Irish Midlands Panna Cotta Tartlet

I’m sitting at the desk in my bedroom at the moment. The sun is shining through the window, I have a cup of (hot!) coffee sitting next to the laptop and my baby is napping in the kitchen. Maeve is watching TV and doing puzzles with my mom. In a week we’ll be taking the girls to Canada for two months so stay tuned for some Canadian posts soon!

I love my babies so much – I really do – but it feels *so* good to sit at a desk and quietly type up a blog post. I miss it.

I’m usually running around during the day. Ciara sleeps in the car – her daytime naps are short, short, short – and in her sling most days. She only sleeps in her moses basket at night, but when she finally goes down she sleeps for 8-9 hours straight. No complaints there! It just doesn’t leave a lot of time during the day for blogging. Did I mention it feels *so* good to be sitting at a desk?

Since I only get to sit down and blog every once in a while, it’s probably no surprise to you that I’ve been planning this post for, literally, weeks. I made and (quickly) photographed these delicious tartlets 2 or 3 weeks ago and am only now getting around to typing up the recipe! But it’s a really good recipe. I think it’s worth the wait.

I was recently reading a recipe that combined panna cotta with earl grey tea and thought it was a great idea. What was even cooler was the panna cotta was set in a tartlet shell. At first I thought it was just a nice way to present the dessert, but holy moly, I never knew sweet pâte sablée and panna cotta could bring out the best in each other. The crumbly sweet pastry combined with the just set, barely sweetened cream is a match made in heaven.

I didn’t flavour the panna cotta with tea, though. In the next county over (Offaly) there is a fabulous little food company called Wild Irish Foragers. They make shrub syrups, sweet syrups, pots and preserves – all from plants and flowers foraged here in the Midlands of Ireland. I love their products, mostly because they make things I don’t have the time or skillset to make myself.

I flavoured the panna cotta with their Wild Dandelion Preserve, which is otherwise known as Poor Man’s Honey. It’s sweet like honey with just a hint of wild, floral, herbal flavour. I also used a raw cream to make the panna cotta. This one came from Crawford’s Farm in Cloughjordan (home to Tipperary’s only eco-village and where my favourite sourdough is made).

Yes, I could have used our own raw cream to make the panna cotta. I am aware I live on a dairy farm. BUT the cream only settles (floats to the top) in our milk storage unit at certain times of the day. It’s mixed all other times and thereby IMPOSSIBLE to skim. Crawford’s is amazing stuff. It tastes buttery. It’s thick. It makes perfect panna cotta.

Finally, I topped the tartlet with a blueberry compote. Because I’m from Nova Scotia and I love blueberries. Here’s the recipe! The next time you hear from me I’ll be eating lots of seafood on the East Coast of Canada!

Irish Midlands Panna Cotta Tartlet

Ingredients 

For the Pâte Sablée:

120g/scant 1/2 cup softened butter

75g/1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar (icing sugar)

1 egg yolk

300g/ 1 1/4 cup plain flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

For the Panna Cotta:

500ml/2 cups Crawford’s Farm Raw Cream, or heavy cream

2 heaping Tbsp Wild Irish Foragers Dandelion Preserve

1/2 packet powdered gelatin (about 1 tsp)

Pinch of fine sea salt

For the Blueberry Compote:

250g/1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

60g/1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Zest of one lemon

1 heaping Tbsp cornstarch mixed with 125 ml/1/2 cup water

Directions:

