Avocado and Grapefruit Napoleons

One of my favorite salads is thinly sliced grapefruit with slices of ripe avocado drizzled with tangy Dijon mustard vinaigrette. It’s terrific year-round, but especially in the winter when citrus is in season.

To create an hors d’oeuvre that could capture the essence of this salad in a single bite, I carefully shingled thinly sliced grapefruit and avocado. Instead of just drizzling the bites with vinaigrette, I reverse spherified the dressing to create mustard caviar. When you eat this, the tiny caviar pop in your mouth and you get a tangy burst of flavor that perfectly accents the creamy avocado and zippy grapefruit. If molecular gastronomy is too fussy, just mix the dressing and drizzle away.

Avocado and Grapefruit Napoleons

1 avocado
1 grapefruit
1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
3 Tablespoons Champagne Vinegar
1/4 cup Extra virgin olive oil
Freshly cracked black pepper
Fresh basil, for garnish

1. Slice avocado on a mandoline and supreme a grapefruit.
2. Cut small squares of both avocado and grapefruit and layer them on top of one another.
3. Mix together mustard and champagne vinegar and then slowly drizzle in olive oil.
4. If reverse spherifying, mix a gelatin bath and add calcium lactate to your dressing. Create caviar. A more in-depth look into this process can be found here.
5. Season with freshly cracked black pepper and garnish with micro basil leaves.