Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Inspired by WINTER MELON PANNA COTTA


Hello fellow bloggers, foodies and my long lost buddies J Finally I found some inspiration to bring my blog back to life.….Winter melon panna cotta garnished with candied rose petals and caramelized sugar.

I know lot has been happening in the F-world….foodbuzz is gone….daily buzz has replaced it….seems like I have lost track of lot of friends on foodbuzz…all good things come to an end for better things to replace them J

Life’s been kind to us this year….so many good things happening(Thank God!!). One being that we shifted into a new apartment…It’s a lovely place but I am still unable to find a snug spot to do my food photos L which is giving me a lot of trouble. Sunlight is like magic to good food photos…sigh!

Been ages since I came down and gave some love to my blog….but the love for food would never part me…days went by trying and creating new recipes but I did not find anything that inspired me stupendously to pull me here. I’ll still share a few pictures of recipes that I tried but did not get inspired by…to justify my claims J Ohh…n btw if any of you get inspired by the pictures, do ask for recipes, I’ll send you those J
strawberry n nutella smoothie

upside down cookies 
fresh fruit n caramel cake 
baked chicken pasta with bell pepper sauce  

Banana muffins with molten choclate core
Molten Lava Mug Cake (with minimal changes recipe courtesy: Nash@plateful)
So you see, none of these were daringly inspiring to jump start blogging….if it weren’t for the winter melon who was taking away too much space in my fridge, I wouldn’t be here even now.

We know this veggie by many names….ash gourd, winter melon, white gourd…in hindi its called petta kadhu and in malayalam we call it kumbalanga. It’s a frequent veggie in south Indian cooking usually for curries with coconut. In north India, it’s used to make an extremely famous sweet called Agra ka Petta (आगरे का पेठा) ….basically pieces of melon cooked in sugar syrup till they are almost translucent. It taste super awesome only if you have a sweet tooth J

Coming to our recipe……I have to say that this is not your usual panna cotta…..its smooth milk pana cotta with tender cooked pieces of winter melon and almond flakes. So its not just creamy smooth stuff, you have some bites in there. The candied dry rose petals gives the dish a great lift in terms of flavor to a different level. I have been wanting to make candied dry rose petals ever since I saw them on Toni’s blog loooooooog back. So you want to know how to make them, go on and visit Boulder Locavore’s “Rose vanilla ice cream with candied rose petals” for step-by-step instructions with pictures and don’t forget to thank Toni J.

Winter melon Panacotta is an absolutely amazing way to re-invent your panna cotta….trust me….I know you do J Leaving you with the recipe…and don’t forget to read the Tips n tricks for a perfect recipe!!


Ingredients: (serves - 8)

Winter melon -2 cups diced pieces (remove skin and seeds)
Almond flakes – 3 tbsp (can increase or decrease or omit to your choice)
Water – 2½ cups to cook melon
Milk powder – 4 tbsp
Cream - 160g
Condensed milk – 4 tbsp
Sugar- ½ cup(adjust to your taste)
Gelatine – 8 grams

Method:

1.     Toss the diced melon pieces and water in a heavy bottom vessel. Cook at medium heat with lid on till the melon is tender and translucent.
2.     When the water content has reduced to very little (just at the bottom of the pan) lower the heat to minimum. Add the almond flakes, sugar and milk powder mixed with one a cup of warm water.
3.     Keep stirring on very low flame till almond flake are cooked through (around 20mins). Add the condensed milk.
4.     Switch off and remove from stove when the consistency of milk thickens a little. Stir in the cream till evenly mixed.
5.     Prepare gelatine as per instructions on the pack.
6.     Add the gelatine while mixture is warm whisking rigorously.
7.     Pour into moulds and refrigerate till the mixture sets.
8.     De-mould, garnish with candied rose petals, some love J and caramelized sugar pieces.
9.     Serve cold!!



Tips n Tricks:


·       Dice the melon into not very small pieces - around ½ inch.
·       You can pressure cook the melon pieces in little water to quicken things up.
·       Trying to cook the almond flakes with raw melon pieces will make them taste weird, so don’t even think of doing that J
·       If you feel water content is too little while cooking almond flakes, add a few tablespoons as per requirement.
·       I used milk powder (my brand: fat free Régilait milk powder) to reduce the time required to evaporate milk and thicken it. You can use milk. Quantity will be around 2½ cups. Cook till milk quantity reduces to half.
·       You got to be really careful not to let the milk burn or split. So the key words are stir on a low flame.
·       Too much gelatine spoils the dish.
Cheers!!
MJ

9 comments:

  1. Lavish and mouthwatering Panna Colata. Never tried this recipe. Loved the way you have prepared it.
    Deepa

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  2. I have a feeling that this panna cotta has a very lovely flavor because of that melon..

    It's good to see you back, I can imagine that in the new apartment you had other worries, but I am sure many have missed your fab pictures and recipes!

    You should definitely send me the cupcake recipe, please.. :)

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  3. When I saw your comment on my little space, I just about hurt my finger clicking to hop over here and see if you'd written something new. It's so good to have you back and I hope you'll stick around. I have never heard of this type of melon, but your panna cotta looks delicious. I was trying to figure out what the red bits were, wondering if they were pomegranate. Toni is a genius, isn't she. Candied rose petals; I love it.

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  4. Wow, finally we've someone here.

    And this is totally drool drool drool. I'm yet to make my first panacotta and shall I try with this?

    Awesome pic too. Totally loved the recipe too.

    And yes, I guess you can very well try with the self raising flour. Keep the baking powder to 1/2 tsp. This cake is very forgiving.

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  5. This sounds delicious and it is so lovely! Glad to hear you are back to blogging! Stay in touch :)!

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  6. This is beautiful and looks SOOOO good! anne

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  7. What a luscious treat! And it's so pretty too!

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  8. Welcome back and glad to see all of these delicious treats. The panna cotta looks amazing! Thanks for being a part of the YBR:)

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Thank you for taking time out to encourage me! Every comment is heartfully read and loved! Please stop by again and again and again.....!!!

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