Guess what’s for dessert? Oh my goodness, my friend Justine brought me the most delicious treat recently. It’s called panna cotta, which is of course Italian, and it comes originally from the Piedmonte area in northern Italy, which makes sense as they have dairies, in addition to vineyards. I don’t know how it’s escaped my radar all this time. And it was sooooo delicious I immediately asked for the recipe and learned how to make it, and lucky you if you didn’t know either. You are about to find out. I know I have myriad readers who will tell me they have traversed Italy many times and have made this for years. Send me your recipes and I will try them as well. But for the uninitiated, pull up a chair. We’re about to make panna cotta! YUM!!!

I have to say this right off the bat. This dessert is so ridiculously easy to make it’s almost sinful as everyone will think you worked really hard to create such a special, luscious, and beautiful treat. Not so! Watch this!

Ready? OK, measure out 1 1/2 cups of plain yogurt and 1 1/2 cups of half and half. Oh. Did I mention this dessert is fattening?? You can only serve this when you have guests, my dears. You can’t get addicted, OK? Promise me. OK, now that we have that out of the way, moving right along. Mix in a single bowl the yogurt and the half and half into which you’ve put one teaspoon of vanilla, and then add two teaspoons of lemon zest. Now let me mention here that I used very high quality organic yogurt. Straus. Can you get Straus all over the US? Probably. But use the highest quality yogurt you can find. I would think in Europe this would be easily obtained. And since we are using the lemon peel, it’s critical that be organic as well. Some of you will have your own trees, though it’s a bit late in the season. And, oh please use only real vanilla. Really, my darlings. You must. You want the best ingredients for the best result.

OK, step two already! (Wasn’t that easy?) Pour 1/4 cup lemon juice in a small bowl.

Pour into the lemon juice one envelope of unflavored gelatin and stir it up. (Jello! Do you believe it??) Now let this stand for five minutes.

OMG, we’re almost done. (I told you!) Now. Put 1/2 cup heavy cream (gasp!) in a small pan and add 1/2 cup sugar and just barely heat it enough that the sugar dissolves into the cream. So easy!

Now the big finale. (Did I mention how E-A-S-Y this is???) Pour the cream and sugar mixture into the lemon juice/gelatin bowl. Stir until you don’t see any lumps. Lumps would be bad. Then pour the lemon/cream/gelatin mixture into the yogurt mixture. And you are basically done. Can you believe it? I barely can. Now this is what I did.

I took out my dear old Grandmother’s pudding bowls (she left five) and filled those. I love how they look and I love that they were hers. Pick your favorites. Traditionally I think recipes say use ramekins. I personally like the idea of pudding bowls, but that’s just me. So be creative–as long as you can get it OUT, as that’s the next step. I’ll tell you how in a minute. Meanwhile, refrigerate the panna cotta overnight. (You could do it in less time in a pinch, say, at least five hours?)

Now this is the beautiful part. You are going to top your panna cotta with berries! Doesn’t that sound delicious? I experimented with blueberries and strawberries. Look at this.

Aren’t they inspiring, those gorgeous berries? So here’s what I did. Once the panna cotta was set (and I waited overnight to be sure) I first ran a knife carefully around the inner edge. Then I filled a bowl with hot hot water and held each pudding dish in the water until the panna cotta could slip onto a dessert plate. It’s less scary than it sounds, as you can just put the dessert plate on top of the bowl and flip it and see if it comes out. It not, dip the dish in the hot water a little longer and try again. You’ll get it. This is the most delicate part, as you can see.

Then I put the blueberries in a little pan with a little water and sugar and heated quickly until they broke down a bit and the liquid thickened just a little. The strawberries I sliced and then sprinkled with a teeny bit of sugar. Then I simply spooned the berries onto the panna cotta, for an incredible result. I find this to be a very elegant dessert worthy of holiday fare.

I hope you and your family thoroughly enjoy your panna cotta, and it becomes a treasured family recipe. Let me know, will you?

