Caprese Salad with Balsamic Vinegar Pearls and Black Coral Tuile
Salad:
Multi-colored Tomatoes (halved and tossed with olive oil)
Capers
Dill
Fresh oregano
Basil
Avocado Balls (I used a melon baller)
Balsamic Vinegar Pearls.
The pearls were a little time consuming – make sure to follow the below recipe closely and make sure the agar agar doesn't clump together. They were a highlight of the entire meal - Everyone was pumped on them. It’s the first time I put weird chemicals in my food on purpose haha! I just added a mozzarella ball on the top.
The tuile was pretty difficult to figure out having never made it before. It took me 6 tries to get the right ratio of batter to depth of canola oil in the pan. Put 1 part flour to 9 parts water (make at least 2 cups total of batter), heat the oil (1 or 2mm deep in pan) and then pour an amount of batter in. It looks like sludge at first, but then starts to crisp up. Keep it crisping until the edges are matte and starting to lift from the pan. It’s crazy fragile so lift carefully.
Vinegar Pearl recipe:
2-3 cups olive oil
2/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2 grams agar-agar
3 cups water
Pour olive oil into a pint glass or medium carafe and place into the freezer for 30 minutes.
Heat the balsamic vinegar in a saucepan over medium heat and add agar-agar. Bring to a boil while stirring constantly then immediately remove from heat.
Remove oil from the freezer.
Using a syringe or pipette, draw up the balsamic mixture and begin to slowly drop into the cold olive oil.
Using a spoon, transfer the balsamic pearls to a bowl filled with the water. Give it a good stir to rinse the pearls of the oil. Serve over tomatoes, mozzarella and fresh basil.
