Jasmine Tea Panna Cotta

Inspired by a Japanese restaurant in Santa Fe..? Random.

Jason and I took a little trip to Santa Fe, NM this holiday and boy, did it deliver. First and foremost, shoutout to Bishop’s Lodge. WHAT. A. TREAT. One of the many perks of staying there— they had a fleet of Mercedes vehicles available for us to borrow at any moments notice. It was alarming how casually they would toss me the keys to the G-Wagen. Very cool. The other highlight of the trip— Ten Thousand Waves. We enjoyed a lovely spa day and an even lovelier lunch at their restaurant, Izanami. The food was so impressive that we came back for dinner the next day. For dessert, we ordered the Hojicha Panna Cotta and I immediately knew I would be recreating this for our family’s Christmas dinner. So here we are: a standard vanilla bean Panna Cotta with a jasmine tea simple syrup. I suppose you can use whatever tea you like, but I especially love how floral jasmine tea is. It’s a light and refreshing dessert that comes together a little too easily.

VANILLA BEAN PANNA COTTA (SERVES 8)

• 3 cups heavy cream

• 1 cup milk

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 1 vanilla bean pod, scraped (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)¹

• 1 pinch of salt

• 2 1/4 TSP non flavored gelatin²

• 3 TBSP water

In a medium saucepan, whisk the cream, milk, sugar, vanilla bean pod + scraped seeds, and salt to combine.

Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat. As soon as it reaches a simmer, remove from the heat. Cover and let it steep for about 5-10 minutes.

In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the water and watch it do it’s thing. It should congeal in about 5 minutes.

Once the cream mixture is done steeping, uncover and discard the vanilla pod. On medium-high heat, bring the mixture up to a simmer again.

As soon as it’s reached a simmer, remove from the heat. Add the gelatin and stir until the gelatin lump is fully dissolved.

Transfer the panna cotta mixture into a large measuring cup (or a vessel with a pouring spout). Evenly distribute the mixture into eight small serving bowls (about 1/2 cup per bowl) and let it cool to room temperature.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the panna cotta is set but still jiggly (about 4 hours).

JASMINE TEA SIMPLE SYRUP (SERVES 8)

• 1 cup drinking water

• 2 jasmine tea bags³

• 1/4 cup sugar

Bring the water to a simmer (if you’re using a kettle with a temperature read, set it to 180* F).

In a glass measuring cup, combine the 2 jasmine tea bags and sugar.

Pour the simmering water over the tea bags and sugar, stir to combine.

Steep for at least 10 minutes, and let it cool to room temperature.⁴

Cover and place in the fridge until ready to serve.⁵

1. To scrape the pod clean, I like to use the back of a small pairing knife

2. I used regular ass Knox

3. I used jasmine green tea (you could also use jasmine white tea)

4. I left my tea bags in there because I want the jasmine flavor to be very strong

5. When serving, I like to pour a generous floater (about 2 TBSP) for each.