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Pineapple and Cress Salad
This is a beautiful jellied salad, made in three layers. Make up two recipes of lemon jelly-powder, allow it to begin to set. To 1/3 of it add shredded pineapple and pour into a previously rinsed square or oblong pan. Allow to partially set. To another 1/3 add chopped watercress in large quantity, and pour on top of the first layer. Finish with another layer of pineapple, using up the rest of the jelly mixture with it. Let harden. Turn out, cut in slices and serve on lettuce with green mayonnaise.
A three-layer molded salad that depends entirely on catching the gelatin at the right stage of setting. Read the note on pineapple before you start.
- Fresh pineapple will not setRaw pineapple contains bromelain, an enzyme that digests gelatin and leaves the layer soupy. Use canned or otherwise cooked pineapple, well drained, or briefly simmer fresh fruit first to kill the enzyme.
- "Two recipes of lemon jelly-powder"That means two standard packets of flavoured gelatin dessert, each about 3 oz (85 g) and each making 2 cups when set up per the box. So roughly 4 cups of liquid total, divided in thirds of about 1 1/3 cups.
- Set the mixture firmer than the box suggestsFruit and greens weigh a jelly down and weep moisture. Reduce the liquid by about a quarter, or add an extra teaspoon of unflavoured gelatin, if you want clean slices rather than a slump.
- "Begin to set" and "partially set"You want the consistency of raw egg white, thick enough to suspend the pineapple and cress instead of letting it float or sink. Chill each layer only until tacky to the touch before adding the next, or the layers will slide apart when cut.
- The rinsed panA pan wet with cold water, not greased, releases a jelly cleanly. To turn out, dip the base in warm water for a few seconds and invert onto a chilled plate.
- WatercressUse it dry and chop it coarsely; wet leaves dilute the gelatin at the join between layers. Stems are peppery and fibrous, so favour the leaves. The recipe calls for a 'large quantity', so do not be timid with it.
- Green mayonnaiseMayonnaise tinted and flavoured with a puree of blanched spinach, parsley, tarragon and chives, pressed through a sieve or blitzed smooth. Make it a day ahead if you can; the colour holds better than the flavour fades.
- YieldA 9x5 in loaf pan or an 8 in square gives eight to ten slices. Chill at least four hours, and overnight for a firm mold you can slice thin.