Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Balsamic Glazed Strawberries

Happy New Year Everyone! 

This is my first recipe post for 2013 and believe me, it's a good one.

Dusty and I went up north to spend Christmas and New Years' with Dusty's family on the farm for the past couple of weeks. We had so much fun hanging out, relaxing and eating so much food! While we were there we spent a day in the "big city" where we did some post-Christmas shopping and went to go see some new release movies. The boys went to see Django and us girls went to see Les Miserables.

Before the movies started we decided to kill some time at the neighboring Barnes & Noble. As usual, I made a bee-line for the cookbook section (go figure, surprise-surprise!) and purchased two Ina Garten cookbooks, Barefoot Contessa At Home and Foolproof. I absolutely love these books and have spent the past few days reading her books like a novel. I've read them cover-to-cover and can't wait to cook everything! Her recipes are so simple but elegant, which is my absolute favorite style of cooking.

One of the recipes that caught my eye was the Panna Cotta with Balsamic Berries from that At Home cookbook. I have previously assisted in making panna cotta when I use to assist in culinary classes, but never made it myself. Plus, I just recently posted a recipes for Raspberry Balsamic Glazed Berries. This recipe looked divine and I wanted to add my own twist and changes to it....hence, Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Balsamic Glazed Strawberries!

Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Balsamic Glazed Strawberries
{Serves 4}

-1 tsp unflavored gelatin powder
-1-1/2 cups Heavy Cream
-1 cup Vanilla Bean Tillamook Yogurt (or any other vanilla yogurt)
-1 tbsp Vanilla Bean Paste (or 1 Vanilla Bean)
-6 tbsp Sugar
-1 pint fresh Strawberries-sliced
-1 tbsp Star Fine Foods Balsamic Vinegar
-1-1/2 tsp White Granulated Sugar

In a small bowl, sprinkle 1 tsp of gelatin powder onto 1-1/2 tbsp cold water. Stir to combine and set aside until dissolved, 10 minutes.

In a bowl, stir to combine 3/4 cup heavy cream, yogurt, and vanilla bean paste. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat the remaining 3/4 cup heavy cream with the 6 tbsp of sugar. Bring the cream to a simmer over medium heat. Once simmering, remove the saucepan from heat and add in the gelatin from the small bowl and stir to incorporate and dissolve.

Pour the hot cream mixture into the cold cream-yogurt mixture and stir to combine. Pour evenly into 4 small ramekins and place in the refrigerator to chill. Once chilled, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

1 hour before serving the dessert, slice 1 pint of strawberries and place them in a bowl. Combine the strawberries with 1 tbsp of Balsamic Vinegar and 1-1/2 tsp of sugar. Gently stir to combine so that the strawberries soak up all the juices and flavors.

When you are ready to serve, run a butter knife around each dessert in the ramekin and dip the bottom of ramekin into a bowl of hot water. This will loosen the panna cotta from the ramekin and allow it to easy release. Invert each ramkin onto small individual serving plates. The panna cotta should easily release onto the plate, but you may have to help it out and jiggle a little bit.

Surround the panna cotta with the balsamic glazed strawberries and serve!

Your guests are going to be so impressed with this dessert!

Recipe Inspired & Adapted from Ina Gartens Barefoot Contessa at home