Chocolate and Vanilla Panna Cotta

 A couple of years ago, my husband and I went out to eat for our anniversary. The meal was excellent, and it was the first time I had panna cotta. It was a vanilla panna cotta with a blueberry coulis. I thought "Panna cotta is so fancy!"  Of course we could only have it on our anniversary, at a nice restaurant! I mean, where else would someone get it? At home?
Yes.

Look at my new prep bowl! It's the one holding the strawberries. Hi! Prep bowl!

Panna cotta, Italian for "cooked cream", is so simple to make that I feel like an idiot for not trying it sooner. According to this article on The Kitchn, it is the perfect dessert. I can't say they're wrong. It's easy to make, easy to adjust to your desires, requires few ingredients, demands little of your time or attention, it feels luxurious while you're eating it, and is freakin' delicious!

Now, usually I make vanilla panna cotta, throw some fresh fruit on it, and call myself a fancy lady; but my cousin came to visit last week. I was feeling like a big shot and offered her the choice of vanilla or chocolate panna cotta (as if I had ever made chocolate).  She, unknowingly, called my bluff and asked for chocolate.  I had a mini-panic attack, but I'm sure I covered it well with my crazy-eyed stare. Then I thought, "Ha! You probably just throw some cocoa powder in the cream." I always have cocoa powder (you know, for the cocoa powder fairy) and was again feeling smug.

You do not "just throw some cocoa powder in the cream." But, the process was still simple.
That night, for dessert, I made both chocolate and vanilla panna cotta (If I messed up the chocolate, I still wanted dessert. I'm impulsive, not insane.). The vanilla was, as usual, perfect. The chocolate was...gritty. My cousin liked it, but I could not let this injustice stand. Not only would I get the chocolate recipe right, but I wanted to layer them in one serving glass.

The first thing I did was choose a new chocolate recipe. I halved this recipe from William-Sonoma. I don't have ramekins (someone says I don't need any). I have these beauties:

Why I have a ton of glassware for alcohol I don't drink is a mystery to me too.

  
They don't hold as much as a ramekin might, but that's okay. If you don't have ramekins do not let that stop you from making panna cotta. If you do, I will make fun of you. Loudly. In front of your mom.

I chose to make the chocolate first because it would be my bottom layer in the glass.

Chocolate Panna Cotta from the Willam-Sonoma website
*Remember, I halved the recipe. My measurements are in red.)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 (3/4) cups heavy cream
• 1 1/4 (5/8) tsp. plain gelatin 
• 1/4 (1/8) cup mascarpone cheese or additional heavy cream  I used additional heavy cream.
• 2 (1) Tbs. sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2 (1) oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped  I chopped up semisweet chocolate chips. A very zen experience. I highly recommend it.

1. Coat four 5-oz. ramekins or 6-oz. custard cups lightly with flavorless oil.  I don't coat my glass in oil as I serve the panna cotta from the glass.

2. Pour 1/4 (1/8) cup of the cream into a small heatproof bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over it and let stand until softened, about 10 minutes. Place the bowl in a larger bowl of hot water and stir until the gelatin has dissolved.

You want it to look like wet wrinkled sand. Wet Wrinkled Sand is also the name of my new emo/folk band so don't steal it.

3. Meanwhile, in a saucepan over medium heat, bring the remaining 1 1/4 (5/8) cups cream, the mascarpone, sugar and salt just to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat, add the chocolate and whisk until smooth.  This is where I went wrong the first time. I didn't whisk enough. Whisk until it the chocolate is completely blended in. Otherwise your panna cotta will be gritty.

4. Add the gelatin mixture to the chocolate mixture and stir until well blended. Pour through a fine strainer into a 4-cup glass measuring cup or a bowl with a pour spout. Divide the mixture evenly among the ramekins and let cool to room temperature. Don't skip the strainer. I put strawberries at the bottom of the glasses, but as the mixture is liquid it didn't quite come out looking how I would have wanted.

Eh...not quite what I was going for. Also, I don't know where I got a Stolichnaya martini glass. Probably the cocoa fairy.

5. Cover the panna cotta loosely and refrigerate until set and thoroughly chilled, at least 3 hours or up to 1 day.

6. To serve, dip the ramekins one at a time into a bowl of hot water for about 5 seconds, then run a table knife around the edges of the custard and invert onto a chilled serving plate.  This wasn't really an issue for me because of how I planned to serve it and because I would be layering some of the glasses.

