Home › Refrigerator Menus › Perfection Salad
Perfection Salad
1 1/2 tablespoons gelatine 1/2 cup cold water 1 cup boiling water 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup mild vinegar 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 cup ginger ale 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup cabbage, finely shredded 2 cups celery, cut in small pieces 2 pimientoes, cut in small pieces 1/2 cup red or green peppers, chopped Soak gelatin in cold water, add boiling water and sugar, then vinegar, ginger ale, lemon juice and salt. Strain and when mixture starts to thicken add remaining ingredients. Turn into mold dipped in cold water and chill. Serve on lettuce leaf and garnish with mayonnaise dressing.
A straightforward acid-set gelatine mould, but the proportions are near the limit of what will stand up on a plate. Everything hinges on getting the gel firm enough and adding the vegetables at the right moment.
- Gelatine quantity1 1/2 tablespoons of granular gelatine is about two modern envelopes, roughly 14 g. The liquid comes to a little over three cups, and the vinegar and lemon juice work against the set, so expect a tender mould rather than a stiff one.
- Bloom, then dissolveSoaking in cold water is blooming, not a formality. Give it five minutes to swell before the boiling water goes in, and stir until no grains remain on a spoon back, or the finished mould will have a rubbery layer at the bottom.
- The moment to add the vegetablesWait until the mixture has thickened to raw egg white before folding in the cabbage, celery and peppers. Add them to a thin liquid and they will separate rather than stay suspended.
- Mild vinegarMeans cider vinegar or a white wine vinegar at about 5 percent acidity, not distilled malt or anything sharper. Together with the lemon juice it makes a distinctly sweet-sour jelly by modern taste; half the sugar is a reasonable adjustment.
- Ginger aleIts carbonation is gone by the time the mould sets, so it contributes sugar and spice, not fizz. Use a dry ginger ale rather than a heavily sweetened one, and account for its sugar if you reduce the half cup of sugar called for.
- PimientoesJarred roasted red peppers, drained and blotted dry. Wet peppers straight from the brine dilute the jelly locally and leave soft spots.
- The mouldRinsing with cold water rather than oiling is correct and gives a clearer surface. A 1 1/2 to 2 quart ring or loaf mould suits this volume. Chill at least four hours, preferably overnight, and unmould straight from the refrigerator; a few seconds in warm water loosens it, longer melts the edge.
- YieldSix to eight servings as a salad course. Dress at the table, since mayonnaise slumps off a cold gelatine surface if it sits.