Quenelle

I have been debating whether or not to post my recipes along with my posts. I don’t feel like I have the type of readers who demand recipes, but at the same time, posting them might bring me more readers. I do not use recipes from the internet or books verbatim. I usually decide what I want to make, for example, panna cotta. Then, I do some research and find a few different recipes. Then, I’ll make a few of them as written. After tasting, I decide what my original goal was and how these recipes compare. I wanted a creamy, not-so-rich panna cotta, and most recipes produce a super rich, dense custard. So dense, in fact, that it is traditionally unmolded onto the plate. So, I tweak the recipes or change them altogether, and make a bunch of trials until I like the finished result.

Panna Cotta
from The Silver Spoon (The bible of authentic Italian cooking, highly recommended)
yield=6

2 gelatin leaves
scant 0.5 c milk
2.25 c heavy cream
1/2 c superfine sugar
1 vanilla bean, split

Fill a small bowl with water, add the gelatin and let soak. Pour the milk into a pan and bring it to just below simmering point, then remove the pan from the heat. Do not let it boil. Drain and squeeze out the gelatin and add it to the milk. Pour the cream into another pan, add the sugar and vanilla bean, and bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Immediately remove the pan from the heat, remove the vanilla bean and stir in the milk mixture. Rinse out a rectangular cake pan with ice cold water, shaking out any excess, and fill with the mixture. Chill in the refrigerator for several hours until set. Turn out onto a serving dish and serve by itself or with hazelnut sauce.

Ok, fine. It makes a great vanilla custard, but it has more of a stiff (as in overbaked) creme caramel texture than the smooth milky custard I wanted. Also, I wanted to do a milk chocolate version. So here is my recipe.

Milk Chocolate Panna Cotta
yield=9 4oz portions

6 sheets gelatin
3 c heavy cream
1/3 c mascarpone cheese
1/3 c sugar
pinch of salt
5 oz milk chocolate pastilles

Bloom the gelatin sheets in cold water until soft. Heat the cream, sugar and salt to a simmer, stirring constantly. Add the mascarpone cheese and whisk until smooth. Allow to boil, then pour over the milk chocolate. Do not stir. In the same pot, melt the gelatin, then add to the chocolate and cream mixture. Allow to rest for at least 2 minutes, then whisk to melt the chocolate. Continue whisking until smooth and all chocolate is melted. Strain through a chinois, then portion into ramekins. Let rest for 15 minutes, until set around the edges, then chill for at least 3 hours.

If you end up using my recipe, please let me know how it turns out! Enjoy.