Panna Cotta with Fresh Berries

I've actually never had panna cotta before, although I've seen it on many a fancy restaurant's menu, and the contestants on Top Chef always seem to have trouble making them. Or maybe it's semifreddo I'm thinking about. In any case, I haven't had either, and panna cotta was the first of the two that came to my mind. Thankfully, and oddly given all the hubbub and English-translation-lacking fanfare about this dish, I found a ridiculously easy/inexpensive recipe to experiment with. I used a slightly modified version of Ina Garten's recipe for Panna Cotta with Balsamic Strawberries:

Prep/Cook time: 10 min
Inactive prep time: 4+ hours (or overnight)
Servings: 3

Ingredients:
1 tsp unflavored gelatin
1 Tbsp cold water
1 cup heavy cream
1 container (5-6 oz) Whole milk vanilla yogurt
1/2 tsp real vanilla extract
3 Tbsp sugar
1 cup mixed berries, such as blackberries and raspberries
1 Tbsp sugar

Equipment:
3 6-8 oz ramekins or custard cups
3 bowls, 2 small, one medium
Whisk/fork
Small saucepan
Small/thin knife

So, as you can see, this dessert is basically a solifidied version of heavy cream. Must be good! Also, I used vanilla yogurt in place of seeds from 1/4 a vanilla bean since vanilla beans are rather expensive and I have none in my pantry. I bet using the vanilla bean would elevate this dessert to the next level though. On a (long) side note, I realized through this yogurt shopping exercise how much our nation has actually progressed towards health consciousness. Not to say at all that people in the U.S. are actually acting and eating healthier these days, but we're at least pretending to ourselves that we are when we have our nonfat yogurt for breakfast followed by a swiss bacon ranch burger for lunch. First, it was nearly impossible to find whole milk yogurt - out of an entire wall of yogurt brands, only one offered whole milk yogurt while the rest were 1% or nonfat. I definitely remember seeing mostly whole milk yogurts in the supermarket 5-10 years ago. Second, all the containers have shrunk from 8 oz to 4-6 oz containers. And the prices have only gone up. So, we're getting charged more to eat less AND water-downed versions? And that's why marketing is such a magnificent being!

Ok, back to the recipe.
In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin on 1 1/2 tablespoons of cold water. Stir and set aside for 10 minutes to allow the gelatin to dissolve. By the end of the 10 minutes, it should look like a solid, grainy gel.

While the gelatin sets, whisk 1/2 cup cream, yogurt, and vanilla extract in a medium bowl. Heat the remaining 1/2 cup of cream and the sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Off the heat, add the softened gelatin to the hot cream and stir to dissolve. Pour the hot cream-gelatin mixture into the cold cream-yogurt mixture and stir to combine. Pour into 3 (6 to 8-ounce) ramekins or custard cups and refrigerate uncovered until cold. When the panna cottas are thoroughly chilled, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

About 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving, place berries in a small bowl and sprinkle sugar on top, making sure that all the berries have some sugar coating. Set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes OR refrigerate for an hour. After the berries have macerated (ooo), mash lightly with a fork just to get some of the juices out.

To serve, run a small knife around each dessert in the ramkein and dip the bottom of each ramekin quickly in a bowl of hot tap water. Invert each ramekin onto a dessert plate and surround with berries.

In the end, the panna cotta and berries were great, although I'll note that the panna cotta did taste somewhat like custard-style vanilla yogurt. It's possible that using the vanilla bean in place of vanilla flavored yogurt would create a more authentic flavor, plus you could get some nice little flecks of vanilla bean in an otherwise white dessert!