In the Sunday Times

Thanks to the wonderful interest and sensitivity of Smriti Daniel, I had the pleasure of one of the coolest interviews I've ever given; what's more the article in the Sunday Times is succinct, deft and makes me look a lot better than I am.

Thank you Smrithi

Mango Panna Cotta, again!

Yes, again. This time, I did it in the simplest way possible; but plated it differently, from my previous attempts. Simple, because its just cream and mango cordial, mixed (half and half), a heaped teaspoon of dissolved gelatin added, to each cup's worth of mixture. (Fresh fruit reduction gives a more complex flavor, and takes more time). Usually I pour the mix into shot glasses; this time I wanted to 'turn it out,' so emboldened by extra gelatin, I poured the mix into small coffee cups, and after four hours in the frig., I prized out the gelled cream with a knife, tapped the bottoms of the cups, sliding the gel out.
I added a little more cordial, reduced with a little wine, into the bowls, and garnished every thing with sliced fresh mango. Yes, its that easy.

Fay and Kingston joined us for dessert

Mango Orange Panna Cotta

Mango Orange Panna Cotta
Originally uploaded by pradeep jeganathan.

i guess wanted to go back to orange after red as red strawberries.

i've done coconut panna cotta's before, and blogged about them, but this one is a new variation. its a layer of mango coconut cream jelled on a base of fresh squeezed orange juice, orange liquor and blanched, sliced orange peel.

it needs work:

Deshan and Jehan, who came over to taste it, thought it was okay, with Deshan suggesting I try Grand Marnier instead of Cointreau, since it has, he said, a more 'burnt' taste, which might blend better with the orange peel which after blanching has a slight bitter taste, and a huge citric kick.
Jehan liked the cream top a lot he said, but thought the dish might be inverted. (Mango at the bottom). Well, I think the whole thing should be in orange, that is loose the mango, and the juice should be reduced for a thicker base and more concentrated flavor.
Deshan also liked the idea of a thicker base.

I shall try this again for Monday lunch.

Mango Panna Cotta & Liquor.

This is really similar to the Pineapple Coconut Panna Cotta I did a couple of weeks ago; except I used cream (Kotmale), instead of thick coconut milk, so it is more traditional as it were.
The mango substituted for pineapple, and I reduced it in white wine, pureed one half, adding cream and dissolved gelatin to this half, and a little vodka and sugar to the other half.
That’s what I call the liquor, and this goes in the bottom of the shot glass, with some small, dainty pieces of mango, from the reduction. If you don't have little pieces sticking up a tiny bit out of the surface of the liquor, you will have trouble keeping the two layers separate.
That's physics.
You can add a few more bits of mango, if you like – and then pour the creamed puree over it. Let it sit over night in the fridge, and then garnish with more slivers of mango.

Eat it when its cool, and savor the creamy mango layer, before swooping down with a eager spoon into the sweet, thick, mango-vodka nectar down bellow.
If only I had a longer tongue...!

And an update: Published in Zero77, Oct., 2007.

Pineapple Coconut Panna Cotta

Then I got adventurous, and I’ve been experimenting. I got the idea for coconut panna cotta from Asian Tapas, a beautiful photographed, but not so practical cook book, I got in Malaysia recently. But then, I kind of ran with it a bit, a changed some stuff around.
The basis of panna cotta, in the northern Italian tradition is cream, sugar, milk and gelatin. It doesn’t use egg at all – unlike custards and crème brulees. Good cream is now hard to get in Colombo, so it really pays to switch to coconut milk, which can really be made very thick, if you use the power, like me – 5 tablespoons of power to ½ cup of hot water, made a very thick cream indeed.
Set that aside, and dice your pineapple; I had just three small slices, that were very ripe, and stewed them for a little while with 1/3 cup of vodka, which is clear and tasteless, almost, 2 teaspoons of white sugar, and a pinch of salt. When the vodka is slightly yellow, divide that into two, and pour the first half, into shot glasses, about an inch or so deep. Add the second half to the coconut cream, and puree, until its well blended. Then strain, add a teaspoon of gelatin, melted in a tiny bit of hot water, and mix in the cream, and pour on top of pineapple liquor in the shot glasses. Let that cool, in fridge, and it should set, soon!