u/joross31

I don’t know how to describe the juice of these prickly pear cactus fruits except for violently pink. It is also delicious, like a subdued watermelon. There are a few varietals and these particular ones have the most beautiful brilliant pink color. They are often used in sweet preparations but I decided to use them to make a savory, chilled gazpacho. I blended the fruit with some tomato, cucumber, shallot, garlic, Calabrian chili paste, and lime juice to make a gazpacho and the result is a smooth, unreal looking neon pink soup that is faintly sweet, vegetal, fruity, and refreshing chilled. I served it with sliced avocado and a charred corn and crab salad. I fried the corn silk in a bit of oil and used that to dress the salad to get a bit more corn flavor into it. Garnished with some cilantro and amaranth leaves. I also included a few process photos, the photo setup, and a picture of the unripe growing fruit.

I don’t know how to describe the juice of these prickly pear cactus fruits except for violently pink. It is also delicious, like a subdued watermelon. There are a few varietals and these particular ones have the most beautiful brilliant pink color. They are often used in sweet preparations but I decided to use them to make a savory, chilled gazpacho. I blended the fruit with some tomato, cucumber, shallot, garlic, Calabrian chili paste, and lime juice to make a gazpacho and the result is a smooth, unreal looking neon pink soup that is faintly sweet, vegetal, fruity, and refreshing chilled. I served it with sliced avocado and a charred corn and crab salad. I fried the corn silk in a bit of oil and used that to dress the salad to get a bit more corn flavor into it. Garnished with some cilantro and amaranth leaves. I also included a few process photos, the photo setup, and a picture of the unripe growing fruit.

Prickly pear cactus (Opuntia spp.) grows in abundance around where I am in California. Both the cactus pads (nopales) and the fruits (tunas) are edible. The fruits are ripe when they are deep pink or purple, typically late in summer and through early fall. You’d think the large obvious spines are the things to be most careful of but it’s the fine glochids that get into your hands and make you miserable. To get around those, I use tongs to hold the fruit, cut them in half, and scoop out the fruit. I’ve tried burning them off as well as rubbing/scrubbing them and still always managed to get the fine hairs stuck in my hands. 

The fruit tastes like a subdued watermelon to me. There are a few varietals and these particular ones have the most beautiful brilliant pink color. They are often used in sweet preparations but I decided to use them to make a savory, chilled gazpacho. I blended the fruit with some tomato, cucumber, shallot, garlic, Calabrian chili paste, and lime juice to make a gazpacho and the result is a smooth neon pink soup that is faintly sweet, vegetal, fruity, and refreshing chilled. I served it with sliced avocado and a charred corn and crab salad. I fried the corn silk in a bit of oil and used that to dress the salad to get a bit more corn flavor into it. Garnished with some cilantro and amaranth leaves. I included a few photos of the plating/process as well as the fruit and some unripe cactus growing.

This sub was recommended to me so I hope that this is allowed. I love to play with plating of food and these dishes involved rolling and manipulating strips of squash and carrot.

The first is Shaved Squash Salad with Macadamias, Pickled Shallots, Basil, and Sea Fig Vinaigrette and the second is a Crustless Pumpkin, Caramelized Onion, and Gruyere Quiche with Carrot Decoration.

I foraged some Sea Fig fruits (also known as sour fig, pigface, or ice plant) and used them to make a jam which I mixed with some champagne vinegar, avocado oil, and salt. I placed shaved squash that I halved so it would lay flat standing up on a plate inside a ring mold. Once it looked how I liked, I spooned the vinaigrette into the spaces between the squash. Topped it with chopped roasted salted macadamia nuts, Thai basil leaves, pickled shallots (with a touch of hibiscus in the pickling liquid for color), and some bachelor button petals. 

Sea Fig, also known as sour fig, pigface, or ice plant is one of about twenty species of creeping succulents in the genus Carpobrotus, most of which are native to South Africa. They were intentionally introduced in California (where I harvested them from) for erosion control and have become an invasive species. Specifically we have both Sea Fig (Carpobrotus edulis) and Chilean Sea Fig (Carpobrotus chilensis) all along the coast here. Both plants can produce yellow or pink flowers. The fruits and leaves are edible. Ripe fruit is sweet and tastes like skittles candy or kiwi and lychee or strawberry mixed with bubblegum and hit of saltiness. The texture is a bit mucilaginous similar to okra so they make a good emulsifier. I’ve included a few photos of the plant and the fruit preparation.

