Panna Cotta with Raspberry Coulis

After being given some anodised silver pudding basins for Christmas last year I have been looking for something to try these out. I’d already used them with the Chocolate Fondants and they were very successful then, but a fondant in this hot weather wasn’t what I was craving. Panna Cotta on the other hand is a desert quintessential to the warmer summer months, served garnished with fresh fruit, refreshing coulis and finished with a sprig of fresh mint. This creation debuted for Alev’s birthday dinner, and again is completely gulten free. This version is served with a raspberry coulis, but there are many different variations that this can be served with. I’ve even seen it served with a chocolate sauce for those of you who are looking for some serious indulgence!

Ingredients:

(For the Panna Cotta)

3 gelatine leaves

250 ml milk

250 ml double cream

1 vanilla pod (split lengthways)

25 g caster sugar.

(For the coulis)

175 g caster sugar

175 ml water

200 g of raspberries (plus extra for decoration)

Method:

Soak the gelatine leaves in water until soft. They will get considerably larger, and try to resist the urge to touch them!

Pour the milk and cream into a saucepan and add the sugar and vanilla pod (complete with seeds) and heat on a low heat until gently simmering. Remove from the heat as soon as this happens.

Drain the water off the gelatine leaves, and add to the milk mixture stirring until dissolved. Pour the mixture into the pudding basins (this will make enough to fill 4 of approximately 150ml each. Leave these to cool thoroughly before chilling. When I made these, I made them the day before and left to chill in the fridge overnight but they do set within a couple of hours if time is a premium.

For the sauce, place the sugar and water in a pan and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add the majority of the raspberries and blitz with a hand blender until smooth.

Press the blitzed raspberry mixture through a sieve to remove the unwanted seeds. Allow this to chill before serving.

Turn out the panna cotta when you are ready to serve and spoon the coulis around the base. Garnish with a fresh raspberry and a sprig of mint.

Country Boy says:

When turning these out, they can sometimes be a bit unwilling to leave the pudding basin so either plunge them into a shallow dish of hot water first, or quickly run a blow torch around the basin once upturned.

Variations:

The coulis can be made with any sort of summer berry (or a mixture if you wanted to be really adventurous!) Why not try it with blackberries in the autumn and when it comes to blitzing, throw in a few sprigs of mint to create a cool buzz, or use strawberries with a squeeze of fresh lime to add some zing. Let me know what you try. 

Cool Summer Chilli

This is a recipe I originally found on the Jamie Oliver website and have made a couple of times since then. It’s a great alternative to the standard chilli and, whilst it still has the spice and some chilli powder in it, it’s perfect for the warmer summer evenings with generous sprinkle of cheddar cheese or a splodge of cooling sour cream. I recently made this for my friend Jess who, with her partner Scott, is one of the most regular visitors to the City Kitchen. Jess isn't a huge fan of beans in food, but this recipe even managed to win her over. It's a sure fire winner and definite crowd pleaser!

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

Splash of Olive Oil (Extra virgin ideally)

½ an onion, chopped finely

1 red and 1 green pepper, chopped into small pieces

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1/4 teaspoon of chilli powder (more if you prefer)

1 tin of red kidney beans

Salt and pepper to season and a quick shake of dried basil.

For the crispy shells:

Tortilla wraps

Toppings:

Cheddar cheese

Sour cream

Method:

Heat the oil in a frying pan (I use a wok, but any large frying pan will do) and add the onion. When added the onion should sizzle in the hot oil. Stir immediately until the onion softens but doesn't brown.

Add the chopped red and green peppers and continue to stir for about 5 minutes, until softened.

Once the ingredients have softened, add the chopped tomatoes and stir. Sometimes I add a dash of water at this stage if I am going to leave it to simmer for a while. Add the kidney beans and the chilli powder and leave to simmer for 15-20 minutes, seasoning if necessary and adding the dried basil.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180 degrees (or 150 if you’re using fan assisted). Tear off 4 strips of tin foil (about 2 ft each one) and scrunch into a ball of about 4 inches diameter. Wrap the tortilla loosely around these until each forms a simple ball, and bake in the oven for 10 minutes until crisp. After 10 minutes has passed, remove from the oven and extract the tin foil from the centre.

Spoon the hot chilli into the prepared tortilla shells and serve with a generous sprinkle of cheddar cheese or a healthy dollop of sour cream. I usually serve this with a fresh rocket salad as this really compliments the sweet chilli flavour.

Variations:

If you like your chilli hot, after you have softened the onion, add ½ a teaspoon of chilli powder, ½ a teaspoon of cumin powder and then follow the same procedure as above. A good slug of red wine will add to the richness of the flavours too. (I usually make this version in the winter and serve over home-made potato wedges).

I am also a fan of adding some Quorn mince to this recipe after adding the chopped tomatoes and the kidney beans. This will mean you need to add about ¼ of a can of water to the mixture as the Quorn always seems to soak up loads of the tomato juice.