Meet Shannon T!

"I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate." -- Julia Child, celebrity chef and cookbook author

My three siblings and I were raised on the food my mother made, which was the food that her mother made. It was standard: meat and potatoes. Sometime in my early 20's, I started venturing beyond that realm. I briefly went to culinary school, moved to Maine—where I've lived for the past 8 ½ years with my partner and our two cats, Sophie and Jose Jones—and started cooking professionally. While I've
long been off the line, my love of food has evolved into a self-guided education into everything cheese and specialty food related. I’m currently the lead Cheese Buyer at Whole Foods in Portland, ME, and am studying to take the Certified Cheese Professional exam at the 2013 American Cheese Society Conference in Madison, WI. When I’m not in the kitchen at home, I write the blog, Edible Obsessions.

My default would have been to create a cheese plate as that’s more my signature than anything else. But since a recipe was required, I thought a dessert was appropriate enough as I started my culinary career as a dessert/prep chef for a high end restaurant.

So, here’s one of my favorites:

Panna Cotta with Strawberry Balsamic Jam

Spring Panna Cotta:
Nonstick spray, for greasing ramekins

1 cup whole milk

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup superfine sugar

1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped

4 strips lemon peel*

1 1/2 teaspoons powdered gelatin

1/2 lemon, juiced* again, I used orange

1 1/2 cups creme fraiche, room temperature

* I used orange

Click here for cooking directions! 

Strawberry Balsamic Jam:
8 cups washed and hulled strawberries (about 1 1/2 pounds), halved if large

5 cups sugar

½ teaspoon unsalted butter

5 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Click here for cooking directions!