unsure

variation

4s

smoked

pseudo choc

glazed

sometimes our mind will lead us with thoughtless intuition.  it is believed that our minds will connect the information that we have collected when our brain is at rest and that these are the moments when discovery can me made and the creative process can be capitalized on.

this post in hardly something profound.  it is just a little something that worked great for me one sleepy morning while i was setting up for a lunch.  for many years i would make a quick compote for banquets by mixing fresh fruit with neutral glaze.  it yielded a compote that was shiny, did not run and tasted like fresh fruit.

i was putting together some strawberry shortcakes for a buffet last week and i wanted to put a fresh uncooked compote in them.  strawberries that were marinated would not keep their fresh look after sitting on a buffet for a long time and a cooked compote may be a crime for this application.

i tossed the berries in sugar, vanilla bean, ascorbic acid and grand marnier.   after soaking for about an hour there was lots of juice in the bottom of the bowl.  next a little tapioca starch (ultratex 3)  was sprinkled on top and folded in until the desired thickness was found.  in about a minute there was a nice shiny grand marnier glaze on my fruit…. identical to the version i did with neutral glaze.

as they say necessity is the mother of invention.  having no neutral glaze and being semiconscious led me to a great new glazing technique that had much more flavor than what was used in the past.

Tags: strawberry, ultratex 3