Guilt Free Flan

Flan is custard dessert with a layer of soft caramel on top (as opposed to the French Creme Brulee, which has a hard caramel top).  It originated in Spain.

I love Flan.  But my biggest issue with Flan is that it is traditionally made with heavy cream.  And unless you're a gym rat (which I am not) who needs a whole bunch of extra fat calories, you probably avoid Flan (or wish you had after you ate it).

Because I love Flan so much but don't want to spend all of my free time in the gym, I set out to make a Flan that was both tasty AND not horrible for your diet.  I think this version is a keeper...

Ingredients:
1/2 c. granulated sugar
2 c. fat free half and half
4 eggs, beaten
1 t. real vanilla
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
1/2 t. ground cayenne pepper (no, that's not a typo)
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1 T. honey

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.  Place 4 custard cups (or use large muffin tins) in a larger pan.  Fill the larger pan with water so that the water level covers half of the custard tin.  Set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat and stir granulated sugar over medium heat until sugar melts and then carmelizes.  Immediately and quickly pour the carmelized sugar into the bottom of the 4 tins.  Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, heat half and half over medium heat, just until boiling point.  Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large mixer bowl, beat eggs.  Add vanilla, nutmeg, cayenne pepper and cinnamon, and honey.  While mixing, gradually pour warmed half and half into egg mixture.  Blend until smoothe.  Pour mixture over the custard tins.  Bake for approximately 35 minutes or until center sets.  Take out of oven and allow to cool for about 20 minutes.  Then refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

When ready to serve, run a flat knife along edges of custard, turn over onto a saucer, and allow caramel to drizzle over the top of the custard.  Serve immediately.

Lobster Mac 'n Cheese

I know I claim to make mostly healthy dishes.  Be forewarned, this is NOT one of them! 

Years ago, dear husband and I took a trip to San Diego, where we went to eat at a romantic restaurant on a pier over the harbor.  I don't normally eat pasta, much less macaroni and cheese.  But dear husband and I had done quite a bit of walking that day, so I felt it was okay to splurge, especially considering that this was the house specialty.

I've tried many, many versions of Lobster Mac 'n Cheese since then. I recommend that you try the recipe this way the first time.  Then the NEXT time you make it (because there WILL be a next time), try it with different cheeses, or without prosciutto, or maybe with bacon.  The possibilities are endless.

Ingredients:
2 lobster tails, pre-steamed (unless you enjoy murdering lobsters, yourself)
1/2 lb. Cavatappi pasta (or you can use Rigatoni or Large Elbow macaroni)
1 c. fat free half n half
2 T. corn starch
1 t. butter
1 stick light cream cheese
1 c. white cheddar
1 c. sharp cheddar
1/2 c. parmesan
1 T. dijon mustard
kosher salt to taste
1 slice of prosciutto ham, minced fine
1 raw egg, beaten

Topping:
1 c. Italian bread crumbs
1/4 c. parmesan
1/4 c. butter, melted

In a large stock pot, add macaroni to salted boiling water.  Cook to al dente stage.  Drain and rinse with cool water, then return macaroni to the pot and set aside.

 

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt 1 t. butter.  Whisk in corn starch until well blended.  Add prosciutto and continue stirring for about a minute.  Gradually whisk in half n half.  Add kosher salt to taste.  Stir until sauce thickens (6-8 minutes).  Turn heat to low and add cream cheese and mustard.  Stir until melted.  Turn off heat and then add additional cheddar cheeses.  Stir until well blended.  Set aside.  Stir beaten egg into the cooled macaroni mixture.  Then pour cheese mixture in and stir until well coated.   

Butter the bottom of a casserole dish and then spread macaroni mixture across evenly.  Cut cooked lobster vertically into fourths and lay on top of macaroni mixture, pressing the lobster gently down into the macaroni mixture.   Preheat oven to 400.  Prepare the crumb mixture by combining 1/4 c. melted butter, 1/4 c. parmesan, and 1 c. bread crumbs.  Sprinkle over the top of the dish.  Bake uncovered for about 20 minutes or until crumb topping is browned.

MMMMMustard Greens!

I've sat with many a foodie and debated the strengths and weakness of many types of greens.  Some people love sports.  Some knit.  Everyone has their own version of porn.  Mine happens to be food.  In particular, the cooking of it.

I'm not a huge fan of collard greens.  They're the most bitter of greens.  But some people like that bitter taste.  I'm also amazed at how the cooking time of baby spinach is about four minutes, while the cooking time of the greens more Southern in origin take hours to slow cook. 

