a challenge with the usually sturdy blender I was using. I had to add a little extra lime juice to coax it into a whipped topping. With further coaxing from my trusty wooden spoon, it wound up close to creamy, but not perfectly so. Ah well. It still tasted quite fresh, and everyone who tried some garnished with the pretty diced chives and extra sliced radish was noticeably impressed. Many recipe cards were nabbed and I helped one woman locate all of the ingredients to quickly fill up her shopping cart to try it out at home.
Although the name made it sound fancier than it perhaps was at its core (I thought of it as jazzed-up salsa and guac), I still had great fun with it, and it was beautiful and delectable dish to prepare.
Sometimes we have raw horseradish in the store, sometimes we do not. Alas, this was one of those times for the latter. But I easily substituted some of the local jar variety, used the same amount called for, and it worked just fine. In fact, I really loved the pleasant double-kick the fresh radish mixed with the horseradish provided. The cucumbers and big juicy tomatoes worked in perfect tandem to temper the radishes and the little seeded Serrano peppers. I personally thought the mint leaves' nuanced flavor was lost somewhat in the mix, but no matter.
The mousse was a bit of a different story. Mine turned out about half as good as it should have – mainly because I had doubled the recipe. One of my avocados was perfect, the other was slightly under-ripe. Drat! It had looked and felt so convincing on the outside, before peeling and pitting. This proved to be a challenge with the usually sturdy blender I was using. I had to add a little extra lime juice to coax it into a whipped topping. With further coaxing from my trusty wooden spoon, it wound up close to creamy, but not perfectly so. Ah well. It still tasted quite fresh, and everyone who tried some garnished with the pretty diced chives and extra sliced radish was noticeably impressed. Many recipe cards were nabbed and I helped one woman locate all of the ingredients to quickly fill up her shopping cart to try it out at home.
Although the name made it sound fancier than it perhaps was at its core (I thought of it as jazzed-up salsa and guac), I still had great fun with it, and it was beautiful and delectable dish to prepare.