Sundays in the Kitchen #3

I really need to try harder at keeping this up. This post is for Feb 19.


The last Sunday, I planned a huge Spanish meal for the family. I was all prepared only to find out that the parents had other dinner plans. So, this is postponed for another Sunday. And the coming Sunday is a Brownie Points sale at Soul Sante. There'll be lots of baking in the kitchen, but wont be posting anything here. 


Panna Cotta


I ate this heavenly dessert about 10 years ago in the Piazza Navona. One of the few times where I didn't regret not ordering something chocolate. It was so grand that I ordered a second one.


The only other place which came close to matching that one was a restaurant called Giancarlos (where Fireflies is now). Perfect panna cotta and perfect berry coulis too.


I tried making it once before. I made a grand passion fruit coulis, but the gelatin was really rubbish and it didn't set properly, so we had to eat it like pudding. Still tasted good though.


Thanks to my lovely Aunt, I acquired some great gelatin leaves, and quite proud to say that it worked perfectly!


Thank you James Martin for the super rich and super easy recipe with a stunning photograph next to it for motivation.

So, here goes. Put 4 leaves of gelatin into milk and keep aside. In a pan, put in the zest of 2 oranges with 150g of sugar and about 800 ml of cream (yes, I know- It's a lot, but then how else would it taste so good!?) and 200 ml of milk. Also scrape out 2 vanilla pods and add to the pan. 


Note: Good quality vanilla pods are not always easy to find. Plus they aren't cheap. I got medium quality vanilla from Coorg for really really cheap. I got a whole bag full.

Ok, let then cream boil. and then lower heat to let it further cook. Heat the milk with gelatin till it dissolves, and then add to the cream mixture. Pass everything through a sieve and then let it cool.


Once cooled, whip up 200 ml of cream and carefully fold into the other mixture. Pour into ramekins or moulds and then keep in the fridge for a couple hours until set.

While that is in the fridge, make the coulis. The recipe is of a nice berry coulis- raspberries, blueberries, etc. But since you don't find those here, I used gooseberries (I don't mean the amla/nalika kind. They are called cape gooseberries or physallis)
Wash and half the berries. Put in a pan with 1 cup of sugar, a tsp of balsamic vinegar, and 1 tbsp of cornstarch. Bring to a boil and leave to thicken on a low flame.

Note: Don't add water. Plenty water comes out from the berries when they cook.


Once the panna cotta is set (It takes a while- I delayed the process by opening the fridge every ten minutes to check on them!), place in a bowl of warm water for about ten seconds and then overturn them onto a plate. Serve with the coulis. 

Happiness :)