Cooking with my Favorite Sis!

    One of my favorite shows is Iron Chef, mostly because it's really interesting to see how the chefs use a surprise ingredient (I also like Chopped for this reason), but also because I sometimes get ideas for new dishes from it. This is one of the desserts that was inspired by a Cat Cora dish- she made a "fallen Napoleon" with a Semolina custard, amaretto cookies and figs poached with honey, lemon and cinnamon. Although this is not exactly what I made, I liked the idea of poaching figs with this mixture- almost caramelizing them and allowing them to soak up the flavors. Instead of the fallen Napoleon, I thought this would go well with a greek yogurt panna cotta, since honey and greek yogurt is one of my favorite snacks.
     I have been thinking about this dessert for at least a few weeks, but I waited to make it until my sister, Melissa, came to visit. She went abroad to Greece a couple of summers ago- so I knew that she would love this :-). I was lucky enough to get a visit from her last week, so here we are! This isn't the typical summer dessert (it may be a better dish to serve in the winter), but it would also be good with fresh blueberries and a drizzle of honey if you want something a little more season appropriate. Melissa also came up with the idea to cut the figs in half an arrange in a heart on the top- too cute!

Greek Yogurt Panna Cotta (adapted from Bon Appetit magazine)

-2 Tbs water
-2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
-2 1/2 tsps unflavored gelatin
-2 1/4 c plain whole-milk Greek yogurt
-1 3/4 c heavy whipping cream
-3/4 c sugar
-Canola oil

-Lightly coat the dish(es) you plan to use with canola oil. The recipe recommends a 9" round pan, but I used smaller, individual dishes. You can use whichever you want- just make sure you oil the sides well to allow for easy removal. They make special panna cotta molds- some of which are more fancy, with fluted designs, etc- but I just used some tapered ice cream dishes that I had at home. The most important thing is that the top is wider than the bottom. Otherwise, you won't be able to remove it without scooping it out and messing up the shape.
-Combine the water and lemon juice in a small bowl, mix in the gelatin and allow it to soften (takes about 15 minutes)
-Whisk the yogurt with 3/4 c of the cream in a large bowl.
-Place the remaining 1 c cream and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir the cream mixture frequently until the sugar dissolves.
-Remove the pan from heat and whisk in the gelatin mixture until it's dissolved. Then, add this mixture to the yogurt and cream and whisk until well blended.

-Pour the mixture into the prepared dish(es) and place them in the fridge, uncovered, until it they are cool to the touch. Then, cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours. We left them in overnight and they last in the fridge for quite a while (we ate the last one about a week after we'd made it).

After the honey-lemon mixture simmers for a while, the
lemons caramelize and the figs begin to plump up.

Poached Figs (improvised)
-1 c honey
-juice from 1 1/2 lemons
-2 small cinnamon sticks
-dried black figs (~15 will fit in mixture)


-Juice the lemons and discard seeds. Place two of the juiced lemon halves in a small saucepan, add lemon juice, honey and cinnamon sticks. Bring the mixture to a simmer and toss in the figs.
-Simmer the mixture until the figs begin to plump up and the sauce has reduced to a syrup (30 minutes to an hour).
-Allow to cool to room temperature before being poured over the panna cotta or it will melt the gelatin and create a greek yogurt puddle!
-I think next time I will peel the lemon zest in long strips and put it in the mixture instead of the lemon halves- the zest will caramelize as you cook the figs and can be used as a lovely garnish.

Melissa enjoying a cup of hot lemon juice and honey (to soothe
her sore throat) while we waited for the figs to be ready