50 Women Game Changers in Food - #19 Pim Techamuanvivit - Pumpkin and Coconut Milk "Panna Cotta"

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...The New York Times has identified Pim Techamuanvivit as a professional eater rather than cook. There probably is some truth to that. She was raised in Bangkok, left Thailand to study abroad and settled in the San Francisco Bay Area where she worked as a researcher for Cisco Systems. She quit her job when the popularity of her blog, Chez Pim, allowed her to pursue a career in food writing and photography. Her work, which includes recipes, writing and photographs, has since appeared in the New York Times, Food & Wine Magazine, and Bon Appétit. She has also been a guest judge on the program "Iron Chef". Her first book, "The Foodie Handbook: The Almost Definitive Guide to Gastronomy" was published in 2009. Her blog, which basically tells stories about her experiences with food, remains extraordinarily popular and her voice is growing stronger within the food community. She is in 19th place on the Gourmet Live list of Women Game Changers in food. I've chosen her recipe for a Thai-style "panna cotta" to share with you today.

Pumpkin and Coconut Milk “Panna Cotta”...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Pim Techamuanvivit

Ingredients:
2 heaping cups of pumpkin, peeled, seeded, and cut into small cubes - this should be about 10oz or 300g of pumpkin. You can also use one cup of pumpkin puree instead.
1.5 cups (3.5dl) coconut milk
1 cup (2.5dl) water
1/2 (packed) cup (100g), palm sugar or brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 packet powdered gelatin, or 5g of sheet gelatin, or 1 tsp Agar Agar powder

Directions:
1) If using powdered gelatin, mix it with half the cup of water and let stand five minutes. If using sheet gelatin, soak the sheets in enough water to cover until soft. Remove the gelatin sheets and squeeze out excess water and set aside.
2) In a medium pot, add the cubed pumpkin, coconut milk, sugar, salt, and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer for 20 minutes, or until the pumpkin cubes are very soft. Add the gelatin water, gelatin sheets, or Agar Agar powder. Puree the mixture with a stick blender until smooth. You can also transfer the ingredients into a stand blender to puree, then pour the liquid back into the pot. Continue to simmer for five more minutes. Remove from heat and pour into panna cotta molds or jam jars, (or a pre-baked pie crust.) Let cool in the fridge until set. Unmold to serve or just stick a spoon in it! Yield:6 to 8 servings.


The following bloggers are also featuring the recipes of Pim Techamuanvivit today. I hope you'll visit all of them. They are all great cooks who have wonderful blogs.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast, Joanne - Eats Well With Others
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed, Susan - The Spice Garden
Claudia - A Seasonal Cook in Turkey, Heather - girlichef
Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney, Jeanette - Healthy Living
April - Abby Sweets, Katie - Making Michael Pollan Proud
Mary - One Perfect Bite, Kathleen -Bake Away with Me
Viola - The Life is Good Kitchen, Sue - The View from Great Island
Barbara - Movable Feasts, Kathleen - Gonna Want Seconds
Amy - Beloved Green,Jeanette - Healthy Living
Linda - Ciao Chow Linda, Linda A - There and Back Again
Martha - Lines from Linderhof, Nancy - Picadillo

Next week we will highlight the career and recipes of Molly Wizenberg. It will be really interesting to see what everyone comes up with. If you'd like to join us please email me for additional information no later than Saturday, October 15th.

Strawberry Panna Cotta with Strawberry Compote

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Mother's day is just a week away and I wanted to present a few dessert recipes for you to consider before the day is here. The first of the entries is figure friendly and designed for health and diet conscious eaters. It's a panna cotta, and when it's made with small field ripened strawberries, only the cook will know the dessert has been lightened. The key to the success of this dessert, however, lies in the flavor of the berries, and, to be honest, I wouldn't bother with it when local berries are less than prime. Even then, I enhance its flavor with a berry extract, that can be found at the sources listed at the end of the recipe. The recipe for the panna cotta first appeared in Gourmet magazine and can now be found on the Epicurious website. Comments associated with the recipe indicate that some readers had problems getting the panna cotta to stiffen enough for unmolding. To avert that problem, I've increased the amount of gelatin in my version of the recipe and recommend it be made a full 24 hours before you plan to serve it. While I make and serve the fruit compote that accompanies the recipe, I also like to use a bit of melted strawberry jam as a sauce for the panna cotta. This is not necessary, but it adds wonderful color to the finished dessert. This is really easy to make and I think those of you who try it will enjoy it. Here's the recipe.

