Mandarin Carpaccio
Gregory Gourreau, my cooking partner when I was sous-chef at Daniel, worked on a dish where he froze citrus into something that resembled a mosaic. I loved the idea and played with it for a while, until I came up with this refreshing block of oranges. I like to use a 4-inch square plastic tube to form the citrus mixture, but you could just as easily use two 15-ounce cans. Remove the tops and bottoms and wash them well.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 8 on it¿s own or 12 as part of a dessert
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Set up an ice bath in a large bowl.
Step 2
Remove the zest from 3 of the mandarin oranges with a very sharp vegetable peeler. Cut the zest into the thinnest strips possible and put them in a metal bowl. Cover with boiling water and let sit for 1 minute. Drain the zest.
Step 3
Set a strainer over another bowl. Segment all of the oranges (see page 115), letting the segments drop into the strainer. Squeeze the citrus membranes over the bowl after you’ve removed the segments from each. Measure out 1 cup of the juice for the carpaccio and drink the rest.
Step 4
Pour 3/4 cup of the juice into a small saucepan. Add the honey, banana, star anise, and vanilla seeds (rinse, dry, and save the vanilla pod for another use). Bring to a simmer, then adjust the heat so the juice will simmer actively for 7 minutes. Strain into a medium bowl.
Step 5
Sprinkle the gelatin over the remaining 1/4 cup juice and let sit for at least 1 minute. Microwave for 30 seconds or heat gently in a saucepan until melted. Stir the gelatin and zest into the flavored juice. Set into the ice bath until very cold and just about to set.
Step 6
Seal one end of each plastic tube with a couple of layers of plastic wrap, and if you want to be safe, secure it with a rubber band. Fill the tube, alternating layers of citrus segments and juice. Seal the top with more plastic wrap and freeze for at least 3 hours, but overnight is best.
Step 7
To serve, push the carpaccio out of the tube and cut into slices.
