Anna Sultana’s Limoncello Panna Cotta, Maltese Style

Ma’s Limoncello Dessert has six egg yolks, so it is rich.

Especially if you’re watch your cholesterol.

Back in the 50s no one worried about stuff like that.

Ignorance may be bliss, but it’s not always healthy.

Panna Cotta is a lighter dessert.

More like ice cream.

There’s heavy cream in it.

But then, there’s heavy cream in ice cream, too.

Well, there’s always plain jello, without the whipped cream.

With a glass of homemade limoncello.

Hint:

If you would like to serve the Panna Cotta on a dessert plate, here’s what to do: 

Pour the Panna Cotta into custard cups. 

Cover with plastic and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

It should be firm to hold its shape.

        

Dip the bottom of a custard cup into a bowl of hot water for 10 seconds.

Run a knife around the edge of the cream.

Invert onto an individual dessert plate.

Repeat with the other custard cups.

Spoon some fruit sauce around the cream.

A dot on top is nice, too.

                              Limoncello Panna Cotta  

6 servings

Into a small bowl, pour

1/4 Cup milk

Sprinkle 

2 1/2 Tablespoons unflavoured gelatin

Set aside for five minutes to soften the gelatin.

Combine in a medium saucepan

1 1/2 Cups heavy cream

1 Cup milk

1/4 Cup Sugar

Stir well.

Bring to a simmer over medium high heat.

Remove from heat.

Add the softened gelatin.

Stir until the gelatine has dissolved.

Add

1/2 Cup Limoncello 

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Set the bowl over an ice bath. 

Stir often so that the mixture will cool evenly.

The mixture should have the consistency of heavy cream.

Pour into 6 serving glasses. 

Cover with plastic and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

It should be firm to hold its shape.

Garnish with fresh fruit or fruit sauce.

Or both.

Want a non-alcoholic Panna Cotta?

No problem.

Try Carmela Soprano’s Panna Cotta with Raspberry Sauce and Blueberries.

Carmela Soprano's Panna Cotta with Raspberry Sauce and Blueberries

Wasn't Ma's Prinjolata easy to make?

It uses ingredients you can keep in the pantry.

It can be prepared in advance.

And it's easy on the budget.

Yah, Ma!!

Okay... now we'll have a recipe from Carmela.

Check out the Dinner for Twelve chapter of Carmela's Entertaining with the Sopranos.  There's a recipe for Panna Cotta with Raspberry Sauce and Blueberries.

Carmela has a different approach to entertaining.

Well, not everything from Carm is as sensible as last week's Eggplant Fritters.

This is a bit of a hassle.

To be honest, I think she has someone else whip this up.

Oh, well, Panna Cotta is pretty.

And seasonal, what with the fresh berries.

I used vanilla extract when I made this recipe.

If you have vanilla beans, this recipe uses one.

Carmela simmered a bean with the heavy cream, then removed it, slit it with a small sharp knife, and scraped the seeds out.

She then stirred the seeds into the cream mixture.

Yeah, sure.

Oh, and she used 6-ounce ramekins.

Now you know.

Like I said, I think she had someone else whip this up.

And it wasn't Meadow. 

                             

                              Panna Cotta with Raspberry Sauce and Blueberries 

Panna Cotta

Into a small bowl, pour

1/2 Cup cold water

Sprinkle 

Three   1/4-ounce envelopes unflavored gelatine

Set aside to soften the gelatine.

Combine in a medium saucepan

1 quart half-and-half

2 Cups heavy cream

one 3-inch strip of lemon zest

1/3 Cup sugar

Bring to a simmer over medium high heat.

Remove from heat.

Discard the lemon zest and add 

the softened gelatin

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Stir until gelatin is completely dissolved.

Divide the cream mixture among 12 custard cups.

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

(You want it firm to hold its shape.)

Raspberry Sauce

Mix together

1 teaspoon cornstarch

2 Tablespoons water

Puree in a blender

Two  10-ounce packages frozen rasperries with syrup, thawed

2 Tablespoons sugar (more or less - remember the syrup is sweet)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Strain the mixture into a medium saucepan.

Bring to a simmer over medium heat.

Add cornstarch mixture to the simmering rasperries.

Cook, stirring regularly, until slightly thickened.

Remove from heat and let cool.

Pour into a sealable container and refrigerate.

It can be stored up to 3 days, after that it separates and ain't pretty.

To Serve

Dip the bottom of a custard cup into a bowl of hot water for 10 seconds.

Run a knife around the edge of the cream.

Invert onto an individual dessert plate.

Repeat with the other 11 custard cups.

Spoon some of the sauce around the cream.

A dot on top is nice, too.

Garnish each serving with some of 

1 Cup blueberries 

SERVE IMMEDIATELY.

Not my idea of fun when I have guests whooping it up in the living room.

Like I said, I think she has someone else whip this up.

While she's chatting with Janice.

Would I make Panna Cotta with Raspberry Sauce and Blueberries again?

Hell, no.

The raspberry sauce, maybe.

But I wouldn't bother straining it.

It's raspberries.

Folks know it comes with seeds.

And I'd spoon it over vanilla ice cream.

And top with any berries on hand.

Like fresh raspberries or strawberries.  

Or sliced peaches.

Unless I was dishing this up for the Fourth of July.

You know... red, white and blue.  

Whoopee!

This recipe reminded me of the scene in the movie Bridget Jones's Diary.

The one where she killed herself cooking for her birthday party.

And ended up with blue soup and marmalade.

Well, live and learn.

Another recipe down.  Seventeen more to go. 

The 1960s Co-Op Refrigerator Cheesecake - Margaret Ullrich

I'm sorry.

Back in January I posted a simple piece on my feelings about Cheesecake, New York and New Jersey style. I had flipped through Entertaining with The Sopranos and learned that, while the cheesecakes may look similar, they are different.


I should have stopped right there.


Oh, no... I had to continue:
I've heard about a cheesecake Winnipeggers made. The recipe used to be on a milk carton. It was the Co-op Refrigerator Cheesecake. A friend gave me an empty milk carton. I tried to fit in, be a real Winnipegger, but really. I couldn't believe it. Knox Gelatin? Heavy Cream? Separated eggs? CRUSHED PINEAPPLE? I think not.

Some things you just have to respect.


I should have respected the Co-Op Refrigerator Cheesecake.


I've received a few e mails.
Some defended Winnipeg's cheesecake honor.
Some asked if I still had that empty milk carton. They had always intended to, but never gotten around to, copying the recipe.
And some sent me the recipe and told me to try it again.


For those of you who never got around to copying the recipe, here it is.


1960s CO-OP REFRIGERATOR CHEESECAKE

refrigerate at least 4 hours

combine
2 Cups graham wafer crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons melted butter
press 2/3 of the mixture into a 10 inch pan
----
soak
2 envelopes Knox gelatin
in
1/2 Cup cold water or pineapple juice
----
combine in a double boiler
3/4 Cup milk
1 Cup sugar
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
cook until thickened
remove from heat and add gelatin mixture
cool
----
cream well
2 (8 oz/250 g) packages of cream cheese
add the cooled gelatin/milk mixture
add
1 teaspoon vanilla
----
fold in
1/2 pint heavy cream, whipped
2 eggs whites, stiffly beaten
----
add, if desired
crushed, well drained pineapple or chopped cherries
----
pour filling over crumb crust
top with remaining crumbs
refrigerate at least 4 hours


Are we friends now?