Strawberry Panna Cotta...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Gourmet Magazine and Epicurious

Ingredients:
Panna Cotta
3 cups sliced strawberries (1 pound)
1-3/4 cups well-shaken low-fat buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon strawberry flavoring (optional)
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
Compote
2-1/2 cups strawberries (preferably small; 3/4 pound), trimmed
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 teaspoons superfine granulated sugar

Directions:
1) To make panna cotta: Blend strawberries, buttermilk, strawberry flavoring, salt and sugar in a blender until very smooth, then pour through a very fine sieve into a medium bowl, pressing hard on solids. Discard solids. Sprinkle gelatin over milk in a small bowl and let stand 1 minute to soften. Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and add gelatin mixture, stirring until dissolved. Whisk gelatin-cream mixture into strawberry purée and pour into 6 (6-oz.) molds. Chill molds, covered, until firm, at least 24 hours. To unmold, dip molds in a small bowl of hot water 2 or 3 seconds, then invert panna cottas onto dessert plates and remove molds. Let stand at room temperature 20 minutes to soften slightly.
2) To make compote: While panna cottas stand at room temperature, halve strawberries lengthwise if small or quarter if larger. Whisk orange juice and superfine sugar together in a bowl until sugar dissolves. Add strawberries and toss to coat. Serve panna cottas with compote. Yield: 6 servings.

Source for strawberry extract can be found here.







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You might also enjoy these recipes:
Strawberry Rhubarb Compote - Gina's Skinny Recipes
Fresh Strawberry Pie - Sing for Your Supper
No Bake Strawberry Yogurt Cheesecake - Little Corner of Mine
Strawberry Shortcakes - The Flourishing Foodie
Strawberry Cake - Petit Foodie
Strawberry Cupcakes - Sugar Plum
Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars - Sugar Crafter
Strawberry Linzer Cookies - Beach Lover Kitchen
Strawberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream - Confections of a Foodie Bride
Strawberry Sherbet - Shih's Cooking

Pumpkin Panna Cotta with Orange Caramel Sauce

I love Thanksgiving. We join hands with those we love and unloose from memory the spirit of those who once occupied chairs now empty at our table. We give thanks, we celebrate, we eat and, when you've lived as long as I have, you remember. We lived in a basement flat the first year we were married. Papa and Mama S. lived above us and while Papa embraced us quickly it took Mama a bit longer. Once that embrace occurred she was determined to pass on what she thought every girl should know - life, men and the world were all fair game. Mama's world was full of ghosts, border guards and fears held, just barely, at bay. I made the mistake, that first Thanksgiving, of sharing with her my desire to leave school. Oh, my! I have an ear for languages and dialect but I won't use either to color portraits of the people I've loved. It can, too, easily be seen as sport, so I'll share only the anglicized version of the advice I received from Mama S. In her world babies did not have babies, women wore all their jewelry all the time (as bankable as cash) and those fortunate enough to receive an education did not leave school because they were tired. The keystone of her argument..."assure your future lest you have to move your tent to another village." God bless her; that wise old survivor, whose tent had moved to many villages, predated the women's movement by a decade. All of this was said over the components of a custard the night before Thanksgiving. Mama made a pumpkin flan that was not to be believed, but the flan, unusual back then, is common now, so I thought I'd share this with you instead. Pumpkin custards --- made rich with cream, flavored with orange and spices, and stiffened with gelatin --- are served with a sauce of brown sugar, butter, and orange. It's an easy, elegant alternative to pumpkin pie, it's gorgeous to look at and the recipe can be doubled. What's not to like?

Pumpkin Panna Cotta with Orange Caramel Sauce

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups half-and-half, divided use
1 cup heavy cream
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest
1 cup sour cream
Orange Caramel Sauce
4 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest

Directions:
1) Grease six 6-ounce ramekins or custard cups with butter or vegetable spray. Set aside.
2) Process pumpkin puree, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, mace, nutmeg, cloves and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal blade for 1 minute. Add 1 cup of the half-and-half and process for 1 minute longer. Transfer the pumpkin mixture to a 3-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan. Whisk in 1 cup heavy cream and cook over medium-low heat until the mixture comes to the simmer. Cook for an additional 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat.
3) Meanwhile, in a small microwave container, combine 1/2 cup half-and-half and the gelatin. Allow gelatin to soften for 2 to 3 minutes, then heat in a microwave about 30 seconds on high-power until the gelatin has dissolved. Add the gelatin to the pumpkin mixture along with the sour cream, vanilla and orange zest; mix well. Pour the mixture into prepared molds and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
4) Shortly before serving, melt butter and brown sugar together in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Add the orange juice and simmer until the mixture is thick and smooth. Stir in the orange zest and set aside.
5) To serve, unmold and turn the panna cotta onto dessert plates. Drizzle with warm Orange Caramel Sauce. Yield: 6 servings.