Here is where common sense should have stepped in and told me to wait at least an hour before I started the next, but I was watching a Korean drama (I love them!) and not paying enough attention to the time.  I only waited about 10-15 minutes before I started on the vanilla panna cotta.  Why is this a problem? You'll see...
 
Panna Cotta - How to Make Panna Cotta  from the Whats Cooking America website
* This is the recipe I always use when making vanilla panna cotta. I also halved this recipe.  My measurements are in red.*

Ingredients

1 envelope unflavored gelatin (approx. 2 (1) teaspoons)
1/2 (1/4) cup milk
2 1/2 (1 1/4) cups heavy cream*
1/2 (1/4) cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean or 2 (1) teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup fresh berries, gently washed, drained, and sweetened to taste**
6 sprigs fresh mint  I omited the mint.


* Half & half, buttermilk, whole milk, and/or sour cream may be substituted for part of the cream.
** Any assortment of fresh, seasonal fruit may be served with panna cotta, but berries are especially nice. To use other ripe, soft fruits, such as cherries, peaches or apricots, just remove the stones and peels as necessary and cut them into thin slices or bite-size pieces.



1. In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over 1/2 (1/4) cup milk; let stand until the gelatin is softened, about 5 minutes.


2. In a large saucepan, combine heavy cream and sugar. Add vanilla extract or vanilla bean. If using a vanilla bean, slice the bean lengthwise and scrape out seeds into cream (add whole bean to cream for additional flavor). Bring cream just to a simmer (do not let it boil), whisking occasionally until sugar has completely dissolved; remove from heat and remove vanilla bean pod. 

TAKE IT OFF THE BURNER! If you don't, you're still cooking it.

3. Add the softened gelatin mixture and whisk to completely dissolve the gelatin.

4. Strain hot cream mixture into a large glass measuring cup with a pouring spout; pour into ramekins or custard cups. NOTE: Don't skip the straining step as it removes any bits of un-dissolved gelatin and insures a nice smooth dessert. Also, don't let the cream mixture cool before straining. If using a vanilla bean, lightly swirl the cream to distribute the seeds evenly. 

5. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.

6. To unmold and serve, carefully dip bottom of each ramekin in a baking pan of hot water briefly. Run a thin knife around edge of each ramekin to loosen it from the inside of the bowl. Wipe the outside of the mold dry and place on individual chilled serving plate (topside down). Invert the custard onto the plate and carefully lift off ramekin (shake gently to release).

Why should I have waited longer? Because the chocolate panna cotta hadn't had enough to time to solidify and I got a bit of a marbled top.

Eh...not quite what I was going for.

Did that change the taste?  A little.  But, it was still good! The chocolate was smooth this time! It was like a more firm, silky chocolate pudding.  The two flavors worked well together.  Let me know in the comments how yours turns out.

Italian Ice

 "Summertime, and the livin' is easy!" According to Porgy and Bess, summertime involves fish, cotton, and rich daddies.  Afterwards, everyone lives happily ever after. I'm pretty sure Porgy becomes a stockbroker and Bess is his desperate housewife, or something like that.
Wow. That got off track really fast.
What I meant to say is that summer is fast approaching!  Around our apartment, summer means Italian ice!  I try to keep one or two flavors of Italian ice in our freezer at all times throughout the season.  It's quick, refreshing, and not too heavy on the calories.
My Italian ice recipe is an adaptation of one I found on Epicurious.com.  I used plums, pluots, and raspberries; but most fruit are adaptable to the recipe.  I think stone fruit and berries make the best ices.  Be creative!
Ingredients
- approximately 2 cups of fruit (I used 1 plum, 2 pluots, and eyeballed the raspberries)
- a heaping 1/4 cup of sugar
- approximately 4 to 5 cups of crushed or small cubes of ice
* You can probably sense that this is a very forgiving recipe.  None of my numbers are set in stone.  Everything can be adapted to suit your tastes.
Tools You'll Need
- 1 glass dish (Mine is an 8x8 Pyrex casserole dish)
- A blender
- (optional) An immersion blender

'Do I... Do I dare to eat a...plum?'

1. Put the glass dish into the freezer for approximately 30 minutes.
2. Put the fruit in the blender and sprinkle the sugar on top.  Shake the sugar so that it gets into the nooks and crannies of the fruit. I use my immersion blender for this part, but I'm sure it's easier to put it directly into the regular blender.