• Make the pâte sablée: in a bowl or stand mixer, mix the egg yolk, butter and icing sugar until well combined. Add the flour and salt. Mix until it comes together, like a cookie dough. If it’s dry and crumbly, add 1-2 Tbsp of milk. Shape the dough into a disc, wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Roll out the pastry to about 1/4 inch thickness and fit into four small tartlet pans. Don’t worry about tears. Just use extra dough to patch any holes. Do not poke holes in the bottom as you do with some tart shells; the panna cotta will leak through later!
• Line the tartlet pans with parchment paper and fill with pie weights (or dried beans). Bake until the top are golden brown and the bottoms are cooked through (the bottoms will still look pale), about 15-20 minutes. Don’t worry if the bottom of the tartlets seem too soft; they will firm up as they cool.
• When the tart shells are cool, carefully remove them from the pans and place them on a tray.
• Make the panna cotta: in a small saucepan, combine the cream, salt and Dandelion preserve. Slowly heat the cream mixture until it’s hot, steamy and the dandelion preserve has dissolved. You do not want to bring it to a boil, but just before it starts to boil.
• Remove the cream mixture from the heat and sprinkle the gelation over top. Gently whisk the mixture until the gelatin is dissolved completely (this might take a minute or two).
• Pour the mixture into the tart shells (don’t try to move the tart shells off or around the tray at this point) and put the tray into the fridge to set.
• Make the compote: in a saucepan, combine the blueberries, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla. If you’re using fresh blueberries, add a splash of water to the pot. Bring to a boil, then add the cornstarch/water mixture. Stir until thickened, remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
• When the panna cotta has set in the tart shells (about 30 minutes), top it with the cooled blueberry compote. Garnish with mint or lemonbalm. Serve immediately or keep them in the fridge to be served the same day.

Cloughjordan House Long Table Dinner

This past Saturday, Patrick and I drove up to Tipperary. This is basically what we do every weekend, but this time we were going to the village of Cloughjordan with some friends, not our usual haunt outside of Templemore. Cloughjordan is a special place for several reasons. First of all, it’s in Tipperary, which automatically makes it dear to my heart. I’m biased that way.

Secondly, it’s Ireland’s only eco-village; whose residents dedicate themselves to sustainable living. This includes growing a lot of their own food and ensuring their buildings use sustainable energy, but most importantly, the residents are active in the preservation of their community and work together to achieve their collective goals. It’s a great place to visit if you ever get the chance.

Finally, Cloughjordan is special because of Cloughjordan House, a fully restored 400 year old estate owned by the Baker family. The grounds are beautiful and the house is timelessly decorated. The house also has a fully operational cookery school and they offer B&B, wedding and event services.

We ventured out to Cloughjordan for their Long Table Dinner event, which included a locally sourced meal featuring the best of Tipperary artisans and produce. The dinner was a Gathering event and, coming from Canada, I was treated with such wonderful hospitality (as, I’m sure, was everyone else).

Upon arriving (and ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the gardens) we were greeted by Sarah Baker, who runs Cloughjordan House with her husband. She made us feel at home and directed us over to the one of the tents erected on the lawn where complimentary refreshments (wine and a delicious elderberry cordial) were being served.

The dinner venue was beautiful. The room looked as what I imagine it would have in the 1700’s – thick stone walls, complete with imperfections and adorned with only a few pieces of art here and there. Bunting was hung from the ceiling and the tables were decorated with fresh flowers and polka-dot table cloths.

Dinner that evening featured spit-roasted pig with a variety of sides and salads (the bean salad was my absolute favourite, with a yogurty-herbed dressing). The pork was perfectly tender, served with crackling and a sweet glaze. For dessert we enjoyed a fruity parfait with an intense blackberry base and lots of cream and meringue. Sarah also brought over some of the vegetarian option for us to try, which were lightly marinated and grilled halloumi kebabs with zucchini and peppers. Delish.

After dinner we were treated to a concert-style performance of 60’s and 70’s hits by Susannah de Wrixon and, although the entertainment was directed to a slightly older generation (putting it delicately here!), we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Suzannah, noticing my large belly, gifted me with her children’s album at the end of the evening. She was very sweet and has such a lovely voice.

A big thank you to Sarah and all of her staff at the event for the wonderful service. It really kicked off my Gathering year (a little late to be starting, I know) with a bang.