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Fresh Tomato and Feta Cheese Aspic with Mayonnaise Lee Bailey's Cooking for Friends Yield: Serves 6 to 8 5 Tbsp. water 2 Tbsp. unflavored gelatin 4 cups tomato pulp (see Note) 1½ tsp. salt 1 medium green bell pepper 1 small onion 2 Tbsp. lemon juice 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce ½ tsp. Tabasco 1 cup feta cheese, in ¼-inch cubes Put water in a deep saucer and sprinkle gelatin over it. Set aside. Place tomato pulp in a small saucepan and stir in salt. Grate the green pepper and onion over the tomato pulp, allowing the juice and pulp of the pepper and onion to drop into the pan. Stir in lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco. Heat mixture over medium heat and stir in softened gelatin. Continue to heat and stir until gelatin is dissolved, just a minute. Pour half the mixture into a 4- to 6-cup ring mold. Place in the refrigerator. Allow the balance of the tomato mixture to cool in the saucepan for about 30 minutes, then put it in the refrigerator. When the mixture in the mold is beginning to set - in about an hour or so - sprinkle the cheese over it and carefully pour the second batch of tomato mixture over the cheese. Some cheese may float to the top; if so, press it below the surface gently with your fingers or the back of a spoon. Return to the refrigerator and allow to jell completely, another hour at least. An hour before serving, unmold by placing the mold in a pan of hot water just long enough to loosen the aspic, about 30 seconds. Place the serving plate over the mold and quickly invert. If the aspic does not come out, hold the inverted mold tightly against the plate and give it a good downward shake or two to loosen it. Return unmolded aspic to the refrigerator for an hour to allow any melted aspic to set again. Serve with Homemade Mayonnaise. Note: There are several ways of making the tomato pulp and my favorite is to roast the tomatoes. To do this, you place about a dozen ripe medium tomatoes on a pan and put them under the broiler. Let them blacken, as you do red bell peppers, turning as the skin darkens and burns. Remove tomatoes to a plate and allow them to sit until cool, about an hour. They will give up a great deal of water, which you throw away. Cut out the stem end and discard the skin. Put tomatoes through a strainer to remove seeds. Twelve tomatoes should give you about 4 cups of pulp, but this is rather inexact. If you are a little short, add tomato juice. |
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