Toooo long!

Hey Guys! im sorry it took so long for me to come back you lot with antyhign that even looked and tasted remotely good... btu my daytime job has actually gotten pretty hectic as of late.

And whilst i havent actually made this dish myself for a while,it is still a personal favourite! So the following pictures are not creditted to me but they do show you how to present the meal in a variety of delicate and artistic ways!....... OK! PANNA COTTA!





I first fell in love with this dessert when i was about 13 and i was watching blue peter (for you americans its like a DIY show for kids, cooking, animals, arts and crafts etc.. :D). They had a local chef come on and after a long talk about how she had began cookign and how much she loved it and blah blah blah.... they then had her prepare her favourite dish which was the Panna Cotta.... I WAS IN LOVE! To me it looked like jelly + ice cream.... and what kid doesnt liek that combination! so i tried it and tried it and tried it over the years and after a while i could make it pretty perfectly. So now that i could make it well, i began experimenting with flavours! Mango.... Apple.... rosemary..... But out of all of them my favourite was the stangest combination.

Thyme

and Honey

(Just noticed that i use honey an awful lot.... maybe i should look into it in a bit more detail for my next blog :P)


The basics of a Panna cotta recipe are incredibly simple. you will probably reasd this and think "why havent i made this before?!". The only thing that i doubt you will have just lying around the pantry will be gelatin, or gelatin powder.

Ingredients:

(This is a generic recipe which you can use as the base of any panna cotta... just tweak it to your liking by adding flavours and garnishes)


For the Panna Cotta

3 gelatine leaves
250ml/9fl oz milk
250ml/9fl oz double cream
6 spriggs of thyme
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways, seeds scraped out
25g/1oz sugar

For the sauce

1.5 tsp lemon juice
75g/6oz honey
175ml/6fl oz water
50 ml Drambuie (honey and spice based whiskey)

Method:

1. For the panna cotta, soak the gelatine leaves in a little cold water until soft.
2. Place the milk, cream, thyme spriggs, vanilla pod and seeds and sugar into a pan and bring to a simmer. Remove the vanilla/thyme spriggs and discard.
3. Squeeze the water out of the gelatine leaves, then add to the pan and take off the heat. Stir until the gelatine has dissolved.
4. Divide the mixture among four ramekins and leave to cool. Place into the fridge for at least an hour, until set.
5. For the sauce, place the honey, lemon juice, water and Drambuie into a pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the mixture is smooth and clear.

Complete!


Now because im obsessed with my new ramikins and shot glass set that i found at a bargain price (of £4 for 16 ramakins, and £2 for 10 nice glass shot glasses! so awesome!) I usually put my pannacotta into one of these moulds and put in the fridge until needed. Then place them on a square or oblonged dish for serving and decorate in whatever way you think is best.



Enjoy! and i promise ill update things more often... \(^_^)/