Basic Savory Aspic

Ingredients

• 1 envelope (2 ½ teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
• ¼ cup cold water, stock, or broth
• ¼ cup stock, broth, or consommé, store-bought or homemade
• 1 ½ cups cold stock, broth, or consommé, store-bought or homemade
• White wine vinegar or lemon juice to taste
• Salt to taste
• 1 ½ cups chopped, cooked lobster or lump crabmeat, peeled shrimp, or other seafood, if using seafood or chicken stock; cooked diced chicken, duck, or turkey, if using poultry stock; cooked diced beef or lamb, if using meat stock
• (½ cup chopped or julienned raw celery, radishes, cucumbers, or carrots)
• (1 avocado, pitted, peeled, and diced)
• (½ cup olives, pitted and halved or sliced)
• (¼ cup drained capers or chopped, toasted nuts)
• Lettuce leaves
• Hide ingredients for Mayonnaise or Horseradish Sauce I 1 Mayonnaise or Horseradish Sauce I (opens in new tab) Mayonnaise or Horseradish Sauce I
  • 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice or white wine vinegar, to taste
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • Pinch of white pepper
  • (Up to 1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard)
  • 1 cup vegetable oil, or ¾ cup vegetable oil and ¼ cup olive oil
  • Salt and white pepper to taste

  Sub-recipe steps

  1. Have ready a balloon whisk and a medium bowl or affix the whisk attachment to a stand mixer. Whisk together until smooth and light: 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature; 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice or white wine vinegar, to taste; ¼ teaspoon salt; Pinch of white pepper; (Up to 1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard)
  2. If using a stand mixer, increase the speed to medium-high. Very gradually whisk in: 1 cup vegetable oil, or ¾ cup vegetable oil and ¼ cup olive oil
  3. As the mixture thickens—when about one-third of the oil has been added—whisk in the oil more steadily, making sure each addition is thoroughly blended before adding the next. Should the oil stop being absorbed, stop pouring the oil and whisk vigorously before adding more. Whisk in: Salt and white pepper to taste
  4. Serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to 1 week.
  5. Place all the ingredients from version I in a narrow jar just wide enough to fit the end of an immersion blender (most immersion blenders come with such a jar—use it if possible). Place the end of the blender into the jar so it touches the bottom. Start the blender on medium speed, keeping it at the bottom of the jar until you can see the mixture form a vortex, thicken, and become opaque. Slowly lift the blender up and pulse it a couple times up and down to make sure all the oil is incorporated.