Go to the Recipe: Watercress Purée
i lernd so match about santana
- originally posted by guachu
What does the Xanthan gum do to the puree?
Depoullage, the xanthan gum keeps the puree smooth and lightly thickens it. It's optional, but we think it improves the result.
Thank you! Xanthan is somthing I haven't really worked with so I wasn't sure of what it actually does, or where to start using it.
In many parts of the world, xanthan gum is readily found in health food stores. It's frequently used in gluten-free products.
First time using Xantham gum. I obviously need to get a new scale as mine only registers full grams. I likely used too much, as the puree was too thick to work through the fine sieve I tried. Fortunately, that was not an issue at all. The puree was already fine enough that I just plated it without sieving. Worked great with the salmon dish as shown. I may try adding some fresh coriander in with the watercress at the blanching stage next time for a bit more flavour....but this was great as it was.
The colour of that purée is amazing. Is it possible to store it in the fridge? If yes, how long will it last?
Alessandro: The puree will keep well in the fridge, but it will start to lose the beautiful green hue after several hours. If you can vacuum package it the color will last longer, at least a few days.
Love the color - It also told me I need new scales :)I had pretty bland cress, I actually added a very tiny pinch of salt at the end, it helped emulsify.
Glad to read that it worked out for you Johan. Photos always welcome in the forum (until we can complete a feature to allow people to upload photos of dishes they've cooked).I definitely recommend adding salt just before serving since sodium chloride will affect the appearance of the chlorophyll pigment over time.Chris
Is there any product that could be used in place of the xantham gum?
Hmmm, possibly a small amount of corn or tapioca starch. Blend it in cold and refrigerate for several hours to let the starch slowly hydrate without having to heat the sauce. But you will need to add more of a starch than xanthan. I would use at least 5 times more starch than xanthan.
Made this last weekend and the bright green color looked great on the plate
230 g or 150 g ???
- originally posted by Nelson Piffer Jr.
Because you end up adding some water with the watercresss, you'll end up with 230 g final yield from the 150 g of watercress.
what happends if you skip the xanthan gum?
It won't be quite as smooth and silky and you may need to re-blend it briefly before serving because the solids will tend to separate.
Do you just add the dry xantham gum into the wet puree and this will incorporate into the mix? or do you need to dilute it? thanks
- originally posted by simon
Also I'm assuming this can only be a cold puree? or can it be warmed before serving?
It can be warmed just before serving, but I don't recommend letting it get above 60 °C / 140 °F to avoid rapid discoloration.
We just add it in while blending.
I found when adding a little evoo to this in the blender it created a nice shine to the puree
- originally posted by Robert L. Collins
How stable is the modified puree? I.e. how long can it be stored in the fridge or freezer before separating/discoloring?
Hi, difficult to get watercress here. Any thoughts on using garden cress instead?
Yes garden cress should sub just fine. Its really pretty versatile you can use any peppery green, even scallion greens would be quite nice. We have used ramp puree at times, very nice.
Treat it the same way you would water cress.
- originally posted by Grant Lee Crilly
I see that subbing some other greens tends to work just fine. Would sorrel be a viable alternative? It's so sensitive...
Yes, sorrel can be very nice.
That is an amazing and sophisticated recipe. Could someone please help me to understand the scientific reason why we need to put the blanched water crest into the ice water? Thanks,
To rapidly lower the temperature of the leaves after blanching. The hot blanching water destroys enzymes that would cause the watercress to blacken after blending (polyphenoloxidases), and shocking quickly lowers the temperature so that the watercress flavor isn't ruined.
Hi Chris! Awesome video. The sodium chloride to chlorophyll reaction is very interesting to me. Would you mind elaborating on the science behind this? I tried looking this up and found experiments where it was tested in soil during the growth of the plant, but couldn't find anything regarding cooking. You definitely are right though. Thanks for everything you guys do!
You can also use other thickeners/emulsifiers like guar gum and agar agar. Agar agar should be available in all thai and most asian markets
what a mess! :-) Tasted awesome in combination with the horseraddish cream. I removed air by vacuuming it - again optional, but brings out an even greener color. Thanks!
If I don't have a scale that goes that small how else can I figure formula for right amount of Xanthum Gum?
Hello I Did this with cilantro, but unfurtunaty I got discoloration just minutes after, I did it again and vacuum sealed to be used next day , and same result, the vivid color was lost.
Any suggestions? Could be the salt addition?
sodium bisulfate or maybe citric acid or lemon juice. But I am not sure.
Stephen, when something comes out to be less than a gram (which is the lowest amount my scale registers), I just say "a tiny pinch."
Hi there, for the watercress pudding is there a reason why you are using both xanthan and ultra-tex 3? Could you just use only xanthan or only ultra-tex 3? I apologize in advance, I'm new to the whole modernist thickening game. Thanks!
chlorophyll if you have a juice extractor , juice spinach and add it, it will keep it nice and green
FWIW On my reloading scale - accurate to .005 gram - a leveled 1/4 t of xgum weighs 0.80 g. Slightly rounded hits the 1 g mark +/- .1g.
The tiniest amount of vitamin c will prevent most greens from graying if added during pulverization stage.
Tried this recipe and failed in the blender. Failed horribly: my blender cooked the watercress puree. I erred in letting it keep stirring, because it wasn't breaking it down fast, and it got hot, to the point of making it steam. It turned dark-green and steaming hot, and the wonderful watercress zing disappeared entirely. Yes, I did thoroughly ice (for about 5 minutes) the watercress before attempting to blend it.
I will try this again, with the same blender, but I am going to put some ice in as shown in the video and I am going to pre-cut the watercress to a smaller, hopefully more blendable size.
The sad news was that we had no watercress puree for Thanksgiving. The good news is that I added sour cream, green onions, and some spices and boom, spinach dip made out of watercress.
do you have to blanch and ice first? Can you not blend from raw?
Chris Young_Works at ChefSteps_2 yr ago
how long will the puree last sealed in refrigerator and freezer
Could you do this with shiso? Thanks
Can u do this with nastrichums?
Yes. They do so for a dish in the spring tasting menu.
This was easy to make and the color looks great. I found the flavor to be ok...maybe need to add in some herbs