"Pour some sugar on me!" Naughty little raspberries.

3. Purée the fruit and sugar.  Taste the purée.  Add sugar or fruit as you see fit, but remember that the ice will water down the taste slightly.

This looks like I'm preparing for a scene in Carrie.

4. Put the purée into the pitcher blender (if it isn't already there), and top with ice.  Pulse until most of the ice is incorporated into the purée.  Then run the blender until you get a smooth uniform color.  Be patient. This part takes a few minutes, but is worth the wait. You're looking for a smooth finish, no crunchy ice.

5. Pour the mixture into your chilled glass dish. Put the dish in the freezer for about 30 minutes to firm.

6. Bask in the joy of Italian ice.

Why matryoshka? Because Italian ice is now a Russian dessert? 

How to read a recipe

For some people cooking is intimidating.  There is a pressure to get everything "right".  The fear of screwing up the family meal often leads folks to stay inside their food comfort zone: food from a box, only canned food, salad, etc., etc.
Well, in this brave new world of ours there is no reason for that.  The internet is literally rife with recipes.  Recipes for almost anything you could ever want, and many things no one wants.  Recipes can also be overwhelming for the uninitiated, but I am here to help!
A recipe is just a set of instructions.  The first time someone told you how to tie your shoe was probably a little stressful.  They wouldn't give you back your Rainbow Bright velcro sneakers and were forcing you to use a piece of string capped by an aglet.  I mean, how is that even practical?  The little strings are always coming undone and dragging through puddles.  Wet shoestrings suck!
Um...
My point is, some of us got over it.  You learned how to tie your shoe, and can walk around all big and bad without tripping over yourself.  You followed the instructions.

1.  Read the recipe

Pancake recipe by Diana Rattray. I've never used this recipe, but the pancakes look so pretty!

I'm sure that sounds condescending, but there are people that will glance at a recipe and then try to prepare it without reading through to the end.  Those people usually end up frustrated.
Read it through at least 2 or 3 times.  Sometimes the author puts in notes that you may need to heed.  Sometimes you may not have everything on the list and will need to make a substitution.  Reading will tell you how long a recipe will actually take to prepare.  Some parts may take longer than others, and some things need to be done quickly. 
Reading a recipe is similar to reading a map, you need to be prepared for the journey.


2. Define words you don't know
Do you know what "fricassee" means?  No?  Google it.  Actually, you don't have to, I linked to it.  You're welcome!
Your recipe may have terms or even foods that you're unfamiliar with.  Luckily, we have the great and mighty Google...and the sweet little Bing...and Altavista?  If the internet isn't good at anything else it's good at giving you information, and porn.  There is a lot of porn on the internet.  You should always wash your hands when you're finished using the internet.


3. Mise en place

Prepping for chicken tagine. My kitchen is huge by New York standards!

Mise en place will make your cooking life so much easier.  It literally means "putting in place."
Take out your ingredients, measure them out, and make them accessible to you as you cook.  This will also tell you if you're missing any ingredients before you start cooking.  Trying to get things on the fly will distract you and often leads to culinary mistakes.


4. Get rid of distractions

Distracting.

Speaking of distractions, get rid of them.  I'm not saying you must work in silence.  Music, or a tv show that doesn't require much attention, playing in the background are fine.  But, if you are engrossed in an episode of Hannibal (as you should be) or Game of Thrones you aren't paying attention to what is happening on your stove.  Your stove...where there is food that you don't want to burn...and fire.
*In the case where you are making a roux, all bets are off.  Your life, for the few minutes it takes to make it, is the roux.  I don't even take calls from my mother when I'm making a roux.  And, you know what, she understands.  I call her back and explain.  She's proud that she's raised me right.


5. Start!
Don't let the first step overwhelm you.  Don't over think it.  Just start and focus on the task at hand.  Focusing on preparing the food that goes into your body can be an active form of meditation.  Cooking well forces you to be in the moment.  Oooo! Look, a health benefit! 
Also, don't be afraid to mess up.  You're going to burn something.  You're going to use salt instead of sugar.  You're going drop your beautiful cake on the floor.  It will happen.  It doesn't make you a failure, it makes you human.  Accept that as a fact and move on. 

Once you're done cooking your fabulous meal, pat yourself on the back and wash your dishes.  No, seriously.  Wash your dishes.