Mango, Lime and Coconut Panna Cotta

Australia Day tomorrow in the land Down Under, always the 26th January, when Aussies celebrate a Public Holiday by heading to the beach (whilst still practicing social distancing of course and avoiding the stingers here in North Queensland), or by having friends and family over for a late barbie in the arvo, playing some backyard cricket, and generally kicking back with a stubby or two (a bottle of beer that is), and some of the men might still be wearing stubbies (short shorts). It will be red wine for Mr. HRK and me, and celebrating how lucky we are to be living in this large sunburnt country of huge climatic extremes. I know I am glossing over the political arguments that always arise in the lead up to Australia Day, but I think I'll  leave that to the media and the politicians.

Lamb is often the meat of choice on Australia Day for the BBQ, or seafood, however we will be enjoying beef ribs this year with our good friends who are doing the marinating and we are doing the cooking.

It's my job to provide dessert, and generally host the meal, so whilst I still have some of the delicious Caramel Mango and Coconut Ice cream from a previous post still in my freezer, I also still have a few of the fresh mangoes in the frig that we picked ourselves. A chilled mango Panna Cotta  with sweet fresh mango seemed perfect as it can all be prepared the day before, and perhaps we will have just a smidgen of ice cream as well. The two desserts really are a perfect pairing, as the ingredients are quite similar, both cold, and will complement each other beautifully. Add a couple of meringues in place of the pavlova if you have them, and we are set. My friends are you still enjoying mangoes this summer? It is a short season for them from November to March approx., however they can be bought frozen now, so we can enjoy mango desserts all year round. No complaints here. As we had a few extra, we sliced and froze some mangoes last week, so now we can eat them throughout the year, much more reasonable than buying frozen mango at the supermarket.

INGREDIENTS:

300 g fresh diced mango (2 cups) , or thawed frozen mango

600 g Vanilla Custard, homemade or from a carton

70 g caster sugar (1/3 cup)

1/4 cup fresh lime juice (60 ml)

1 tablespoon finely grated lime zest

6 g small gelatine leaves (about 4)

2 cups (560 g) coconut flavoured yoghurt, lactose free will be fine

1 medium ripe mango (430 g), extra, thinly sliced for garnish

 100 g mini meringues for garnish if using

METHOD:

Pour your custard into a large bowl. I'll admit I guiltily bought the custard for this dish, as I was also baking sourdough bread this morning so time was at a premium. 

Then process the diced mango until smooth in your food processor.

Place the gelatine leaves in a small bowl of cold water until softened, allow about 5 minutes. Do this as close as possible to coincide with the lime mixture being taken off the heat, which is the next step.  Squeeze the excess moisture from the gelatine, and add the gelatine to the saucepan of heated lime juice and mango puree. Stir until the gelatine is dissolved.

Place the sugar, lime zest, lime juice, and just 1/4 cup of the mango puree in a medium saucepan. This mixture needs to be stirred over a medium heat until it reaches just below simmering point. You will see some steam start to come off the surface, but no bubbles. Allow about 3 minutes for this.

Now you need to work quickly. Immediately whisk the lime mixture, including the softened gelatine, into the custard. Spoon in the yoghurt and the remaining mango and whisk until smooth.

Strain this mixture through a fine sieve into a large jug. This might take a little time because of the sieving process, and you will be left with a small mixture of thick fruit pulp and custard in the sieve. It is quite tasty and nice with any leftover yoghurt, waste not want not. The panna cotta should be smooth and lump free.

Select 6 x 1 1/4 cup (310 ml) shallow bowls or ramekins, and pour the panna cotta mixture into them . Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight until set.

I made these dishes late in the morning before lunch, and they were beautifully set by 5 pm that afternoon. Garnish the dishes with sliced mango, and mini meringues or whatever you wish really. Some toasted coconut flakes would also be nice. There was some multitasking this morning, with three sourdough loaves baked, whilst I did the prepping for the panna cotta. \

After I had taken the photo for this post, I said to Mr. HRK, " I think I might have put too much mango on the panna cotta for the photo." He said, " You can never have too much mango." Always helpful, he said, "I wouldn't use the toasted coconut flakes next time." 

This is the cob loaf I made this morning, and two other sandwich loaves to be sliced for the freezer.

Happy Australia Day, and to my Australian friends and any Aussies overseas,  how are you celebrating tomorrow?

Warm wishes

Pauline