Fennel Panna Cotta with Smoked Salmon, Fennel-Shallot-Caper Chutney, Chocolate-Myzithra "Dirt," and Crispy Shiitake Mushrooms

Velvety fennel panna cotta, served slightly chilled, is a perfect foil for the topping of alder wood-smoked salmon, fennel-shallot-caper chutney, chocolate-Myzithra "dirt," and shatteringly crispy slivers of shiitake mushrooms. Each small bites subsumes half a dictionary's worth of adjectives: cool, creamy, crispy, sweet, earthy, tangy, sandy, briny, crumbly, bitter, smoky, and crunchy. Served in tiny shot glasses, this ensemble makes a very nice amuse-bouche and, of course, a great conversation piece.

After tossing and turning in agony for several nights, I've finally figured out a way to put fish, fennel, dark chocolate, and mushrooms together in one dish for a contest which I, as the host, am not eligible to win (insert the saddest background music you can think of here). To my surprise, what I thought would turn out to be a project done solely just to satisfy my curiosity and adventurousness turned out to produce something I know I will definitely make again and again.


The contest stipulates that the entry be an entrée. Yet, I have passive-aggressively made an appetizer since whatever it is I enter, it would be ineligible anyway. I just had to enter something; I couldn't resist the fun.

I mean, fish and chocolate. In the same dish. Something about that appeals to my inner rebel.

In professional kitchens, I'm sure chocolate and fish relate to one other on a first-name basis, if not get together every Saturday night for poker or stand in each other's weddings. In home kitchens, however, the two ingredients look at each other suspiciously only from afar and if they ever come near each other at all, even a quick, mindless exchange of greetings would be an unrealistic expectation.

Must it be that way? After all, chocolate is just an ingredient that by itself, without any external superimposition, can be both savory and sweet. Without added sugar, chocolate isn't much of a confectionery material. In light of this, the idea of pairing fish with a chocolate item shouldn't cause one to cock one's head sideways, squint, and go, "Huh?"


I melted some 85% chocolate and blended into it some finely-grated myzithra cheese. Myzithra* is mild with a hint of goatiness (definitely not a word). After I discovered this delicious Greek cheese, I've been using it in pretty much everything, most notably grating it over a bowl of morning cereal. My eating habit can be quite enigmatic at times.

But, hey, it works.

For example, the chocolate-myzithra mixture adds a bit of bitterness which adds another layer of flavor to what would have otherwise been a bit boring and predictable. The sandy texture also contrasts with the creaminess of the fennel panna cotta and the smoked salmon. With additional help from the earthy, crunchy fried shiitake and the sweet-tangy fennel-shallot-caper chutney, you got a first course that's refreshing, delicious, and comes with wildly variegated textures and flavors.

Savory Fennel Panna Cotta
Printable version

One 1-lb bulb of fennel, excluding the stalks and fronds
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 cups half-and-half, divided
1 envelope (1 tablespoon) of unflavored gelatin powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

• Cut the fennel bulb into 1-inch chunks. (There's no need to remove the core since everything will be liquefied.)
• Place the fennel pieces in a saucepan and add to the pan just enough water to cover the fennel. Bring the pot to a simmer over medium heat. Let the fennel cook gently for about 4-5 minutes until it's tender. Drain off the water and add the butter to the fennel while it's still hot. Transfer the cooked and buttered fennel to a high-speed blender; set aside.
• To the same pot (no need to wash two pots, right?), add one cup of half-and-half and sprinkle the gelatin powder over the surface. Let the gelatin "bloom" for 4-5 minutes.
• Pour the remaining half-and-half over the fennel in the blender; liquefy, strain, and set the mixture aside.
• Bring the half-and-half and gelatin in the pot to a gentle boil. Remove the pot from heat after one minute. Mix together very thoroughly the hot gelatin mixture and the strained fennel cream.
• Pour the fennel cream into small containers (glass shot, martini glass, etc. -- nothing too deep).
• Cover the containers with pieces of plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours.
  

The fennel panna cotta is perhaps the most versatile element of this entire ensemble. It provides a creamy, delicious, and unassertive canvas on which you can add anything. It can even be made in advance, up to three days.

With the canvas in place, we can play with the "add-ons." Since smoked salmon is part of the dish, I thought something with shallots and capers would provide that familiar flavor combination that prevents this whole thing from being too unusual. Also, with the contest rules stating that all parts of the fennel plant be used, I thought a chutney would be a great way to use the fibrous fennel stalks. Fennel stalks, shallots, and capers go very well together.


In a wide sauté pan, I sautéd about 1 cup of very thinly-sliced fennel stalks, 1 very finely-diced medium shallot, and 1 tablespoon finely-chopped drained capers in 1 tablespoon of butter. Once everything was softened, I added 1/3 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of cider vinegar (white wine or champagne vinegars work too) and continue to cook and reduce the mixture until it becomes thick and jam-like. The chutney was then left to cool. (As I'm typing this, I'm imagining this chutney on grilled burgers and "snappy" hot dogs.)

The chocolate-myzithra mixture was the easiest to do. 1 part chocolate (melted) and 2 parts myzithra cheese (romano or parmigiano-reggiano works too) were mixed together, frozen briefly, and rubbed between two hands to create semi-fine powder.


You can put the chocolate "dirt" through a sieve, but I kind of like the rustic look of unsifted dirt. The chocolate-cheese dirt is delicious all by itself. It's bitter, but not overly so. There's a bit of sweetness. And, of course, the savory cheesiness comes through very clearly. I'll definitely be using this mixture in other applications in the future. Using this delicious chocolate-cheese dirt to coat the outside of a Brooklyn Blackout Cake is one application I'm thinking of at the moment. It will be a bastardized Brooklyn Blackout Cake for sure, but life is too short to deprive yourself of some wreckless fun in the kitchen, don't you think?


For the crunchy shiitake, it's just a matter of cutting the fresh shiitake into very thin strips and shallow-frying them on medium heat until golden brown and crispy. They crisp up very quickly, don't splatter or absorb excessive oil, and stay crispy for a long time. Easy. Easy. Easy.


After the panna cotta is set, the only thing left to do is putting all the elements together. The smoked salmon is cut into strips and placed in a haphazard manner on top of the fennel panna cotta. Some chocolate-cheese dirt goes into one corner. Some fennel chutney goes into another. Some crispy shiitake strips get strewn all over. Lastly, sprigs of fennel frond get planted somewhere in the midst of other elements so as not to break the contest rules, i.e. all parts of the fennel must be used.


For best results, serve this thing chilled. It may look weird, but -- trust me -- it tastes very good.

*The spelling variant "mizithra" is also widely used for Μυζήθρα. I prefer "myzithra" as the English "y" is conventionally used to transliterate the Greek Upsilon.