Vanilla panna cotta on clementine Amaretto gelée

Does gelée sound like the most pretentious thing ever? Maybe, but it sounds a hell of a lot better than Jell-O. I could have called it jelly, but isn't that something you spread on toast? Gelatin just doesn't sound very appetizing. Whatever you call it, this is a super easy and delicious dessert. It's summery and refreshing, but uses one of winter's most popular fruits. And it only takes a few minutes to make.

Clementine gelée layer
1 cup freshly squeezed, strained clementine juice (I used 7 clementines)
1-2 tablespoons Amaretto
¾ teaspoon powdered gelatin*
Panna cotta layer
1 cup light cream or heavy cream ( I used mostly whole milk with some cream)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste (or more Amaretto)
¾ teaspoon powdered gelatin*

1. For the clementine layer: Pour ¼ cup juice into a small saucepan and sprinkle 1 teaspoon gelatin over the top. Let stand a few minutes, then heat over medium-low heat, stirring, until gelatin is completely dissolved. Add the rest of the juice and the Amaretto. Divide amongst 4 small ramekins or pretty glasses (¼ cup in each). Refrigerate for 2 hours, or until set.
2. For the panna cotta layer. Pour ¼ cup cream and the sugar into a small saucepan and sprinkle 1 teaspoon gelatin over the top. Let stand a few minutes, then heat over medium-low heat until the gelatin is dissolved. Add the rest of the cream and the vanilla and carefully pour over the clementine layer. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours, or overnight. 
3. Serve with some candied orange peel or a cookie. Makes 4 small ramekins.

*This is enough gelatin to give a very soft, wobbly set, but not enough that you can turn the dessert out onto a plate. If you'd like to do that, use 1 teaspoon of gelatin for each layer and then refrigerate overnight. 

Daring Cooks put things in jars!

This month's Daring challenge was to preserve some of summer's bounty, in jars, or by freezing. What a great idea, as I know lots of Daring Cooks had been eager for just such a challenge. The theme was selected by John of Eat4Fun, who is a longtime member of the Daring Kitchen. I have been canning and preserving things since high school, but I loved this challenge! I made 10 things in a 3-day preserving spree, which coincided with a 33℃, high humidity heat wave. I think I may have contributed to that, with all the boiling pots. Above you can see crabapple jelly, the prettiest of the lot, I think. I had never made this before, and it turned out very sweet, but will be perfect for glazing tarts, or just eating on bread...

This is how many crabapples it took to make 5 x 250ml jars:

Next up was plums, of which I had a veritable windfall. My aunt's neighbour's tree was covered in fruit that nobody knew what to do with. I got about 5 kilograms and made 5 small jars of of plum-cardamom butter and 12 small jars of plum jam. 

The plum jam:

The plum-cardamom butter:

The difference between butter and jam is that a butter has less sugar and is cooked longer, to a thicker consistency and darker colour. I think cardamom and plums are perfect together.

I also made a jar of peaches, spiced with rum, tonka beans, mace, sapote and vanilla. The extra syrup from this was great with yogurt:

On to the savoury things. I helped my mother to make pickled beets (5 kg worth) and chili sauce (25 kg of tomatoes). Next, I saw a recipe for a beet and horseradish relish using roasted tomatoes. I don't usually love relish, but I really wanted to try this recipe. It's from The River Cottage Preserving Handbook, and you'll find it after the jump. I got my orange marmalade and rhubarb jam recipes from the same book. This book does not often recommend processing jars in a boiling water bath, but is reliable, I think. There was a lot of discussion on the forum about processing and it seems to US recommendations are much stricter than in other parts of the world. I usually always finish my jars in a boiling water bath, but I was surprised to learn that my mother and all her relatives do not, even when working with low acid foods. To quote her: 'nobody's died yet'. No, but I still boiled my jars. :)

This stuff is fantastic--sweet and tangy. It called for fresh horseradish, which I found growing in my mother's backyard, but you could use prepared. Here's what the fresh looks like:

Here's a fairly bad picture of everything but the plum jam lined up on the windowsill:

Left to right: chili sauce, rum peaches, bread and butter pickles, pickled beets, orange marmalade, beet relish, rhubarb jam, crabapple jelly, plum-cardamom butter, pickled horseradish

The orange marmalade was made this winter, for a Daring Bakers' challenge, and the rhubarb was made this spring.

Blog-checking lines: The September 2010 Daring Cooks’ challenge was hosted by John of Eat4Fun. John chose to challenge The Daring Cooks to learn about food preservation, mainly in the form of canning and freezing. He challenged everyone to make a recipe and preserve it. John’s source for food preservation information was from The National Center for Home Food Preservation.