Caramel Custards

Caramel Custards

These are somewhere in between the rich custard of Crème Brulee and the less dense custard of flan. They are served like flan…flipped upside down with the caramelized sugar as a sauce. We serve them with fresh fruit and people love them. (Even people who don’t like flan)

You will need eight 6 oz ramekins…A ramekin is a short ceramic bowl with vertical sides. We bought ours at Wal-Mart for 86 cents each and think that they are well worth it. We also use them for Crème Brulee and Molten Lava Cakes.

Caramel:

½ cup water

1 and ¼ cups sugar

Custard:

3 eggs

2 egg yolks

2 tsp vanilla

¼ tsp salt

¾ cup sugar

3 cups Half and Half

Caramel:

Place water in saucepan and pour sugar into middle of the sauce pan being careful not to get any on the sides. Wet the sugar and heat (medium high) without stirring until liquid starts to color. Reduce heat to medium low and cook until sugar is a dark amber color – about 350 F. Pour immediately into eight 6oz ramekins. (or six 8oz ramekins) The carmelized sugar will cool and harden.

Place the ramekins on a towel in a roasting pan (or cake pan if they will fit). The towel is to keep them from sliding around when you fill the pan with boiling water later.

The Custard:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Start to boil enough water to fill your roasting pan about half full (not half empty)

2. Beat the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, salt and ¾ cup sugar together until smooth. Heat the Half and Half until steamy and the pour slowly into the egg mixture while beating rapidly.

3. Although the custard could be poured into the ramekins at this point we recommend straining it through a fine strainer before pouring it into the ramekins. Try to spread the custard evenly into the ramekins.

4. Place the roasting pan in the oven and fill with enough boiling water to reach half way up the sides of the ramekins. Be careful not to slosh water into your custards

5. Bake for 35- 40 minutes until a thin knife inserted halfway between the center and the side comes out clean.

6. If you can remove the pan from the oven without spilling the water into the custards you may do so. If you are worried about your ability to perform such a task (as you probably should be) Then you can do what we do: We leave the pan in the oven and grab the ramekins with a pair of tongs and slide them onto a spatula (not flexible) and remove them one by one. (Be careful not to burn yourself on the top or sides of the oven…or the pan…or the ramekins…just be careful)

7. Let the custards cool for 2 hours and then wrap tightly in plastic wrap before placing them in the fridge. They must be refrigerated a minimum of 2 hours and it better if it’s longer We leave them overnight. They can be left for an extra day and are still just as good, but we can’t vouch for any longer than that because we have never had them last that long.

8. To serve: Run a knife around the edge of the ramekin. Place the serving plate over the ramekin and invert. We find that shaking the ramekin side to side works the best at releasing the custard from the ramekin. Also you may need to lift the ramekin slightly off of the plate as the caramel pours out because it will create a suction and stick the plate to the ramekin…then it is difficult to free your dessert!

9. Garnish with whatever you like or like my wife with nothing at all.

Red White and Blue Tart

Red White and Blue Tart

Dough

1 egg yolk

1 Tb Cream, or Milk

½ tsp vanilla

1 and ¼ flour

¾ cup powdered sugar

½ tsp salt

1 stick butter

Filling

2 cups half and half

½ cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla ( if you have clear vanilla it won’t discolor the white cream)

5 egg yolks

3 Tb cornstarch

½ cube butter (¼ cup)

Fruit

2 cups raspberries

1 cup blueberries

Sliced strawberries

Seedless fruit jelly (any flavor you like will do)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F

2. Process the flour, sugar, and salt together. Add the butter to the food processor in pieces and pulse until it resembles wet sand. Add the yolk, milk, and vanilla together and process until dough comes together.

3. Press into prepared (buttered or oiled) tart pan or 9x13 pan (If you use a 9x13 it is difficult to get the pieces out of the pan, but you can make it look more like an American flag which is pretty cool)

4. Freeze the crust for ½ an hour then cover with aluminum foil and weights (pie weights are great, but dry beans work just as well)

5. Bake at 375 F for 30 minutes then remove the aluminum foil and weights and bake another 5-10 minutes until the crust is golden. Let cool completely.

