{"id":151936,"date":"2014-04-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gracious-khorana.45-76-20-142.plesk.page\/chamomile-panna-cotta-with-lemon-poppy-olive-oil-shortbread-big-news-a-saveur-best-food-blog-nomination\/"},"modified":"2023-06-26T17:11:57","modified_gmt":"2023-06-26T17:11:57","slug":"chamomile-panna-cotta-with-lemon-poppy-olive-oil-shortbread-big-news-a-saveur-best-food-blog-nomination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/localmilkblog.com\/2014\/04\/chamomile-panna-cotta-with-lemon-poppy-olive-oil-shortbread-big-news-a-saveur-best-food-blog-nomination.html","title":{"rendered":"Chamomile Panna Cotta with Lemon Poppy Olive Oil Shortbread + Big News\u2026A Saveur Nomination!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

\"chamomile<\/a><\/p>\n

\"foraged<\/a><\/p>\n

\"local<\/a>I spent this weekend visiting with house guests, baking bread (a buttermilk honey recipe to be shared this coming week\u2026I\u2019m obsessed with it, and I warrant you will be too), combing the flea market (hello 66 piece set of mid-century flatware for under $100!), and doing the nesting I love so well (which generally involves the moving of a plant ever so to the left, to the right, and squinting one eye.) And then yesterday I received all kinds of good news, both so good I could hardly believe it. Local Milk<\/em> was nominated for a Saveur Best Food Blog Award<\/a> in the photography category! Voting is open until April 9th, and you can vote for me here<\/a>. Thank you all for your support! On top of that I learned that I\u2019m going to an aunt to a baby girl! So in celebration of all these things and the spring, the sprang, and the sprung I\u2019ve got a recipe for my ideal vernal dessert: a chamomile panna cotta garnished with lemon & poppy olive oil shortbread crumbs as well as photos of the parade of foraged florals that have been my constant companion since they started blooming.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"chamomile<\/a><\/p>\n

\"chamomile<\/a><\/p>\n

\"foraged<\/a><\/p>\n

Spring is being coy. I never did have an appetite for coy; I like my seasons as I like everything, all out on the table. I don\u2019t have time for a tease. But the trees keep budding despite the obstinate chill, and the shears I carry around in my purse have been getting plenty of action. A spray of forsythia here, a shivering cherry tree there. My porch is no longer barren; instead herbs have taken up residence in my motley crew of pots, and everything has been swept finally clean. My birkenstocks have already made one appearance, and today it\u2019s truly warm. Warm by my reptilian standards; I have cold blood it would seem. Animation is creeping in, and it\u2019s contagious. The produce! I look forward to weeks of berries, nettles, and garlic scapes\u2014some of my favorite spoils of spring.<\/p>\n

\"lemon,<\/a><\/p>\n

\"making<\/a><\/p>\n

\"lacanche<\/a><\/p>\n

As a lot of you know, we just completed a kitchen renovation. Here are a few little peeks, the final reveal will come, but I\u2019m a little bent on getting everything *just so*. \u00a0The wildly talented team Tara & Percy of the Jersey Ice Cream Co<\/a>. made my dream kitchen a reality, and I don\u2019t think I have the words for how grateful I am for their hard work & vision. Aesthetically, we had perfect synergy. And that\u2019s a helluva unicorn for me to find. As for the range\u2014that range. It feels like a dream to have a freakishly amazing\u00a0Lacanche<\/a>\u00a0in my humble little Tennessee kitchen. I\u2019m intimidated by it. I\u2019m in love with it. I now swear by the gas oven. And it will be the cornerstone of my work for countless years to come. It will, no doubt, be making many a cameo on this space. My life revolves around this one room, even when I\u2019m on the road or shooting at another location, this is where I center.<\/p>\n

\"foraged<\/a><\/p>\n

\"chamomile<\/a><\/p>\n

\"foraged<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Y75A9820.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I cooked my very first dinner in the new space this past weekend; I was finally home. I\u2019ll be posting the full party in a couple of days, but let\u2019s have dessert first. This panna cotta, inspired by my nightly cups of herbal tea\u2014potent sleep elixers full of hops, chamomile, mugwort, and damiana, is perfectly subtle. I didn\u2019t want much to compete with the chamomile flavor-wise, so I opted for a vanilla bean and nothing more. Vanilla has a way of turning up flavors; it enhances without overpowering. I knew I wanted to make an olive oil shortbread with a citrus component, and I ended up adapting this recipe by Cookie + Kate<\/a>. It turned out to be perfect for this application here, a crescent of crumbs that mingle with the cream like a crust. I also served bars of it alongside the panna cotta, because: moar cookies. The salt in the shortbread really rounds the whole thing out, as do a few tiny mint leaves. Suffice to say, I think I\u2019ll be making a lot more panna cotta. It\u2019s painfully easy, but the result is something altogether luxurious and sublime\u2014silky and light. I use the recipe from the New York Times as my base; I think the ratio of cream to gelatin in it is perfect. Other ratios I\u2019ve tried have resulted in a panna cotta that\u2019s too firm for my taste. I like it to be set but very creamy, as it should be. You can substitute half and half for half the cream in the recipe. But why? Okay, I get why. But the flavor and texture of pure cream is, in this cook\u2019s opinion, untouchable. And a tip on unmolding: set the dish in a bowl of very hot water for about 30 seconds to a minute and then proceed to gently invert onto a plate. Or just eat them straight out of the dish!<\/p>\n

\"foraged<\/a><\/p>\n

\"chamomile<\/a><\/p>\n

\"foraged<\/a><\/p>\n

\"chamomile<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

\"foraged<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

<\/div>
\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\t
\n
\n

Table of Contents<\/p>\nToggle<\/span><\/path><\/svg><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n