Pickle Juice Gelatin Salad (aka the Weirdest Dinner I've Ever Made)
by audreyobscura in Cooking > Salad
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Pickle Juice Gelatin Salad (aka the Weirdest Dinner I've Ever Made)
First, some backstory:
I have been playing around and experimenting a lot with gelatin lately. After doing some research for another Instructable I am working on, I have inadvertently learned that gelatin is very good for you and have been seeking out more recipes which include it.
I had read about Plaid & Paleo's apple cider gummies which calls for the addition of apple cider vinegar, and made a batch for myself and my housemates. (Bless them for being such willing guinea pigs for my kitchen science experiments.) One of my housemates declared that it tasted like eating a 'strangely chewy pickle', and suggested I could just as easily have used pickle juice. Ever to play devil's advocate, I inquired "Gross! What would that even be good in?!" We all thought about it for a moment before I proposed "Maybe egg salad?"
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
We may or may not have been inebriated when we conceived this idea.
Try at your own risk.
Ingredients and Tools
For this recipe, I used the following ingredients:
- About 1 cup Pickle Juice
- 2 Knox Gelatine Packages
- Coconut Oil, only as mold release for the Jello
- 1 Avocado
- 5 Hard Boiled Egg whites- it was supposed to be six, but I dropped one on the floor when I was taking some shell bits off. (I'm admittedly a newb when it comes to Hard Boiled Eggs)
- Arugula
Tools:
- Small frying pan
- Tea infuser
- Knife
- Shallow loaf pan
- Whisk
Straining the Pickle Juice
There was all kind of pickling spices that remains in the pickle juice that I wanted to remove before turning this juice into jello.
I used my tea diffuser, as it had the smallest holes out of any other straining device in my kitchen. I was left with about one cup of liquid, so I knew that to gel that much I would need to use about 2 Tbs of gelatine.
Heat and Gel
I slowly brought the pickle juice up to a steaming temperature and gently whisked in 2 Tbs of Gelatine, one tablespoon at a time.
Whisk until it is 100% incorporated, and the mixture looks homogeneous.
Pour and Chill
Pour the warm gel/pickle mixture into a lightly oiled pan so that it can cool - I left the mixture in the fridge for about one hour for it to set completely.
Mush It All Together
When the pickle juice gelatin had set, I chopped it into 1/4" cubes.
Having tried one cube, I realized that they have a STRONG FLAVOR, and was glad that I had decided to mix the small cubes with avocado and egg whites.
I make my egg salad with avocado because I think mayonnaise is disgusting. Just a personal preference.
I cut up the egg whites into small piece, sprinkled everything with a little salt and pepper and then incorporated everything into one mixture on the cutting board with just a fork.
Eating Disappointment
tonight, I’m eating molecular gastronomy failure for dinner. i tried.
— Audrey Love (@audreyObscura) November 19, 2015
You know, I tried something new. Give me credit for that? I ate my failure, so it wasn't all that bad. I think if you are the kind of person that likes Sea Salt and Vinegar chips than you may be into this, but I just wasn't. I did, however, see this meal as something nutritious that I had made, and mostly palatable (with the right amount of Tapatio), and I hate wasting food, so I ate it.
If you are bold enough to make this....concoction...., I'll award a YEAR! pro membership to the first five people who share their creation using the 'I Made It' button in the comments. But seriously, it's kinda weird. If you are a foodie, I would love you to monkey with this recipe - does gelatinized pickle juice have a place in the world? I'm hopeful.
I just don't think it belongs in an egg salad.