To demonstrate the depth of my Southern cooking roots, my Granny (rest in peace) used to take me into the pastures and show me how to pick Poke.  Poke is a really tough but edible green that grows wild.  You boil it forever, drain it and then scramble it up with some eggs. 

I've decided that Mustard Greens are my favorite.  They're not as bitter as collards and they have a little more spine than spinach.  Their flavor lands somewhere in between.

Mustard Greens need to cook for a long time to get tender.  Take a head of Mustard Greens and rinse them really well under cold water.  Trim the leaves, discarding the thick part of the spine, and cutting into palm-sized squares.

Dice one medium yellow Onion. 

In a large crock pot, add 1/2 c. chopped Prosciutto Ham, chopped onion, mustard greens, and two cups of chicken stock, and add Kosher salt to taste.  Cook on low setting, stirring occasionally, for three to four hours.

I served mine with broiled catifsh and jalapeno corn pones.  This would go good with a spicy red like a Malbec.  Or if you like something sweeter, perhaps a Chianti.

Dates Wrapped in Bacon

I can't believe it took me 46 years to eat one of these.

While in Germany, we stumbled (literally) into a Spanish Tapas restaurant.  Which should never be confused with a "Topless" restaurant.  Loosely translated, "Tapas" means "Appetizers" in English.  And because of the language barrier, we pointed at a list of appetizers on the menu and the jovial purveyor brought us several platters with many bite-sized delicacies on it.  We had olives, spicy chicken, baked potatoes, roasted squash vegetables, link sausages, and dates wrapped in bacon.  All of this was served with sweet yeast rolls and homemade chimichurri-type sauce.

The food was all wonderful but I was especially surprised by how tasty and simple the dates wrapped in bacon were.  I didn't even have to look up a recipe for it.  However, a friend of mind suggested stuffing an almond inside the date, so I stuffed a skinless, salted almond into each date before wrapping it in 1/2 slice of bacon.  I sealed the end of the bacon with a drop of local honey and then I drizzled some more honey over the top of the bacon wrapped date before broiling it on both sides.

No dipping sauce required.  I have no idea what the house red wine was at this tapas restaurant.  But at home, I drink Kaiken Malbec with Tapas.

Cold Avocado Soup

We receive a quarterly newsletter from our HOA, which keeps us apprised of all the grand plans the HOA has in store for our little subdivision.  I usually throw this away because honestly, I never see these improvements happening, and reading about it makes me feel like I'm being lied to.  And stolen from.  I digress.

My dear husband reads every piece of mail that enters our mail box.  And while he was reading the HOA quarterly newsletter, he came across a recipe for Cold Avocado Soup.  After some debate over whether cold avocado soup is really just runny guacamole, I decided to make it and find out.

And then in what I can only conclude was subconscious passive aggression on my part, I lost the newsletter and the cold avocado soup recipe it contained.  So I had to scour the Internet.  And I was surprised to learn that cold avocado soup is, apparently, only a new thing to me.  Lots of restaurants make it, as do a lot of the celebrity chefs.  I combined attributes that I liked (and left off ones I didn't, like heavy cream) from several different recipes, to create this soup:


Ingredients:
3 large, ripe avocados, peeled, pitted and cubed
1.5 cups chicken stock
3 green onions, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 T. fresh lime juice
4 T. fresh cilantro, chopped
1 T. kosher salt
1/2 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. ground cayenne
1 c. fat free half-n-half
4 T. olive oil

Heat 2 T. olive oil in a deep saucepan on medium. Add jalapeno and green onions and sautee, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes.  Add minced garlic and cook for an additional 2 minutes.  Season with cumin and cayenne, stirring until fragrant.  Remove from heat and set aside.

In a food processor or blender, add the sauteed onion/jalapeno mixture, fat free half-n-half, 2 T. cilantro, chicken stock and 1 T. of the lime juice.  Puree until an even consistency is achieved.  Return to saucepan, along with salt, and heat on low, for approximately 10 minutes.

While the soup is cooking, place avocados in a bowl and mash with a fork until smoothe.

Remove soup mixture from heat.  Gently whisk in the avocados until well blended.  Allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

In a food processor or blender, combine remaining 2 T. olive oil, remaining 2 T. fresh cilantro, and remaining 1 T. of lime juice.  Puree until a smoothe paste forms.  Pour paste into a bottle with a nozzle or pour spout (I use a bottle intended for hot dog condiments).  Refrigerate until ready to use.

