Honey Panna Cotta with Kefir

Vanilla beans can get expensive, but they can be found economically online with a quick search.  However, if you can only get the pricey ones, cut it down to one or two vanilla beans, it will still be delicious!

Ingredients:
3 vanilla beans, split and seeds removed
2 cups heavy cream, divided
3 tbsp +1 tsp bovine gelatin*
5 tbsp cold water
4 cups kefir
¾ cup raw honey
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine vanilla beans and pods with 1 cup of cream.  While stirring to prevent the milk from scalding, bring to a boil and immediately remove from the heat.  Set aside for just 10 minutes.  While mixture cools slightly, use a fork to combine gelatin and water into a small bowl.  Set aside for 5 minutes.

After cream mixture has cooled slightly, but is still quite warm, whisk in the gelatin mixture until fully combined.  Then, strain using a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl to remove vanilla pods and any remaining small gelatin clumps.  The seeds will go through, but the pods will stay in the strainer.  Add the remaining cup of cream, kefir, raw honey and vanilla extract.

Ladle the mixture into 10 1-cup ramekins (however any vessel will do) and chill for at least 1 hour until set.  Serve cold.

* I used Bernard Jensen gelatin for this recipe. Different types of gelatin behave differently.