| Recipe: |
Years ago I got a LOVELY bottle of "Tart Berry Balsamic Vinegar" from one of those fancy pants olive oil and vinegar stores that let you taste all of their offerings. It took me awhile to figure out that what I really liked it on was a salad -- spinach with fruit (blueberries, chopped strawberries or cherries... whatever's in season and seems like a good idea), feta, toasted almond slivers, a drizzle of the vinegar and a pinch of flaky salt. Mmmmm!! Unfortunately by the time I figured this out and finished my original bottle, that particular flavor was long gone. So here's my current reincarnation of that drizzle:
100 ml balsamic vinegar (not the super expensive stuff, without added flavors like berries)
35 ml pomegranate molasses (I get mine at a Mediterranean grocery)
1 g citric acid powder
1 g xantham gum
1 t (or so - exact amount is unimportant) glycerin
Measure balsamic vinegar and pomegranate molasses in a glass measuring cup. Add citric acid and whisk until it dissolves.
In a COMPLETELY DRY tiny bowl, with a COMPLETELY DRY demitasse spoon or teeny whisk, stir/whisk the xantham gum and glycerin until smooth*. Whisk vigorously into the vinegar mixture. Done!
*If you skip the glycerin, the xantham gum will *immediately* congeal into a super-duper thick chunk in the first water-based liquid it touches (think a clump of cornstarch dropped into hot broth) that is well-nigh impossible to smoothly incorporate after that. You have been warned.
... I am told that if you put the liquid in a blender and turn it on so there is a vortex in the center and veeerrrryyyy slowly shake in the xantham gum, it will be smooth. But we got rid of our blender years ago, so I have no first-hand knowledge. I DO know that xantham gum + glycerin = magic thickener! |