When ready to serve, give the avocado soup a few stirs before ladling into bowls.  Drizzle top with cilantro paste and serve immediately. Garnish with corn chips.


I served this with chilled red sangria, using frozen green grapes as ice cubes.  It was surprisingly good, especially now, when the temperatures are 100+ degrees, rendering chili undesirable.  And to answer the original question -- Cold Avocado Soup does NOT taste like runny guacamole.

I guess my HOA is good for something, after all (not really).

Pork and Sweet Potatoes in a Crock Pot

I belong to a cooking forum with a group of women who are really awesome cooks.  My friend Kathy had the brilliant idea of combining pork tenderloin, sweet potatoes, apples and onions in a crock pot.  So I had to try it.

When I made this, I didn't have the time it would take to cook a pork tenderloin, so I bought 3 thick cut, boneless pork chops, and I cut them into cubes.  I also bought a large sweet potato, a Grapple apple (my grocer sells these amazing apples that have some grape notes, however, you can use any kind of apple you like or have in your fruit basket at home), and a large Vidalia onion (use a yellow onion if Vidalias are not in stock).

After cutting the pork chops into cubes, I added kosher salt, freshly ground pepper and lots of (Indian) curry powder.  In a skillet over medium heat, I added a little (2-3 Tablespoons) olive oil, and browned the pork on all sides before chucking it into the crock pot.  Then I added the (thinly) sliced apples, sweet potatoes (sliced 1/2-in chick and then quartered) and chopped onion.  I happened to have some fresh thyme in my crisper so I pinched off the leaves of about 4 stalks into the pot.  Then I poured about half a box of chicken stock over the mixture, put the lid on and turned the crock pot on high.  Slow cooked for approximately 3 hours.

This was so yummy!  And this says a lot coming from me, because I normally have an aversion to combining fruit with savory dishes.  But the apples, after soaking in the salted, curried broth, mimicked the texture of a root vegetable, rather than an apple.  And the sweetness really balanced out the curry powder. 

I added another dash of curry powder right before serving.  I think a little dollop of plain Greek yogurt would be good with it, too. 

My dear husband thinks it would be good with a chopped pepper coulis.  But he likes his food really spicy.

I drank a glass of 14 Hands Hot to Trot with this.

Goat Cheesecake

Years ago I had a group of 15 girlfriends over to Chateau McCoy for an estrogen-filled weekend.  My dear husband is such a trooper.  Without going into a lot of detail, some of the highlights included firecrackers (in February), lots of imbibing, and panties being burned in the fire pit, followed by a warning from the HOA.  It's not a good time until the HOA gets involved.

But one of the better, neighbor-friendly highlights of the weekend was the Goat Cheesecake.  I took my old cream cheese cheesecake recipe and modified it to use goat cheese instead.  I also stirred in some fig preserves, and made a crust of Ritz crackers.  It was a huge hit.



Ingredients:
30 Ritz crackers
1/2 c. slivered almonds
1 stick butter (melted)
18 oz. goat cheese (chevre style - not seasoned)
1 can (14 oz.) fat free condensed milk
3 eggs
3 T. cornstarch
1/2 c. fig preserves
2 T. sliced almonds (for topping)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.  Combine cracker crumbs, slivered almonds and butter in a food processor and pulse until dough forms.  Press into the bottom of a springform pan.  Place pan in the refrigerator.

In a mixer bowl, beat goat cheese until fluffy.  Gradually beat in condensed milk until smoothe.  Add eggs and cornstarch; mix well.  Pour into springform pan (over cumb crust).  Drop small spoonfuls of the fig preserves into the cheesecake.  Sprinkle sliced almonds on top.

Bake 50 minutes or until center is set.  Cool; chill.  (I love saying "Cool" and "Chill", together).  This is great served with a glass of Pinot Noir.

Shrooms Galore

My dear husband and I were in Germany a few weeks ago, and the foodie that I am, I was prepared to be underwhelmed by brats, wienerschnitzel, potato salad and sauerkraut.  To my surprise, the food was amazing -- better than France.  I even enjoyed the biers.  If you've never been to Berlin, I highly recommend going, not only to see both sides of the old Berlin Wall, but also for the food.

