Inspired by a new flavor and technique…
pandan panna cotta
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup finely chopped pandan leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
1 Tablespoon sugar
In a small saucepan, stir together the cream, half and half, and pandan. Bring to a simmer, then remove from heat. Cover tightly, then set aside to steep until cool. When cool, strain through a sieve and return infusion back into the saucepan. Sprinkle the gelatin over the surface and allow to soften for 5 minutes. Whisk in the gelatin, followed by the sugar and place over medium high heat, whisking until mixture is very hot and sugar and gelatin have dissolved. Pour into four 1/3 cup molds and chill until set, 2-4 hours.
date lime molasses
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup diced dates
1/4 cup lime juice
2 Tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon butter
Put water and dates into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cover saucepan and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes or until dates are very soft. Puree mixture in a food processor and press through a fine sieve or tamis. Return to saucepan and stir in remaining ingredients. Cook over low heat until mixture reduces and thickens to the consistency of molasses. Let cool.
sugar crusted banana
3 lbs (7 cups) granulated sugar
3 egg whites
4 ripe, peeled bananas
Mix the egg whites into the sugar until well blended. On a baking sheet, form sugar mixture into 4 separate bases, each about 2’" wider and longer than banana, and about 1/2" thick. Place a banana on top of each base and cover with additional sugar mixture to completely enclose. Press firmly to compact sugar, paying close attention to the seam along the base. Bake in a preheated 275 F oven for 1 hour. Remove from oven and set aside to for 15 minutes before opening crust.
to finish
coconut powder (dried coconut cream) found in asian markets or online.
coquitos (baby coconuts) found in hispanic markets or online
Unmold panna cottas by wrapping a hot, wet towel around molds until they release.
Break open the sugar crust by driving the tip of a knife along the edges until it breaks away and banana can be dislodged.
Screen molasses onto plates. Place a chilled panna cotta, sliced warm banana, coconut powder and coquito on each plate.
Serves 4
Playing with Fire and Water 
This is incredibly beautiful! The combination of dates, lime, molasses and coconut seems sublime. my mouth is watering 🙂
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What interesting plating!! Nice job.
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The plating looks wonderful! I’m not familiar with the flavour of pandan, but the combination of coconut, banana, lime and dates is a killer one and works every time! I’d love serving something like this for a very fance get-together. Although this means coconut panna cotta for me;)
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What a strange plating. It looks good, just seems arbitrarily unusual. Like different for different’s sake.
Still, good looking food.
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This looks yummy!
But…(please, please don’t take this as an attack)…how do you deal with the wastage?
I don’t think I could bring myself to throw away that much edible food, so I was wondering what you would choose to do with it.
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Hawthorne,
please elaborate…I’m not sure that I understand what you see is being wasted
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Sorry – I wasn’t too clear, was I?
It’s the 3 lbs of sugar that’s baked into the crust.
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that’s a good point…when you cook professionaly, you sometimes take for granted the repurposing of ingedients, which is more common than you may think. Consider a marinade, or the salt used in brining, or the oil in a deep fryer, or the bones, meat and vegetables that go into the making of a stock. Even in the most frugal kitchens, they are not viewed as waste as they are integral to the end product.
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It looks and sounds delicious. I’m definitely going to try out the sugarcrust roasted banana some time.
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It looks and sounds delicious. I’m definitely going to try out the sugarcrust roasted banana some time.
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what is a cup half and half?
is it some kind of milk product?
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Its Single Cream to us brits.
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