Every now and then I come across distinctly "me" recipes. By that I mean things I want to make just because I want them. The family may not be fully on board but its something that I just have to try. Panna cotta was one of those things for me. Pan cream just does not scream delicious to me, need to have? Well no... hold on I swear I'm going to change the pace and proclaim its yum-factor. I believe I originally saw a variation of this recipe on a holiday food network special. Tyler Florence made a frozen variation in a bread pan and it was a scratch your brain moment for me. Panna what? Why add gelatin if your just going to freeze it? Although I can not find the recipe to reference Tyler Florence's version, it was a later recipe in Bon Apetit magazine that I ultimately resorted to. I made mine with a non fat yogurt and substituted some milk instead of cream. It without a doubt altered the consistency but as I said it was a "me" thing so I figured why not. A slightly buttery sauce made with home made blueberry and cherry jam is what made this scream WOW! It was fruit on the bottom yogurt with a great fresh twist.
The funny thing that truly freaked me out about this was the usage of gelatin. I wanted to try this, but I don't use gelatin very often. I always think, isn't it horse something or another? Why not use pectin? I at least know its sort of organic in matter I mean its naturally in apples right? Well anyway, if we are going for honesty gelatin just baffles me. Its not a pantry staple to say the least. So I putzed around this recipe and stared it down. Do I try it? Do I forget about it? Yes, Cat just do it. So I tried it, and although the original magazine version was not frozen I opted to freeze it. (The flan like consistency just freaked me out, I have a life long affliction with things such as flan and Mayo...and I do not deny that I'm strange.) The end result was somewhat shocking, it was a grown up frozen yogurt, and I don't mean that mystery crap with chemical sweeteners and who knows what. The lemon zest knocked this into a whole new world, it tasted like a nice creamy frozen treat. I really was surprised at how classically delicious it tasted and how soothing it really was to eat. My youngest Connor was just amazed by it and could not get enough. Paired with blueberries its just a classic flavor combination that knocks me back to a lemony blueberry muffin. This panna cotta drizzled with balsamic and strawberries, chocolate fudge or served in a puddle of blueberry sauce would be a great afternoon treat or dessert. Or ...AHEM breakfast with granola possibly? No matter how its served this is a great slightly sweet treat that was exactly the fresh treat I wanted.
My alterations:
- zest of 1 lemon
- I used non fat vanilla yogurt, although using whole fat or greek yogurt would probably make a HUGE difference I wanted something a little more health conscious.
- 1 cup of whole milk, and 3/4 cups whipping cream (instead of 1 3/4 cups cream)
- Instead of Plums I used a home made cherry and blueberry jam about 1 cup with 3-4 tablespoons of water and 1 tablespoon of butter.
- I froze mine overnight. To soften it dip it in a dish with hot water or allow to rest on the counter 15-20 minutes.
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