Spiced Peach Salad

Spiced Peach Salad
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 (1 lb.) can sliced peaches, reserving juice
Water
6 whole cloves
1 stick cinnamon
1/8 cup lemon juice

1. Mix gelatin, sugar, and salt thoroughly in a saucepan.
2. Drain peaches. Set peach slivers aside. Add water to syrup to make 1 ¾ + 1/8 cups liquid. Add to gelatin with cloves and cinnamon. Place over heat and simmer about 10 minutes. Strain.
3. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar. Chill to unbeaten egg white consistency.
4. Fold in peaches. Turn into a 2-cup mold or individual molds and chill until firm.
5. Unmold on a serving plate and garnish with salad greens.

Spiced Peach Salad
from Knox On-Camera Recipes: A Completely New Guide to Gel-Cookery, 1963
Simple Gel
4 Servings
98 Calories per serving

1 envelope Knox Unflavored Gelatine
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 (1 lb.) can sliced peaches
6 whole cloves
1 stick cinnamon
¼ cup vinegar

1. Mix gelatine, sugar, and salt thoroughly in a saucepan.
2. Drain peaches. Set peach slivers aside. Add water to syrup to make 1 ¾ cups liquid. Add to gelatine with cloves and cinnamon. Place over heat and simmer about 10 minutes. Strain.
3. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar. Chill to unbeaten egg white consistency.
4. Fold in peaches. Turn into a 2-cup mold or individual molds and chill until firm.
5. Unmold on a serving plate and garnish with salad greens.

Comments: While I appreciate the fragrant spices in this salad, which are always welcome during for the fall and winter season, I can’t recommend it without providing some additional thoughts.

As with previous recipes, I modified the salad by reducing the amount of vinegar and then replacing it with lemon juice. I have an ongoing dialogue – both internal and with tasters – about the conspicuous amounts of vinegar in many of the recipes throughout this cookbook, as it appears that some are enhanced by a pickled taste, but they seem to be few and far between. In this recipe, the reduced amount of lemon juice is tolerable, but I believe that it could also be removed without injury to the final result.

Regarding the method: Because I was skeptical that 10 minutes of simmering would be sufficient to impart the flavors of the spices, I left the pot on the stove for an additional five minutes. Don’t do this! The gelatin will be flavorful without this additional time., and, if you leave the pot on the stove too long, the spices may start to overwhelm the fruit flavor.

As for presentation, the color of this salad is beautiful! Be sure to use canned peaches in juice, not heavy syrup, and, if food textures can difficult for your guests or family members, I would recommend that the peach slices are halved before their addition to the gelatin mixture. It might also be pleasant to remove the peach slices entirely or serve them as a garnish.

If you make this salad your own by modifying it to your liking, I think you will enjoy it very much.