Sweetbreads sounds so much better than thymus glands. Escargot sounds better than snails. Rocky Mountain Oysters sounds better than testicles. It's all in the marketing really. I mean, I am quite sure that panna cotta would not be as popular as it is, if it were called Cream Jello. Which is what it is essentially. Sugar, cream, gelatin...panna cotta. Sounds like Cream Jello to me. :) But we don't call it that, and plenty of people eat it, including me. In my quest for finding Pacific Northwest foods for my other blog, I ran across a recipe for Buttermilk Panna Cotta. Needing to use up my soon to expire buttermilk I gave it a go. The original recipe does not use honey or dried cherries and throws in poppy seeds. They also use a fresh fruit compote as well. I'm sure it is nice but I didn't have any spare fruit lying around. Been super busy, will write about that later. This dessert was enjoyed with these lovely chilled mussels. Together they made and excellent Pacific Northwest … [Read more...]