Lavender Panna Cotta

There's a lavender bush in a small lane near my place and it gives off the loveliest scent. Even though I felt a little bit naughty about it, I had to bring some home. I've always wanted to make a lavender-infused dessert so I decided to make lavender and honey panna cotta with passionfruit syrup.

This recipe is adapted from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's elderflower vanilla panna cotta recipe on River Cottage Every Day. (Incidentally, HFW makes me want to move to the country, grow my own vegetables and raise a family of lambs.)

So creamy and florally...

You'll need:

100ml milk
250ml double cream
30g castor sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Some lavender heads (I used 8)
2 teaspoons gelatine powder
150ml natural yoghurt

Place milk, cream, sugar, honey, vanilla and lavender in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat as soon as it bubbles. Leave to infuse for half an hour.

Strain through a sieve and place back into saucepan. Warm over low heat.

Mix gelatine in with a third of the mixture. Stir into the whole mixture. Cool completely.

Stir in yoghurt.

Pour into 4 moulds. I used ramekins, lightly greased with vegetable oil.

Set in fridge for at least 2 hours.

When you're ready to serve, dip each mould into hot water for 10 seconds and then flip out onto a plate.

Drizzle with passionfruit syrup (combine 1 passionfruit, ¼ cup sugar and 1 tablespoon water in a saucepan over low heat and simmer for a few minutes).

Enjoy!

Taste of Sydney 2010

Brazilian Fields, Centennial Park
March 11-14 - tomorrow's the last day so get down there!
Book online or buy a ticket at the door

You know the feeling you get when you've eaten so much that it pains to walk? I've only ever felt this twice in my life - once after eating at the Crown Casino buffet in Melbourne and once again tonight at the highly anticipated food festival, Taste of Sydney.

This was my first Taste experience (the festival is now in its second year) and I was so blown away that not even rain getting on my silk skirt fazed me. Just as live music is made doubly as enjoyable by a crowd sharing the same taste as you (I'm still friends with the guys I met at a Bjork concert years ago), the atmosphere tonight was fantastic being surrounded by top quality food and drink and people who really appreciate their food.

Here are my favourite picks of the night...

The Gourmet Traveller Taste Kitchen

Matt Kemp (Restaurant Balzac), Warren Turnbull (Assiette) and Colin Fassnidge (Four In Hand) doing a live demonstration on cured beef. It's always great fun to watch how professional chefs prepare their food and then plate it up ever so effortlessly.

The dishes

Everything I tried was heavenly! I got a mix of my favourite foods as well as things I don't eat very often (especially wagyu beef and panna cotta, yumm). I really wish I could've kept going into the night (the yellow curry from Longrain Restaurant smelt so good I was drawn to it from a stall away) but my stomach would only allow me to ingest so much in four hours. Guess I have to save up to visit each of the restaurants then!

Saddle of sucking pig with garden peas and smoked bacon jus, Restaurant Balzac, $12

Crispy wagyu beef with wild mushroom and truffle foam, Restaurant Balzac, $10

Sydney rock oysters with Vietnamese dressing, crispy shallot and baby coriander, Assiette, $10

Fig and Heilala vanilla ricotta tart with honey ice cream, Assiette, $8

Beef ribs smoked in watermelon with a watermelon and avocado salad, Danks St Depot, $12

Yellow fin tuna with sweet pork crackling and ruby grape fruit, Flying Fish, $10

Vanilla panna cotta with lavender honey and fresh pomegranate, Jonah's at Whale Beach, $12

Longrain Cocktail Bar

Fantastic cocktail to wash it all down with: Ping Pong (lychees and passion fruit shaked with 42 Below Vodka and fresh lime juice), $12. The fresh lychee flesh and passion fruit pulp is DE-LISH.

The VIC Tourism wine, beer and cheese stall

For 2 Crowns ($2), you can try all the wines, beers and cheeses in this stall. The wine that really caught my attention was the Rutherglen Topaque. Topaque (formerly Tokay) is an intensely sweet and syrupy fortified wine. Some people would classify it as a dessert wine, but it is so indulgently honey-like (due to its slow maturisation process) that I would drink this as dessert!

I also bought some pistachio macaroons from the Guillaume at Bennelong stall ($8) and a pistachio and cardamom cupcake from the Sparkle Cupcakery stall ($4.50). Will eat them tomorrow as soon as my stomach makes room for them!