Filling:

1. Bring half and half, ¼ cup of sugar, salt, and vanilla to a simmer. Meanwhile whisk the egg yolks, cornstarch, and remaining sugar together until smooth. Slowly whisk half of the half and half mixture into the egg yolk mixture then add the now warm yolk mixture back to your saucepan with the remaining half and half mixture. Heat on medium heat until mixture thickens and bubbly. (Tempering the yolks (by adding the warm mixture and then adding the yolks back to the pan) keeps them from cooking too quickly and causing your cream to be lumpy.)

2. Remove from heat and mix in butter. Cool in fridge until chilled and firm (about 3 hours).

3. Spread cream mixture on crust

Fruit

1. Melt the jelly and lightly cover the fruit with a lightly layer of melted jelly. (This causes your fruit to glisten and keep a much longer time.

2. Arrange fruit in rings out from the middle in circles. (Alternatively arrange in a certain design like the flag for more patriotic tarts)

French Bread

French Bread

(My Aunt Kathy’s recipe…great with any pasta dish and even better made into garlic bread.)

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups warm water

2 Tb yeast

3 Tb sugar

1 Tb salt

1/3 cup melted shortening (vegetable oil can be substituted here and olive oil for health,but keep in mind it adds a distinct flavor to the bread…most people don’t even notice, but some may and half of those will probably really like it.)

6 cups flour

2-3 egg whites

Instructions:

In large mixing bowl combine warm water sugar, salt, shortening and yeast, add half of the flour and beat until smooth. Add the remaining flour and mix well. Let dough rest for 10 minutes. Stir dough down and let rest another ten minutes. Repeat this for a total of five times. Divide dough in half for larger loaves or in thirds for more normal size loaves. Shape loaves (This may take some effort to figure out how to do well. Try pulling into a longer shape and tucking the any stray flaps underneath the loaf. Alternatively if the surface is well floured you may be able to roll the dough into long logs by alternatively rolling and pulling the ends.) Put the shaped loaves on cookie sheets. Blend the egg whites until they are liquidy and less gelatinous. Brush the loaves generously with the egg whites and then slash the top of the loaves with a sharp knife 3-4 times each. (You are only making a small cut in the loaf to make the loaves look professional) Preheat oven to 375 F. Let rise until they have doubled in size (30 min- 1 hour) Bake at 375 F for 30-35 minutes until tops are golden. (If a softer crust is desired omit the egg whites and butter the bread immediately after you remove it from the oven.)

For Garlic Bread:

Wait until the bread has cooled. Cut in laterally in half (so there is a top and a bottom half). Then spread garlic butter mixture and salt and place in 375 F oven for 7-10 minutes.

Garlic butter:

One cube of butter melted and 1-2 cloves of garlic minced (or 1-2 Tb of Garlic powder)

Classic New York Cheesecake

Classic New York Cheesecake

This recipe uses a lot of cream cheese, which we found to be ideal for a rich creamy texture. (It is the main cost of the cheesecake so we buy it in bulk at Sam's Club, I'm sure a similar store will still save you money)

Crust

2 sleeves of oreos (double stuff)

(If you don't have double-stuffed then add 2 Tb of softened butter)

Cake

(All ingredients should be at room temperature…This is so when you mix them some amount of air will be incorporated into the cheese and sugar mixture before adding the eggs. The eggs should also be at room temp or they will not mix well

5 8-oz packages of cream cheese

2 cups of sugar

3 Tb of flour

1 Tb of Lemon Juice

½ tsp salt

½ tsp vanilla

5 large eggs

2 egg yolks

¼ cup of sour cream

Topping

1 and ½ cups sour cream

½ cup sugar

½ tsp vanilla

Pinch salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.

2. Blend Oreos (and butter if not using double-stuff) in food processor until you get fine crumbs. Press all but ½ cup into the bottom of a 10 and ½ inch springform pan. Bake for 6-8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Press the remaining crumbs to the sides of the pan.

