WARNING!! FOOD PORN!! ALERT!! FOOD PORN!!

Ok Steemies, so while I conjure up a magical dessert for you all I thought I'd share a picture of a dish that I particularly love. It takes a bit of preparation because it is comprised of several different elements, but once you've got them ready and present them together, the colours, shapes, textures, and most importantly tastes, create a wonderfully harmonious combination. This 'salad' really gives the wow factor!

So the elements of this dish are:

• Ricotta Chantilly 
• Asparagus, blanched 
• Black olive tapenade 
• Compressed pickled papaya 
• Balsamic pearls 
• Olive oil spheres 
• Black olive salt, Borage flowers and rocket, for aesthetics 

 Here's how to make it:
 

Ricotta Chantilly:
 

Crumble 125g of ricotta into small pieces. Meanwhile, add 20ml of white white vinegar and two crushed black peppercorns to a saucepan and reduce by half. Add 165ml water to the pan and return to the heat. Slowly add the crumbled ricotta into the liquid to create an emulsion. Stir this in with a whisk. Season and place in the fridge to chill. 

Asparagus, blanched:
 

Cut 4 asparagus spears into thumb length pieces. Drop the pieces into a pan of boiling water and blanche for 1 minute, until al dente. This method of cooking is great for retaining the texture, taste and colour of vegetables.   
 

Black olive tapenade
 

Place 125g of pitted black olives into a food processor, along with a small clove of garlic, 1 tablespoon of capers, a squeeze of lemon juice, a handful of freshly chopped parsley, 3 anchovy fillets and salt and pepper. Whilst the food processor is going, gently pour in some good quality olive oil, until you have a smooth consistency. It should have the consistency of a coarse pesto.
 

Compressed pickled papaya
 

 Cut, trim and de-seed four large slices of papaya. Simmer 100ml of rice wine vinegar and 100g of caster sugar together until the sugar caramelises. This is called a gastrique in French or an agrodulce in Italian cooking and is often used as a basis for sauces. Place the papaya and the gastrique in a vac pac and vacuum it tight. After 24 hours it should be ready. It has a wonderful soft, dense, tangy flavour.
 

Admittedly, this part is tricky if you don't have a vac pac machine so feel free to substitute for the fruit as it comes. Nectarine or peach would be lovely.

Balsamic pearls:
 

These can be fiddly. You'll need a chilled 'bath' of 500ml of corn oil. Then you'll need 170ml of balsamic vinegar which will be mixed with 3.5g of agar agar (a vegan gelatine made from algae). These must be mixed together, boiled and whisked to ensure the agar 'activates' - the carbohydrate needs to dissolve. Around 5 minutes should do it. Let the mixture cool slightly but not too much or it might set.  Then, from a teaspoon, slowly drip the mixture into the chilled oil bath. The drops should form into small 'pearls' which can be rinsed with warm water and stored in the fridge.   What you can also do is create a sheet of the balsamic mixture on some greaseproof paper, leave it to set, and then cut out shapes. Go wild!

Olive oil spheres:
 

This is the hardest part but if you like the subtle taste of fine olive oil, these spheres are sublime and really worth it. Everyone will want to know how you've made them! 

Here's the recipe: 

You'll need: 

• 100g isomalt. This is a sugar substitute. You'll probably need to order it on the internet. It'll be dissolved and then used to make a liquid.
•  A squeezable bottle with extra virgin olive oil decanted into it.
• A bath of 500ml chilled corn oil  

The method is quite tricky so, because I haven't got my video camera sorted yet I'm going to direct you to a website that will explain it better!
 

http://www.molecularrecipes.com/surprises/isomalt-encapsulated-olive-oil/
 

Here's a good way to visualise what's going on. Imagine a tissue loosely placed over a tall glass of water. Then imagine dropping a grape on to the tissue. The grape would fall into the water pulling the tissue with it. Hold that image for a second….

The same principle is used here, except the melted isomalt is made into a liquid. Something hollow like a cookie cutter is then dipped into the mixture so that it forms a thin 'film', just like how a soapy mixture forms in a bubble blower. Then, the drops of oil (the grape) are dropped onto the isomalt film (the tissue) so they fall into the chilled oil (the glass of water) pulling the isomalt layer after them. The whole thing 'sets' immediately. Chemistry! Woo Hoo!

Black olive salt:

You can make your own but I cheated and have a jar of bought stuff ;)    
 

Edible flowers:

I've used Borage here. You'll come to learn that I'm a bit obsessed with edible flowers, but they do add something special! Especially if you've grown them yourself. Borage is incredibly easy to grow, no green fingers required! It's practically a weed. Here's what the plant looks like. 

A few leaves of Rocket: 

Nothin' fancy there!
 

Plate it up nicely Steemies. Use your imagination!

Then turn the heating up to full, put on your summer clothes and pretend winter is over and spring is here!