Basil Panna Cotta

Unusual and delicious. This panna cotta is made in the usual way - with cream and, for this one, buttermilk. The difference is that the cream is heated with basil, vanilla bean, and lemon zest. It then incubates, while the flavors meld. Eventually you sieve out the basil and zest and vanilla beans, and then mix it with the buttermilk.

This recipe was on the Serious Eats web site, but it originally came from the cookbook "Baking Out Loud" by Hedy Goldsmith. If this recipe is representative, this is a book I need to get my hands on.

One final note - this Panna Cotta had the perfect amount of gelatin. We ate after 6 hours, and it was gelled but delightfully jiggly.

Its a bit of an adult Panna Cotta, the 13 yr old daughter didn't care for it, but the rest of us were in love with it.