Panna cotta means cooked cream. Sorry, literalists, I did not cook my cream. This being my first time with the dessert, I went to Bon Appetit for guidance and adapted a blood orange panna cotta. The gelatin is bloomed in the tangerine juice, dissolved over low heat, cooled, and then the cream and some greek yogurt is added. Oops. Still tasted amazing!
So how did tarragon get into the mix? To be honest, I was looking at the leaves attached to some of the tangerines and thought they looked like tarragon leaves. No real burst of genius, just my weird brain being weird. But can I just say, it was an amazing combination! I love putting unexpected things in dessert and this was no exception.
To add a burst of color, I made a quick raspberry sauce to top the panna cotta. More tangerine juice was combined with fresh raspberries, a little sugar, and more tarragon sprigs. I strained the sauce to keep out the seeds and match the silky texture of the panna cotta.
For as impressive the final product is, there is very little active time in this recipe. Just refrigerate for about 6 hours before serving and use a warm water bath (and a maybe a knife) to help ease the panna cotta out of the personal sized bowls. Enjoy!