INGREDIENTS
Candied Olives:
Sliced olives
Simple syrup
Galia Sorbet:
3 roughly chopped Galia melons
Mint leaves
Simple syrup
Pickled Cucumber:
Shaved cucumber
250 grams simple syrup
250 grams cucumber juice
125 grams white balsamic vinegar
Blueberry Gel:
500 grams blueberry purée
5 grams agar agar
Lemon juice
Simple syrup
Crystallized Shiso:
1 bunch shiso leaves
1 lightly beaten egg white
Sugar
Watermelon Soup:
Watermelon juice from Champion juicer
Lime juice
Simple syrup
Melonball Salad:
Cantaloupe
Honeydew melon
Watermelon
Fresh diced blueberries
To Assemble and Serve:
Sliced pitted olives
METHOD
For the Candied Olives:
Dehydrate the olive slices overnight. Toss the slices in simple syrup and dehydrate them again.
For the Galia Sorbet:
Purée the melon with the mint leaves in a Vita-Prep. Add enough syrup to take to 27Brix on a refractometer, mix, and then freeze.
For the Pickled Cucumber:
Put the cucumber slices in a Cryovac bag. Combine the simple syrup, cucumber juice, and vinegar, and pour the mixture over the cucumber slices in the cryovac bags. Vacuum seal the bags on high. For service, drain the cucumber slices from the pickling liquid and coil them.
For the Blueberry Gel:
Combine the purée and agar agar in a heavy bottomed pot and bring to a boil. Strain the mixture and cool over an ice bath until set. Purée this mixture until smooth, then add the lemon juice and syrup.
For the Crystallized Shiso:
Lightly paint the shiso leaves on both sides with the egg white. Toss the coated leaves in sugar, then cut rounds of the sugared leaves using a ¼-inch cookie cutter. Allow the leaves to dry on a paper towel-lined tray.
For the Watermelon Soup:
Season the watermelon juice with the lime juice and simple syrup. Reserve chilled.
For the Melonball Salad:
Combine the cantaloupe, honeydew melon, watermelon, and blueberries.
To Assemble and Serve:
Using a 1-inch wide pastry brush, paint a swirl of blueberry gel on the interior of a soup bowl. Put a tablespoon of melonball salad in the center of the bowl, and put 2 coils of pickled cucumber alongside the salad, and 1 on the rim of the bowl with a little more melon salad. Garnish with the candied olives and crystallized shiso leaves. Scoop a ball of galia sorbet on top of the salad and garnish it with a single olive ring and shiso round. Serve the watermelon soup in a small jug and pour it tableside.
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