The goal of this was to be depetive, maybe a little provocative. You tell someone it's a marshmallow, they think sweet, they get marshmallow but it's savory. Admittedly this dish not go over well when served at a recent wine tasting we hosted. There were 3 or 4 people who thought it was really interesting and liked it, but most were put off a little by the radical nature of the concept. I was not able to give the finishing of the marshmallows as much attention as they probably deserved, so the concept is worth more experimentation in the future.
400g whole organic milk, chilled to 37F
120g whole organic milk combined with 18g gelatin powder at room temperature
45g walnut oil
2 cups toasted walnut powder
Bring the milk with gelatin to 105F-110F, begin whipping on high in a stand mixer for 30 seconds. Combine the chilled milk all at once and continue whipping for 3 minutes. Add the walnut oil and whip for an additional 30 seconds. Spread in an even 1" thick layer on a silpat lined flat sheet pan (one with no lip preferrably). Chill for 2 hours. Cut into 1" cubes, lightly salt and then roll in the toasted walnut powder.
The flavor was all walnut, though salting was key, you needed to be generous, but it was also easy to overdue the salt. Without salt, the marshmallows have only a faint walnut oil (maybe I need better walnut oil). The texture will be challenging to all but the most adventurous eaters. On the next go, it might be interesting to infuse some rosemary into the milk prior to chilling.
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