Ever since we returned home to Chateau McCoy, it's been raining monsoon style.  Not that I'm complaining.  It's July and the rain has caused the temperature to drop from the typical 105 degrees to a balmy 90 degrees.  I'd much rather have soggy ground than last year's drought and ensuing forest fires.  I had to call my HOA and explain to them that the grass guy attempted to mow but his mower got stuck in the mud, causing him to do a burnout in the front yard and then bail, and that my foot-high grass will be cut as soon as the rain lets up and the yard is less swamp-like.

Also with the rain has sprouted hundreds of mushrooms of varying varieties.  I have no idea which (if any) of these are edible.  And I'm not going to eat one to find out, either.  But I have to remove them all in case Lola decides to eat them.  Lola acts like she's tripping on shrooms on any given day.  I can't imagine what she would be like if she actually ate one.

Picking shrooms out of the back yard reminded me of the food in Germany and gave me inspiration to try to emulate the wonderful mushroom gravy that covered or accompanied almost every food we ate while there.  I also wanted a chance to use the new spaetzle maker that I ordered from Amazon as soon as I got home.

This is a photo of pork medallions covered in brown mushroom gravy with a side of spaetzle.  I didn't make this.  It was just one of the many meals I had while in Germany, and like the ugly tourist that I am, I took photos of my food.

I admit that the prospect of making spaetzle was daunting to me.  Everyone I spoke with about cooking it had said that they knew someone who made excellent spaetzle.  But that person was usually someone's great grandmother from Germany. 

In addition to pork medallions, this same mushroom gravy was often served atop Wienerschnitzel (which is the origin of Chicken Fried Steak here in the South), changing it to Jaegerschnitzel.  I really wasn't sure what was in the brown mushroom (Jaegel) gravy, so I went internet rousing and came to realize that Germans use a wide range of schnitzel gravies, including: cheese-based (Kase); tomato-based (Zigeuner); tomato and pepper-based (Paprika); pepper cream sauce (Rahm); fried egg, onions and capers (Holstein); and mushrooms, bacon,  onions and burgundy (Jaeger). 



For the Spaetzle:
Mix together 2 eggs (slightly beaten), 1 1/2 c. flour, 1/2 c. milk, 1 t. kosher salt, 1/4 t. baking powder.  Refrigerate in a closed container for several hours.

I used Veal Chops with my meal.  I marinated the chops in a mixture of red balsamic vinegar, olive oil and worcestershire sauce. 

Approximately one hour before time-to-serve, salt and boil water in a large stock pot.  While water is heating, fry a piece of bacon in a deep skillet.  After the fat has been rendered and the bacon is brown, remove bacon and set aside for later.  Add an additional 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the skillet.

Dredge chops in seasoned flour and then brown in the oil (apx. 5 minutes on each side).   Place browned veal chops into a casserole dish and set aside.

Put Spaetzle dough into Spaetzle collander and push dough into boiling water.  Once dumplings

begin to float to the top of the water, place a lid over the dumplings and cook on medium for another 10 minutes.  Then remove from heat, strain and rinse with cold water.  Set aside.


In the skillet you used to brown the chops, add 2 T. olive oil, 4 cups fresh sliced mushrooms, 2 T. minced garlic, and then crumble up the reserved piece of bacon.  Once mushrooms are translucent, add 1 cup chicken broth and 1 cup red wine.  Cook, stirring frequently, for about 15 minutes, or until mushrooms shrink and sauce thickens. 




Preheat oven to 400. Layer a few fresh thyme sprigs over the veal chops. Pour mushroom mixture on top. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until chops are medium in center (using a meat thermometer). 




In a large skillet, add 2 pieces of chopped bacon and cook until browned.  Add boiled spaetzle and cook, stirring frequently, for approximately 5 minutes.

I served this with steamed spinach on the side. 

While we were in Germany, I drank nothing but really strong coffee and a really good bier concoction called "Radler", which translated into English means, "Rattler".  I'm not sure how this very tame-tasting Heffeweissen that is combined with a clear sparkling soda (like Sprite), came to possess such a threatening monniker.  I drank one of these when we first arrived, in an effort to "When in Berlin, be a Jelly Donut."  I was really surprised by how absolutely yummy this bier was.  And for the rest of the trip, drank nothing but Radlers.  Unfortunately, I have found no one near me who even knows what Radler beir is, much less, sells it. 

So if you also cannot get your mitt around a cold Radler, then I recommend a hearty Chianti or Bordeaux with this meal.

