Special Edition 5-Marea's Perfect Panna Cotta

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In this special edition of The Dairy Show we visit visit Marea restaurant in midtown Manhattan.  There Heather Bertinetti, the executive pastry chef at this New York Times Three Star Restaurant, shows us how she uses local unhomogenized heavy cream from Battenkill Valley Creamery to make her perfect Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta. 

We filmed this episode during the summer when heather was pairing her vanilla panna cotta with a lemon verbena sauce, blueberry compote, streusel topping, and blueberry sorbet.  In the winter months, heather likes to make a meyer lemon panna cotta with a huckleberry compote.  You can find both recipes below.

Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta

7 1/2 C-Cream (Battenkill)
1C- Sugar
4ea. Vanilla beans
Pinch of Salt
1T- Knox powdered Gelatin
2T Water

Bloom gelatin in about 2T of water.  Bring cream, sugar, vanilla, and salt to a boil.  Remove the cream mixture from the heat, add the bloomed gelatin to the cream mixture, and stir well to dissolve all of the gelatin.  Strain the cream mixture and cool.  When you are able to handle the cream mixture add it too molds of your choice.  Refrigerate overnight.  Panna cotta can be unmolded or served in mold.  Serve with lemon verbena sauce and blueberry compote.

Lemon Verbena Sauce

1/4C Water
1/4C Sugar
1 Bunch Lemon Verbena

First make a simple syrup by bringing the water and sugar to a boil.  When the syrup boils shut off heat and allow to cool.  Blanch the lemon verbena leaves in boiling water for a few seconds and then shock in ice cold water, to preserve color.  Put lemon verbena leave in a blender and add the simple syrup to make an emulsion.  Strain and serve. 

Blueberry Compote

4C Fresh Blueberries
1 1/2C Sugar
1/2C Fresh lemon juice

Cook the blueberries, sugar, and lemon juice together in a saucepan.  When the blueberries begin to pop remove the compote from the heat.  Cool and serve.

Winter Version

Meyer Lemon Panna Cotta

1725g (7 1/2C) Cream
400g (1 2/3C) Sugar
pinch of Salt
Zest of 4 Meyer lemons
9 Sheets of Gelatin (1.5 T powdered Gelatin)
2 C Meyer lemon juice

Bloom gelatin in water.  Bring cream, sugar, lemon zest, and salt to a boil.  Remove the cream mixture from the heat, add the bloomed gelatin to the cream mixture, and stir well to dissolve all of the gelatin.  Strain the cream mixture and cool.  Then add the lemon juice.  Next put the mixture into the molds of your choice.  Refrigerate overnight.  Panna cotta can be unmolded or served in mold.  Serve with huckleberry compote.

Huckleberry Compote

4C Huckleberries
1 1/2C Sugar
1/2C Fresh lemon juice

Cook the huckleberries, sugar, and lemon juice together in a saucepan.  When the huckleberries begin to pop remove the compote from the heat.  Cool and serve.