[cooking] Coconut Milk Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta

I ordered some vanilla beans to make homemade extract. One of the beans I used to cook with, the rest (14 beans) went into a 1 quart mason jar of 40 proof vodka.

With the one bean, I wanted to make panna cotta. It's pretty easy- I adapted the recipe from here:

1 can full fat coconut milk

4 tablespoons maple syrup

1 vanilla bean

1 packet Knox gelatin powder

1 tablespoon water

Dissolve the gelatin powder in the water (try to use a shallow dish to get the powder to dissolve evenly).

Warm the coconut milk over med-low heat with the vanilla bean. Add the maple syrup (I used a bourbon barrel aged maple syrup from Wood's) and warm well but don't boil. Take out the vanilla bean, split lengthwise, use the tip of the knife to scrape down the seeds inside of each half. Mix the seeds into the milk and add the gelatin- stirring to dissolve completely (do not boil- very high temps will prevent the gelatin from ever setting properly). Grease 4 ramekins with coconut oil or some other no-flavor oil. Pour in the milk and let set in the fridge for several hours.

The bigger black bits are clumps of beans. I probably could have found a way to distribute the beans more evenly.

When it was ready, I loosened the edge with a knife and kind of had to plop the panna cotta into my hand and then place it on a plate.

Easy, fast, delicious. What's not to like about coconut milk, vanilla bean and bourbon maple syrup? Nothing! This isn't vegan but could easily be if you used a vegan gelatin.

All the beans:

This is the first time I've ever handled vanilla beans. It was interesting and I liked it. They definitely were a special splurge item but I'll be making 32 oz of extract for the price of the beans ($35). Commercial vanilla extract is currently selling at $90 for 16 oz. I'll be making twice as much (at potentially twice the strength- I think I used a lot of beans) for roughly 1/3 the price. Little bottles would make a nice Christmas gift, if it turns out well.