Goat Cheese Panna Cotta

Panna Cotta comes from Italy and means ‘cooked cream.’ It’s basic custard that can be sweet or savory.  In Italian restaurants, panna cotta is usually served as sweet custard with a fruit compote. 

To mix the plane-Jane dessert up, we decided to incorporate goat cheese into the panna cotta - which made the primary components of this Panna Cotta include the following:

• Creme
• Gelatin
• Sugar
• Goat Cheese 

I am a goat cheese lover, so this dessert was right up my alley. It's perfect for a customer looking for something outside of the typical dessert box. Given the popularity of goat cheese, I'd imagine it would sell well too. I could see a restaurant like Chicago's Girl and the Goat selling this plated dessert on their
menu. This plated dessert consists of the following components:

• Goat Cheese Panna Cotta
• Port wine reduction
• Vanilla green apples
• nutmeg tuiles
• Thyme gelee

I loved that we included the thyme gelee. The flavor compliments the goat cheese well. The nested tuile adds height and sophistication and the port wine pulls it all together. This is a beautiful plated dessert.

Production
Goat Cheese Panna Cotta
Ingredients: 1 3/8 oz milk; 10 7/8 oz of goat cheese; 2 1/2 oz sugar; 3/8 oz gelatin

Process: Heat 1/3 of the geletin and of the milk with the goat cheese and sugar over low heat until melted. Remove from the heat. Whisk the gelatin into the hot mixture along with the remaining milk. Immediately transfer to an ice bath. Once the mixture is cooled (but not setting) pour into ramekins and refrigerate overnight.

Vanilla Granny Smith Apples
Ingredients: 2 lbs simple syrup; 1oz vanilla extract; 2 granny smith applies sliced very thin with a mandolin.

Process: Heat the syrup and vanilla to a simmer. Poach the apples and let cool. Store in the syrup overnight until use.

Nutmeg Tuile Nest
Ingredients: 8 3/8 oz of butter; 8 3/8oz powdered sugar; 8 7/8 oz of egg whites; 6 3/9 oz of pastry flour; 1/8 of ground nutmeg; 1/4 oz of coffee extract

Process: Sift the sugar, the add it to the cream and softened butter mix well to incorporate. Fold in the egg whites, then fold in the the pastry flour and nutmeg, then the coffee extract. The batter should be the consistency of a smooth paste. Let cool in the refrigerator at least an hour. Pipe onto a silpat and smooth whit a small offset spatula. Use an icing scraper (with indents) create ribbed lines in the batter. Bake at 325 until golden brown.

When fully cooked, remove from the oven and shape. For nesting, grab several links of dough and pull together. You only have a few min before the tuile hardens. You must work with it very hot. Using a bowl or other shape can helpful with molding the tuile.

Thyme Gelee
Ingredients: 1/4 oz parsley; 1 7/8 oz of water; 3/4 oz of fresh thyme; 11 5/8 oz of water; 1 1/8 oz of sugar; 3/8 oz of gelatin.

Process: Blanch the parsley in the first boiling water for about five seconds. Note: the purpose of the parsley is to add color. Drain and submerse into ice water, the process in a blender until smooth. Strain through a coffee filter to remove any excess parsley. Bring the thyme and second water to a boil. Remove from heat and cover to allow for infusion. Strain the liquid and let cool to room temp. Bloom the gelatin and then melt it in the microwave with a small amount of the thyme infusion. Stir the mixture back into the infusion then add the parsley water. Pour into a shallow pan and refrigerate until the gelee is fully set.

Port Wine Reduction
Reduce 10 oz of port wine over low heat. Let cool and set aside until use.

Plating
For this plated dessert, I used a small yellow plate. I didn't want to use a white plate because the panna cotta is white. Given it's the primary component, it needs to stand out. I removed the panna cotta from the ramekin and placed it on the plate, slightly off centered. I then wrapped the green  apples around the base of the panna cotta, but left a few holes so that the primary component was still peeking through. I topped the panna cotta with a tuile nest then added to schemers of port wine reduction. I finished my dessert by adding the thyme gelee.