Making Tomato Celery Aspic

An aspic is a cold food coated with or molded in a jelly. Originally, the jelly was made of beef, veal, chicken, or fish stock which gelled when cooled because of natural gelatin. Today, however, gelatin is often added to firm the gel.

Aspics are used for making molds in which various meats, poultry, seafood, or vegetables are encased. Foods cooked and thoroughly chilled can be glazed with crystal clear aspic jelly. To use an aspic for garnishing, the jelly can either be chopped or cut into various shapes and used for decorative purposes.

In American kitchens the term aspic is often applied to any highly seasoned, colorful, molded gel.

4 cups tomato juice

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup snipped celery leaves

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 small bay leaves

4 whole cloves

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup finely chopped celery

Mix 2 cups of the tomato juice with the next six ingredients. Simmer uncovered for 5 minutes and then strain.

Meanwhile soften the gelatin in 1cup of the remaining cold tomato juice. Dissolve this in the hot mixture. Add the remaining tomato juice and the lemon juice. Chill this mixture until partially set.

The next step is to add the celery. Pour the mixture into a 5 1/2 cup ring mold and chill until firm.