Honey Mascarpone Panna Cotta with Pomegranate Syrup
I gazed at the calendar on Tuesday, admiring four whole days’ worth – Tuesday to Friday – of empty boxes. Huzzah! I could work on the three articles I have due at my leisure, plan and shop for the seven-course dinner party I’m cooking for on Saturday night (a silent auction item for Alberta Heart & Stroke) and perhaps even begin to reclaim the basement, which was half gutted on Monday when they came to dismantle the Buick-sized furnace and replace it with a new one, and install new pipes and ducts, which meant not only MOVING EVERYTHING (I don’t know about your basement, but mine is mighty full of crap) including the washer and dryer, and tearing out the top half of the stairs. As home reno projects are wont to do, it created a domino effect that made us wonder if while we’re at it we should paint the floor, tear out that section of fake floor in one corner that looks to be about 80 years old, maybe put in some shelving…
And oh – my other news? Looks like there is going to be a Dinner with Julie book! Maybe. Provided, that is, I can get a manuscript together by the end of December. A massive one. So in a month and a half. No pressure. This week I could get going on that, too.
Which brings me back to the calendar. So I was yawning and stretching in my mind, plotting mornings spent at coffee shops on my laptop and cathartic afternoons purging/cleaning/painting the basement, when the phone rang – could I do traffic on the Homestretch all this week? But of course.
Which is great fun, of course. I don’t mind at all, and in fact it’s great timing, fitting right in to my empty(ish) week like well-played Tetris. But I won’t be catching up on anything anytime soon.
I figured this was as good a week as any to play “what’s in the freezer?” – a sort of game of Russian roulette where I pull something out isn’t labeled and is taking up too much space, and we eat it. Sometimes it works out and we eat well – other times I have to figure out what to do with a baggie full of thawed tuna. It’s kind of fun, actually.
Tonight it was thawed lentil-barley-sausage soup that Mike might have eaten, but W surely didn’t. I came home late and finished half his cold grilled cheese, then rifled through the fridge and found some mascarpone (easy to find, I picked mine up at Co-op) which I ate with a spoon. It reminded me of the reason I bought it to begin with, to write about for Swerve and make mascarpone panna cotta. I know, it’s a stretch – but will you take it? It’s all I’ve got. The pomegranate syrup makes a tart contrast to the creamy panna cotta. It’s good drizzled into fizzy drinks, too.
Honey Mascarpone Panna Cotta with (or without) Pomegranate Syrup
Serving panna cotta in individual ramekins, small dishes or glasses makes it easy – there’s no pressure to unmould them cleanly. Martini glasses work well for large parties – they’re easy to hold and eat standing up.
1 pkg. plain gelatin (or 1 tablespoon if you buy it in bulk)
1 L half & half or 18% coffee cream
1/2 cup mascarpone
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract (optional)Pomegranate Syrup (optional):
2 cups pomegranate juice (POM comes in 473 mL bottles-perfect)
1/2 cup sugar
a few strips of orange zest (optional)Pour the cream into a medium pot and sprinkle with gelatin. Let it sit for a few minutes to let the gelatin soften. Set the pot over medium heat and stir, warming the cream but not letting it boil, until the gelatin is completely dissolved.
Add the mascarpone (I just eyeball it, adding a large spoonful) and honey and cook, stirring, until the mascarpone is melted and the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
Pour the mixture into individual wine glasses, small dishes or ramekins. (If you want to unmould them onto a plate to serve them, spray the dishes with nonstick spray first.) Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until set. (These can be made up to a few days in advance; cover each dish with plastic wrap to avoid having them dry out on top.)
To make the pomegranate syrup, simmer the pomegranate juice, sugar and orange peel in a small pot set over medium heat until it reduces by half. Remove the peel and cool completely – it should have the consistency of syrup. (This too can be made up to a week in advance and refrigerated.)
Serve your panna cotta in the ramekins or unmoulded onto a small plate, drizzled with pomegranate syrup. Serves 6-8.
November 18 2009 | dessert | 24 Comments »