3. Increase oven temp to 475 F

4. Beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Add the flour, lemon juice, salt, and vanilla. Mix for 1-2 minutes scrapping the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.

5. Add the eggs and egg yolks one at a time while mixing and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl so that you can keep a well mixed and not lumpy mixture. Then add the sour cream and mix well.

6. Scrape into the pan and bake at 475 F for 10 minutes and then decrease the oven temp to 225 and bake 50-65 minutes more until just the center jiggles when shaken slightly. (Just the center means that if the whole cake jiggles it is not done…it should jiggle slightly in the middle 3 inches or so.)

7. Remove from oven and set in a draft-free location. Increase the oven temperature back to 450 F.

8. Mix all of the topping ingredients together and spread on cheesecake that has cooled for at least 30 minutes (not more than an hour and a half) then bake with the topping for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool in draft-free location for 2 hours and then cool in fridge for 3-4 hours before serving. (We find it best to make it the day before and cool in fridge for a couple of hours before wrapping in plastic wrap and letting it finish cooling overnight.)

9. Top with melted seedless raspberry jam or fresh berries or chocolate sauce.

Chicken Lasagna

We really like this cheesy chicken lasagna. It takes a little time to prepare it, but it saves well.

Chicken Lasagna

Box of Lasagna Noodles

Stick of Butter (1/2 cup)

1 medium onion chopped

clove of garlic minced (1 tsp garlic powder will also work)

1/2 cup flour

1 and 1/2 tsp salt

can of chicken broth diluted to 2 cups (or 2 bullion cubes and 2 cups water)

1 and 1/2 cups milk

4 cups shredded mozarella cheese

1 cup of stronger cheeses (parmesan, romano, gruyere, swiss)(Grated fresh parmesan and romano is much better than the dry kraft crumbly cheese, but if it is not reasonably priced where you live the kraft cheese will suffice.)

2 tsp italian seasoning (or basil and oregano)

2 cups cottage cheese (unless you have ricotta on hand)

2 cups cubed chicken meat

10 oz. spinach (We like fresh, but frozen also works (drained!))

White cheeses for topping (mozzarella, parmesan, romano)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Cook lasagna noodles in salted water rinse with cold water (This will stop the cooking process so make sure they are cooked how you like them before doing this...If you don't do this they will continue cooking and become mushy later.)

3. Simmer butter, garlic, and onion until tender. Add the flour, and salt then heat on medium until bubbly. Then add the broth, and milk, bring back to boiling and heat for another minute. Add 2 cups of the mozarella and 1//4-1/2 a cup of the stronger cheeses and other seasonings (italian). Stirring until well mixed and cheeses are melted. Remove from heat and save.

4. If using Cottage cheese blend it in a food processor until smooth and then add the washed, rinsed and dried spinach and continue blending until smooth (alternatively if you like the texture of cooked spinach you may chop it by hand and add it to the blended cottage cheese) (If using ricotta no blending is necessary unless you want to blend the spinach into it)

5. Spread a thin layer of sauce on bottom of 9x13 then a layer of noodles. Next a layer of chicken and the cheese/spinach. Add sauce to even out the layer.

Another layer of noodles, then any cottage cheese left, any chicken left, 1 cup of mozzarella, 1/4 cup of parmesan, and more sauce.

Another layer of noodles, the rest of the sauce, any remaining cheeses (If you alternate directions that the noodles are placed the lasagna will hold together better.)

6. Bake covered for 20 minutes and uncovered for 15-20 minutes.

7. Let sit in/on warm oven for 15 minutes. Serve warm.

Coming up later today: Chicken Lasagna and Classic New York Cheesecake.

Starting the Blog

Jessica and I started this blog to allow others to view and participate in our cooking endeavors. We really enjoy putting together desserts and foods that bring us joy. We hope that some of these will also bring you joy. We plan to write helpful notes, but would appreciate any constuctive comments you may want to share on the recipes. Have a great time eating.