Strawberry-Coconut Panna Cotta

After this year’s seemingly never ending winter, it’s a joy to see the arrival of spring and the arrival of fresh vegetables like asparagus, baby artichokes, and new beets.  Early fruits include rhubarb and strawberries, and I can’t wait to start to use them in my meals.

One of the first things I made was this sweet, creamy strawberry-coconut panna cotta.   The strawberries are served up in two ways–sliced and sweetened as a topping, and cooked into the ruby-red gelatin. I showcased it’s pretty layers by serving it in wine glasses.

This dessert gets it’s coconut flavor thru coconut milk, and the recipe calls for both regular coconut milk and light coconut milk.  If you prefer to use all light coconut milk you certainly can, but it’s amazing how much flavor and creamy consistency you get from mixing in a little full-fat coconut milk.  I already had some cream of coconut open in my refrigerator, so I used that, and thinned it with skim milk.  This allowed me to keep the fat content low, but still get the coconut flavor.  The cream of coconut is sweet, so I used only 1 Tablespoon of sugar in the panna cotta.

LAYERED STRAWBERRY-COCONUT PANNA COTTA

Yield:   Serves 4

Ingredients:

Strawberry Gelatin:

• 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
• 1 tablespoon water
• 3/4 cup sliced strawberries
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
•  1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 cup water

Panna Cotta:

• 3/4 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/2 cup coconut milk**
• 1/4 cup light coconut milk **
• 2  1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar  ( I used only 1 Tablespoon sugar, here.)
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
•  ** If using cream of coconut, make a 50-50 mixture of cream of coconut and fat-free milk for a total of 3/4 cup of liquid.

Strawberries:

• 2 cups sliced strawberries
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, or 1/4 teaspoon dried
• 1  teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Directions:

1.  To make the strawberry gelatin:  Sprinkle 1 teaspoon gelatin over 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl.  Combine the strawberries, the sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan;  let stand for 5 minutes.  Mash mixture with a fork or a potato masher.  Place pan over medium-high heat.  Bring to a simmer;  cook 2 minutes or until sugar dissolves.  Add the water; return to a simmer.  Remove from the heat.  Add gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin dissolves.  Strain mixture through a fine sieve into a measuring cup, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible.  Discard solids.  Divide strawberry mixture evenly among 4 wineglasses.  Chill 1 hour or until set.

2.  To make the panna cotta:  Sprinkle 3/4 tsp. gelatin over the 1 tbsp. water in a small bowl.  Combine coconut milks, sugar, and 1 tsp. lemon juice in a saucepan; bring to a simmer.  Remove from heat.  Add gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin dissolves.  Cool to room temperature.  Carefully pour one-fourth of this mixture on top of each strawberry gelatin.  Chill 1 hour or until set.

3.  To prepare strawberries:  Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl;  toss gently.  Let stand  5  minutes.  Divide strawberry mixture evenly among the glasses.

SOURCE:   Cooking Light Magazine