Basil Foam

@Chris & @Grant_Lee_Crilly , I have been attempting to create a basil foam to garnish the top of hot tomato bisque. I have been having issues with maintaining a bright green color, extracting a full basil flavor profile, and also having a somewhat heat stable foam.

My first attempt: I blended basil and parsley together with the cream. It had a decent color, but not much flavor and was not very heat stable and melted fast on the hot soup.
My third attempt:
I infused cream with a basil puree for 4 hours, strained, added .04% xanthan gum, then charged the isi and the color turned an off shade of olive green, the flavor was great, but the foam was too thick although was heat stable.
I am looking to create a bright green dense foam (I am envisioning a shaving cream like foam with bright green color), a full basil flavor, and also have heat stability while also being light and airy.

Any suggestions?

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Brendan_Lee_56950

I am guessing the cream is diluting the flavor of the basil. I have seen folks add methocel to a straight puree and that will allow it to be whipped much like a meringue and it should stay very stable.

jim_53915

Didn't think of that, do you what % methocel?

Brendan_Lee_56950

I'd say start around 1% and see how you like the texture.

jim_53915

@Brendan I'll have to give that a try, do you know how thick or thin the original puree was before adding the methocel?

james.denissen

I'd give the basil and parsley a quick blanch and then shocking in an ice bath will help set the color as well, like they do in the watercress puree video.

Brendan_Lee_56950

the recipe i recall seeing was pureed cherries thickened with some xanthan but just slightly and it produced a foam that looked a lot like shaving cream but a bit lighter in texture.

Do you have the Modernist Cuisine books? If you do check out the Hot Apricot Marshmallow.

jim_53915

@James that is a very good point

Brendan_Lee_56950

Yes, I second that as well, I thought you were already doing that but I must have misread it. That will definitely set the color for you.

jim_53915

@Brendan thanks for a point in the right direction, I didn't think about applying basil using the hot apricot marshmallow recipe.

jim_53915

So making a basil puree similar to the watercress puree recipe via @chefsteps, then using steps 1-5 of the hot apricot marshmallow recipe in MC, then adding to a siphon and dispensing as needed? Or should I use steps 1-10 into a pastry bag instead of a siphon?

Brendan_Lee_56950

I think it should work pretty similarly, I would assume you'd have to play with some xanthan for mouthfeel as compared to the sugar content of the apricot puree but the idea should be the same.

Mason_Perry_34060

Blanching will really help you keep the colors you are looking for, I wouldn't do more than 60 seconds max, make sure you shock in ice water or it will get wilty

dpietranczyk_49940

Juice the basil with some spinach. sean with salt and simple syrup so it doesn't taste like a lawn. .25% xanthan+.75%versawhip+ x%malic acid(to preserve the color) whip in a stand mixer on high **versawhipped foams don't liked fat

David_Quintana_63467

I was just about to write what @dpietranczyk said Versawhip and xanthan

must be water consistency from my experience and best stabilized emulsion in my books...

trev_teich

Bail Foam

250g skim milk

5g basil, picked, cleaned, and blanched

25g granulated sugar

4g orange zest

1.5g soy lecithin

jim_53915

@Trevor why do you use specificly skim milk?

Brendan_Lee_56950

because we are a health conscious lot here! haha

trev_teich

viscosity

trev_teich

If you want this to be more savory then don't put the sugar in, and use sea salt to taste. Also use a immersion blender to foam and a perforated spoon to plate.

jim_53915

Basil Foam:

1 pint dry basil/ 1 bunch (leaves only) did not weigh out sorry..

1 Cup Ice Cold Water

3g Soy Lecithin

1g ascorbic acid

2g salt

.5g white pepper

Blanched basil in boiling water with sodium bicarbonate for 45 seconds, shocked in ice bath.

Squeezed out water and placed into blender with other ingredients.

Blended and then strained through a fine sieve.

Aerated with handheld immersion blender.