Danica Pollard’s strawberry recipes

Danica Pollard is the pastry chef at Lidia’s. She recently returned from New York, where she won over some of the biggest names in the food industry at the James Beard Awards.

Fat City asked her for a recipe that combines her love of baking with an ingredient close to her heart. Pollard delivered with strawberries, saying she absolutely loves them. “The color, taste and especially the smell

remind me that it is warm and lovely outside. Every spring I wait for

them, and the ideas of what I might like to make with them begin

rolling around inside of my head.”

She has kindly shared two recipes in one. A strawberry mint panna cotta topped with strawberry-prosecco gelee. (Though you can make either one independent of the other.) Pollard describes this dish as “light, cool and perfectly suited to eating with friends

outside after a nice meal.”

Strawberry Mint Panna Cotta

1 ¼ c. cream
1/3 c. whole milk
½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise, with seeds scraped and reserved
¼ oz. fresh spearmint
½ c. sugar
4 sheets of gelatin
1 ¼ c. fresh strawberry puree, strained

— Heat the cream and milk in a small saucepan.
— When bubbles start appearing around the edges of the pan, turn off the heat and add the vanilla bean and seeds and spearmint.
— Let steep for 15 minutes.
— Place sheets of gelatin in a bowl of cold water until they are very soft and flexible.
— Lift from the bowl and squeeze out excess water.
— Add the gelatin and sugar into the saucepan and reheat until the gelatin has dissolved.
— Strain mixture through a sieve, and whisk in strawberry puree.
— Divide mixture evenly among 6 champagne flutes, and carefully place in refrigerator.
— When panna cotta has begun to set, about 2 hours, proceed with the gelee recipe.