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1
Preheat the oven to 300F.
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2
Put the almonds in a food processor and pulse a few times until they are coarsely chopped.
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3
Spread the almonds on a baking sheet.
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4
Bake until lightly toasted and fragrant, about 10 minutes.
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5
Combine the cream and sugar in a pot over medium heat.
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6
Scrape out the seeds of the vanilla bean and add to the cream mixture; put the pod in there too for extra flavor.
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7
Simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar, until steam rises from the top of the pot.
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8
Remove from the heat and stir in the nuts and salt.
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9
Cover and let the nuts steep in the cream for 30 minutes.
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10
Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water for 3 minutes to soften, then remove and squeeze out the excess water (if using powdered gelatin, no need to strain out the water).
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11
Pass the almond mixture through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing on the solids with the back of a wooden spoon to extract all of the almond flavor.
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12
Discard the solids.
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13
Add the softened gelatin while the mixture is still warm, stirring to incorporate.
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14
Stir in the buttermilk.
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15
Carefully fill 6 straight-sided rocks glasses halfway with the custard; pour carefully so you dont get schmutz on the sides of the glasses.
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16
Cover loosely and chill in the refrigerator until firm, at least 8 hours or, even better, overnight.
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17
To serve, set a couple of roasted pear wedges on top of each chilled panna cotta.
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18
Garnish with candied almonds.
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19
Preheat the oven to 400F.
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20
Coat a rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray.
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21
Using a vegetable peeler, peel the skin from the pears.
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22
Slice each pear into 6 wedges and carefully cut out the core with a paring knife.
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23
In a mixing bowl, combine the molasses, sugar, syrup, brandy, and vanilla.
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24
Add the pear wedges, tossing to coat.
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25
Dump the pears onto the baking sheet in a single layer.
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26
Roast for 20 minutes total, turning the pears with tongs halfway through cooking, until they are soft and brown.
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27
Remove from the oven and cool until warm.
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28
Save the caramel left on the baking sheet; its terrific drizzled on ice cream.
