sweet dessert for a sweet dad

Happy Father's Day! I'm a Daddy's Girl myself, and thus I love to celebrate this day. My dad taught me some of the best lessons of my life, one of my favorites being: if you love and enjoy something, share it with others. And I love food, thus I shared a home cooked meal with him today, and I'm sharing this with you now.Our deconstructed jambalaya dinner was on the spicier side, so dessert needed to be cool and sweet. The panna cotta topped with balsamic strawberries hit the spot. I've always loved panna cotta - it's so light and vanillay and creamy. It's like the grown up version of jello. I had no idea it was as easy to make as jello, too. Since there were 3 of us, I just split it between 3 small bowls, but this can easily be divided into 4, too.

Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta

adapted from David Lebovitz

2 C half and half

1/4 C sugar

1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped

1 package gelatin

3 Tbsp cold water

Lightly oil 3 small bowls.

Heat half and half, sugar, and vanilla bean caviar and bean in a pot and heat until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to sit for 30 minutes to let the vanilla infuse.

In a medium bowl, dissolve the gelatin over the cold water. Let stand for about 10 minutes. Pour the warm half and half mixture through a strainer (to catch the bean and any filmed milk) over the gelatin and stir until completely dissolved.

Divide between the 3 bowls. Chill until firm - at least 2 hours, but can be made up to a day or two in advance.

To serve, you can either serve it in bowl, or you can run a knife along the edges, dip the bowl in some hot water to loosen, and turn out onto serving plate. Finish it with topping of choice, such as...

Balsamic Strawberries

adapted from Allrecipes.com

1 pint strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and sliced in half

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/4 C white sugar

Put strawberries in a bowl and drizzle with the balsamic and sugar. Stir gently to combine. Cover and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour. Spoon over or around panna cotta.

This would also go really well with vanilla ice cream or topped with whipped cream. I should also note that the red and white color combo makes this perfect for a valentines day dessert (especially if using a heart mold) or Christmas... or throw in some blueberries and you have a nice patriotic looking dessert, too.