Thursday, July 22 2010

There's Always Room for Wobbly Wine

I feel wobbly just looking at it

As is my wont, I was perusing the New York Times today. While I still read my local newspapers, more from a sense of sentimental fondness from my days in the paper business, I like the NYT as a window onto a place I've only been to once, yet which feels strangely real to me, in the sense that there are a lot of people there imagining it into existence all the time.

What has that got to do with the gelatine-based treat glowing like a radioactive rainbow above? Cooking With Dexter, a column by Pete Wells that appears in their Sunday magazine. Mr. Wells chronicles the adventures of teaching cooking to, and eating with, his son. It's charming overall, and occasionally there's a gem of an idea there--like wine-flavoured gelatine desserts.

It's been hot at Chaos Manor for the last few weeks, and it looks to get hotter this weekend. I've got a lot of gardening and projects to attend to, and at least one barbecue, and I've been thinking about a fun, prepare-ahead dessert for the heat. In Well's column he talks about making wobbly desserts with Dexter (two inevitable notes: the word Jell-O is trademarked by Kraft Foods, who are notorious for not sharing with others, and it's spelled gelatine, no matter what neologists say) but throws a bone to the childless in the crowd by giving a recipe for Spiced Rosé Gelatine with Peaches--a natural for my desserty desires. Here's the recipe:

• 2 cups rosé wine
• 1/4 cup sugar, to taste
• 1 1-to-2-inch length of cinnamon stick
• Zest of 1 orange, with as little pith as you can manage
• 5 peppercorns
• 2 envelopes gelatin
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 white or yellow peaches, each sliced into 16 wedges.

1. In a nonreactive saucepan, add 1½ cups of the wine, along with the sugar, cinnamon, orange zest and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, then immediately turn off the heat and cover the pan.

2. After 20 minutes, pour the remaining wine into a medium mixing bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Let sit for 3 minutes. Strain the spiced wine into the bowl and stir well for 2 or 3 minutes, until the gelatin is entirely dissolved. Place the bowl inside a larger bowl containing ice water, or put in the refrigerator.

3. When the gelatin is as thick as the white of an egg, 30 to 45 minutes later, put the lemon juice in a wide-bottomed bowl and add the sliced peaches, stirring as you go to coat the peaches with the juice. With a slotted spoon, transfer the peaches to the bowl of gelatin and fold them in gently. Divide the gelatin and peaches into 4 wineglasses, cover each with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 or more hours. Serves 4.

I'm a little iffy on the peppercorns and cinnamon. I think I'll stick to a really flavourful wine to drive the character, like my Jumbleberry fruit wine, made from blueberries, blackberries, red and black currants, rhubarb and strawberries, and instead of peaches (not in season here yet) I might try some Raspberries from my garden, but it sounds like a perfect way to incorporate wine into a light and cooling summer dessert. 

 

 

Posted by Gelatinous Tim AT 1:27PM

0 Comments

Post A Comment

Email