In a day and age when chef's have any ingredient at there disposal, one of this summers highlights have been the humble Huckleberry. This berry is similar to a blueberry, but cannot be cultivated and therefore is 100% wild and in most cases organic. We brought some in last week and I am simply amazed at how dark purple they are. The flavor is mostly tart with a subtle sweetness throughout. They are smaller than a blueberry almost 1/2 the size. When I was thinking of a dish to use this in,my first thought was a panna cotta. After I made it, I had only one word to describe this panna cotta "LUXURIOUS". I can truly say this is elegance defined by natures simplicity.
I encourage you to try this simple recipe at home.
Huckleberry Panna Cotta with Huckleberry gelee.
1qt. cream, 12 oz. milk,5oz sugar,4 vanilla beans scraped and 4 sheets gelatin. Gelee 5 oz huckleberries 2 oz h2o 1 sheet gelatin.Garnish 40 huckleberries
1. place cream,milk,sugar and vanilla to pot and scald, add to ice bath. 2. bloom gelatin in cold h2o for 1 min. squeeze out
excess h20 and add to cream mixture let mixture cool down slightly and stir to keep vanilla off the bottom of the bowl,
cool until beans are suspended in cream. Add berries to bottom of a champagne glass maybe 5 or 6 per glass. puree the rest
of the berries with a little water strain into a small pot heat to a boil and reduce for 2 min. Bloom gelatin add to berry puree.
3. Pour cream into glass almost to the top and place in cooler until set.4. Add berry puree and let set. Serve when gelee is set.
This cotta will seem like it is not quite set, that is exactly what you want, also when you pour the mix into the glass go slow
as to try to keep the berries on the bottom, some will rise and that is okay. I think this makes 6 to 8 servings. Enjoy!