I used the fruits to make a jam that I added sweetener and lemon to. It is not pretty but it is quite delicious! I used that jam to make a menu:

Shaved Squash Salad with Macadamias, Pickled Shallots, Basil, and Sea Fig Vinaigrette. 

I mixed the jam with some champagne vinegar, avocado oil, and salt. I placed shaved squash that I halved so it would lay flat standing up on a plate inside a ring mold. Once it looked how I liked, I spooned the vinaigrette into the spaces between the squash. Topped it with chopped roasted salted macadamia nuts, Thai basil leaves, pickled shallots (with a touch of hibiscus in the pickling liquid for color), and some bachelor button petals. 

Sea Fig Glazed Black Cod with Kumquat Beurre Blanc And Samphire. 

I pan seared some local Black Cod so that the skin was crisp and glazed the underside while it cooked with a bit of the jam with some kumquat juice for added sharpness. I garnished with blanched samphire that I foraged as well as thinly sliced kumquats and a few pieces of shaved purple radish.

Sea Fig Ice Cream with Coconut Caramel and Macadamias.

I mixed the jam with an ice cream base so that there were still large pieces of the fruit throughout, which leaves bursts of the flavor in there. Topped that with a caramel made with coconut cream, some chopped roasted salted macadamias and a few cornflower petals as well.

Inspired by the colors and shapes all around in nature! These noodles are soaked in a a few different things - red cabbage juice, which contains anthocyanins that give the cabbage and butterfly pea its beautiful purple and blue colors color, or turmeric. Anthocyanin is a natural pH indicator that is turns purple/red in acidic conditions (achieved with some lime juice). I topped them with sliced avocado, carrot, radish, and chili pepper along with pea shoots, green onion, fennel flowers, pansies, and cornflower petals. Poured over a dressing of chili crisp, fried garlic and shallot, rice vinegar, and coconut aminos.

It has been so many years since I’ve had dim sum after going gluten-free but I have fond memories of visiting Chinatown in San Francisco with my family and experiencing the dim sum there so I had to try to recreate some of the dishes I remembered. The Ham Sui Gok were easily my favorite and I highly recommend that recipe if you like them. From top left going clockwise I referenced the following; 

Ham Sui Gok (Fried Glutinous Rice Dumplings)

Har Gow (Shrimp and Chive Dumplings)

Bok Choy with Fried Garlic Sauce

Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)

San Choy Bow (Chinese Lettuce Wraps)

Braised Shiitake Mushrooms

Mut Jup Mun Gai Yik (Honey-Soy Braised Chicken Wings)

I made these little appetizers inspired by the German Frankfurter grüne soße. Grüne soße, literally green sauce is traditionally made of seven herbs (parsley, borage, chervil, cress, chives, sorrel, and salad burnet). The herbs get blended together with some egg yolk, sour cream, quark, oil, lemon, salt, and pepper. I couldn’t get them all here so modified it slightly based on what I have access to. I foraged the sheep sorrel (Rumex acetosella, which I used to replace standard sorrel), borage (Borago officinalis) leaves, and fennel fronds (Foeniculum vulgare, to replace chervil). Added some parsley, chives, watercress (to replace cress), and English cucumber (to replace the burnet). The sauce is often served with potatoes and eggs so as a nod to that, I fried some parsnips in place of potato and shaped them as nests for some jammy quail eggs. Garnished with amaranth leaves and some wild fennel flowers. Location: California.

I made these little appetizers inspired by the German Frankfurter grüne soße. Grüne soße, literally green sauce is traditionally made of seven herbs (parsley, borage, chervil, cress, chives, sorrel, and salad burnet). The herbs get blended together with some egg yolk, sour cream, quark, oil, lemon, salt, and pepper. I couldn’t get them all here so modified it slightly based on what I have access to. I foraged the sheep sorrel (Rumex acetosella, which I used to replace standard sorrel), borage (Borago officinalis) leaves, and fennel fronds (Foeniculum vulgare, to replace chervil). Added some parsley, chives, watercress (to replace cress), and English cucumber (to replace the burnet). The sauce is often served with potatoes and eggs so as a nod to that, I fried some parsnips in place of potato and shaped them as nests for some jammy quail eggs. Garnished with amaranth leaves and some wild fennel flowers.