Kristen Rasmussen 7/2/21 Kristen Rasmussen 7/2/21

Yogurt Panna Cotta with Saffron & Pistachio

For those of you who have not made panna cotta, you might be intimidated by the idea. I was. After all, the results are impressive and seemingly skill-requiring - Italian grandmother slaving away all day skill-requiring. On top of that, panna cotta uses gelatin, something that isn't found in most present-day pantries and comes animal by-product. Yes, traditional panna cotta is not vegetarian.

What if I were to tell you that panna cotta is incredibly easy to make and not only that, it's also very forgiving? By forgiving, I mean that you can adjust the milk to cream ratio, incorporate yogurt or buttermilk, or even play around with dairy-free milks or vegan gelatin and still create a luscious and beautifully wobbly gel. The other great thing about panna cotta is that it's the perfect canvas for a variety of flavor combinations from saffron pistachio to berry compote and nutmeg to dusted dark chocolate or bay nuts.

There's nothing wrong with serving panna cotta in its container with a spoon, but it doesn't require much more work to remove the gel from it's container and put it on a plate and doing this elevates the dessert to very classy level. Recipe below is adapted from a Smitten Kitchen recipe and makes 4 individual servings.

Grapeseed oil, to crease ramekins or other containers used to hold panna cotta
A few saffron threads per panna cotta
1-1/2 teaspoons (or 4 grams) unflavored gelatin
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 vanilla bean
1/4 cup toasted pistachios, chopped
Honey, to drizzle

Lightly grease containers for panna cotta with grapeseed oil and add a few saffron threads to each container. Ramekins or small cups or bowls work well. Taller/more narrow containers such as jars also work, but make it harder to remove the panna cotta once it has cooled.

Place 2 tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Stir in gelatin and allow to soften, about 10-15 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together yogurt with 1/4 cup cream and 1/4 cup milk. Add remaining cream and milk to a saucepan, stir in granulated sugar, and bring to a simmer. Stir in gelatin mixture to dissolve, remove from heat, then whisk into dairy mixture. Scrape the inside of the vanilla bean into mixture along with lemon juice and whisk. Pour into cups, stir once with a fork or chopstick to mix around saffron, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. This can be done the night before.

To unmold the cups, fill a saucepan with about 3/4-inch of water and bring to a simmer. Turn off heat and a dip panna cotta cup into the water for 5 seconds, then invert it onto a flat plate. Repeat with remaining cups.

Right before serving, drizzle with honey and top with 1 tablespoon of chopped toasted pistachio. See below for inspiration for other panna cotta variations.

Panna cotta variation with blueberry compote and thyme.

Panna cotta variation with dusted foraged bay nuts and olive oil.

Kristen Rasmussen 1/10/20 Kristen Rasmussen 1/10/20

Olive oil cornmeal cake with blood orange and honey

A bit more olive oil can also be drizzled over the top - definitely won't hurt!

We recently returned from our honeymoon in Peru, where we picked up some palta (avocado) honey at the peak of summer to the other side of the equator where it is currently a different kind of seasonal peak - the height of the winter doldrums. Fortunately, grey winter days are not without their culinary delights, one of them being amazing citrus. Given our recent honey purchase, the cold weather begging me to "get my baking on", and beautiful blood oranges that fold so lovely into an olive oil cake, this combination was calling my name. The palta honey has very unique dark, earthy quality to it, but any honey that you enjoy will do for drizzling.

The recipe is adapted from a Smitten Kitchen recipe in a few ways including to incorporate cornmeal and deconstruct the compote - blood orange slices are so gorgeous it's a shame to chop them up for this application and we wanted the honey to shine on it's own. Makes one 9x5-inch loaf pan or four, 5x2.5-inch loaf pans. I happen to have four of these small loaf pans and am always looking for excuses to use them because they are pretty darn cute and more surface area = more crispy bits = delicious.

Butter for greasing pan
5 blood oranges
1 cup (200 grams or 7 ounces) sugar
About 1/2 cup (118 ml) plain yogurt
3 large eggs
2/3 cup (156 ml) extra virgin olive oil
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons cup medium grind cornmeal
1-1/2 teaspoons (8 grams) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Honey, for drizzling
Crème fraîche for serving (optional, but perfect - just do it)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x5-inch loaf pan or four 5x2.5-inch loaf pans. Grate zest from 2 oranges and place in a bowl with sugar. Using your fingers, rub ingredients together until orange zest is evenly distributed in sugar.

Supreme an orange - aka "segment citrus like a boss" (I created that instructional post and just found out through this recipe that this technique is called "supreming"!). Break up segments with your fingers into about 1/4-inch sized chunks.

Halve 2 oranges and squeeze juice into a measuring cup; you’ll will have about 1/4 cup. Add buttermilk or yogurt to juice until you have 2/3 cup liquid altogether. Pour mixture into bowl with sugar and whisk well. Whisk in eggs and olive oil.

In another bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gently stir dry ingredients into wet ones. Fold in pieces of orange segments. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake cake for 50 to 55 minutes (9x5-inch loaf pan) or 25-30 minutes (5x2.5-inch loaf pans), or until it is golden and a knife inserted into center comes out clean. Cool in loaf pan(s). While cake is cooling, supreme 2 more oranges and keep refrigerated until served.