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1
Pour the heavy cream into a medium saucepan. Scrape all the seeds from the vanilla bean, and add them to the saucepan along with the bean, sugar, basil, lemon zest, and salt. Cook over medium heat until just boiling, about 5 minutes.
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2
Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and set aside for at least 30 minutes.
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3
In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over 4 teaspoons of water and set aside to soften and bloom.
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4
Fish out the vanilla bean, scraping any remaining custard and seeds back into the mixture, and set it aside.
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5
Over medium heat, bring the cream mixture back to just barely a simmer
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6
Slide the pan from the heat, add the softened gelatin, and stir until dissolved.
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7
Pour the custard through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean bowl, pressing on the basil and the zest to make sure you get all of the flavor from them. Discard the basil and the zest.
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8
Add the buttermilk to the cream mixture, and stir until well blended.
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9
Pour the custard into 6 small straight-sided rocks glasses (about 6 ounces each, the kind you would use for a good bourbon). Cover the glasses with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or up to 2 days.
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10
To serve, spoon the berries on top of the panna cotta.