Love and kitchen blessings,
Kathryn xoxoox

Posted on August 20th, 2008 by Kathryn
Filed under: People at Life | 16 Comments »

When I decided Sunday to return to the Cleveland Community Garden about which I’d written last spring in conjunction with a book review, what transpired was not what I’d been expecting. In my mind I was arriving bearing gifts–a large plastic bag full of sheaves of arugula branches, each bearing multiple dried pods of delicate seeds. I wasn’t sure what reception I would get to the idea of arugula among a primarily Hispanic group of gardeners, but I was willing to offer them in the spirit of one gardener to another, knowing I was introducing the possibility of a winter of vital and yummy salad greens. I pulled into a tree covered dirt parking area about a half block from the gardens.

I decided to walk first to the home of a woman living close by who I knew had family members involved in the garden. I found her at home with her family. She remembered me, as did her small daughter, Perla, whom I invited to accompany me to the gardens, which she shyly accepted, possibly intrigued when she heard me ask mom for permission to photograph her! This must have been it, in fact, as I stepped across the street to shoot a flowering tree and when I returned mom was braiding Perla’s hair into two long braids. I found this very endearing.

The only folks on site when we entered the garden were a young man and his young wife who had come to work in their garden plots, which I soon learned were spectacular. After offering the couple several branches of the arugula, I indicated my interest in what they were growing.

Enter the surprise! As I walked around and admired their harvests I realized that beyond the tomatoes I clearly really didn’t know what I was looking at! It seemed there was almost nothing in this abundantly green jungle of a garden that would find its corresponding brother or sister in my garden! Closer inspection revealed various chiles, not something I have ever cultivated, and I quickly realized here was a real opportunity for some learning. Fortunately the young couple was happy to oblige and over the next 40 minutes or so, humbly and lovingly took me under their wings and walked me around and educated me on what a Mexican gardener has growing happily in his garden!

Tomatillos

Lupita, the wife, picked a tomatillo for me, and peeled off its husk revealing the small green tomato creature inside, which I noted immediately was slightly sticky. She patiently explained that they cook the tomatillos first in water, then chop and use as the primary ingredient in their green salsa.

Chile guero

Beginning to enjoy the lesson, they took turns pulling back the leaves of various plants to reveal various chiles hiding underneath, then teaching me the name and often the use as well. The chile guero is not that hot they assured me. On the other end of the spectrum is the chile arbol, a small black pointed chile that grew straight up from its branches. Look carefully!

Chile arbol

Next was a chile I knew: chile poblano, which you probably know is used to make chiles rellenos, which I used to make when Antonia was a little girl.

Chile poblano

Turning a corner I mercifully saw something I recognized–some kind of bean! It turned out to be rosa de castillo. Now that was new! Lupita shyly and kindly helped with their display.

Rosa de castillo

At this point Lupita drew me to an adjacent garden, marked with this little hanging flag.

In this section I found foods I was more familiar with and delighted to see! Lupita pulled back some leaves to reveal this tempting watermelon (sandia in Spanish).

Sandia

And close by were these familiar melons.

Melones

Lastly Martin pointed out a raggedy plant at the edge of a bed, looking for all the world like a weed. However, I recognized it as a plant Jack at the Farmer’s Market had just introduced me to–purslane, or, in Spanish, verdolagos. We would do well to learn to include in our diets.

Verdolagos

Being guided about by this lovely young quiet couple I became aware I was now fully engaged in the kind spirit of the Mexican people that I have been blessed to know and appreciate during many years of my life. This young couple, who spoke little English, took time out of their Sunday to help a stranger. They recognized my interest and sincerity and took that into their hearts and responded in kind. They are so representative of the kindhearted Mexican people I have met in my travels, and I felt incredibly blessed to be spending this time with them. As our time to part came upon us, they returned to their car parked nearby and suddenly were gently offering me a bag of vegetables which they had obviously picked just prior to my arrival. I graciously and heartfully accepted, with tears in my eyes. Here’s what Martin and Lupita sent home with me on Sunday afternoon:

A full bowl. A full heart.

Muchissimas gracias por venir. Que te vaya bien.

Besos y abrazos,
Catarina xoxoo

Posted on August 5th, 2008 by Kathryn
Filed under: People at Work | 17 Comments »