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

I love cauliflower and since the very first time I roasted some in the oven, I've never cooked them any other way.  When I roast cauliflower, I mix equal parts (approximately 1/2 cup of each) olive oil with whatever pesto(s) I currently have available (basil, artichoke, sun dried tomato, and chimichurri all work equally well).  Mix the pesto with oil in a large bowl with a whisk.  Add in the juice of one lemon and continue whisking. 

Add cauliflower florets (from one head of cauliflower) into oil/pesto mixture and toss until well coated. Preheat oven to 350.  In a casserole dish, gently add cauliflower and layer in single file.  Cover with foil and cook in oven for 40 minutes.  Remove foil.  With a spatula, flip over florets.  Add about 8-10 trimmed cloves of garlic.  Return to oven and continue cooking (uncovered) for an additional 30 minutes, or until cauliflower is tender throughout.  Remove from oven and set aside. 

You could serve cauliflower this way, with almost any meat or fish.  I make this several times a month.

Or you could go one step further and make soup out of it.  To make cauliflower soup, spoon roasted cauliflower and garlic into a food processor.  Add approximately 1 cup of chicken stock and pulse and then puree until mixture is smoothe.

In a large saucepan, combine pureed cauliflower mixture with 1 cup of fat free half and half.  Turn heat on low.  Add a few pinches of Kosher salt, and lots of fresh coarse ground black pepper.  Stir frequently to prevent sticking, for about 15 minutes. 

While soup is cooking on the stove, heat oven to 400.  Place about 1 cup of pine nuts into a metal pie pan.  Place pine nuts in oven.  Shake after about 5 minutes to prevent sticking.  After 8 minutes total, remove pine nuts from oven and allow to cool.

Remove cauliflower soup from stove and add 1 cup of freshly grated Asiago cheese.  Stir until melted.

Ladle cauliflower soup into bowls.  Sprinkle tops generously with smoked ground Paprika.  Garnish with a teaspoon full of toasted pine nuts.  Drizzle really good olive oil around the edges of the soup.  Serve warm with warmed Naan bread or freshly baked french bread.

This is a really delicate tasting soup, save for the spicy bite of the smoked Paprika.  I recommend a really spicy Malbec from Argentina to compliment the Paprika. 

Stealing Pinterest Recipes

I'm fairly active on Pinterest.  I like to look at all of the really nice home improvement features - like those gas-lit outdoor pits that are made out of petrified wood with tiki statues carved in the sides, that appear to be lit up and breathing smoke.  I take things like this and immediately port them over into a folder of mine entitled, "My Style."  Which is funny, considering that my "style" is not Polynesian.  Not at all.  Nor will I be purchasing any smoke blowing Polynesian God fire pits for my back yard.  I just think it's cool that someone out there... someone very far away from my Home Owner's Association, has a fire pit such as this.  I should probably create a Pinterest folder entitled, "Not Approved by my HOA".

But I digress.  I also steal a lot of recipes from Pinterest and I port these recipes into a folder entitled, "Recipes to Try".  My dear husband pointed this out to me tonight, when he asked me if I had "made" this.  "This" would be referring to this wonderful recipe that I stole from Pinterest called, Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars http://cookiesandcups.com/sopapilla-cheesecake/ .  I told him that I had.  If this doesn't sound like a trick question to you, then you are not alone.  I did not understand the trickery of this question either, until my dear husband corrected me and said, "Didn't you get this recipe from Pinterest?"

"Well, yeah."  I said.  "That's kind of a requirement for Pinterest Dinner Night." 

Just for clarity, for those of you who are, for whatever reason, subscribed to random bloggers but not to Pinterest, Pinterest does not charge a fee for membership, nor does it charge you for the recipes you steal.  Just the way this blog will one day end up pinned on Pinterest [spoiler alert!], anyone who puts their stuff out onto the world wide web, is subject to the possibility of someone pinning your most intimate thoughts, nekkid photos and RECIPES, onto Pinterest.

"Well it's not an original recipe then," he said.

"No," I said.  "It was someone else's recipe.  Now it's mine."

The Oldest Girl chose this recipe for our Pinterest Dinner Night at home.  The only deviation I made from the author's original recipe, was to add an egg to the "cheesecake" portion of the bar.  I also used the 1/3 less fat version of cream cheese.

Ingredients:

2 cans Crescent Rolls

2 boxes Neufchtel (light cream cheese)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 t. real vanilla

1 raw egg

1/2 stick real butter

cinnamon/sugar (1/2 c. granulated sugar mixed with 2 T. ground cinnamon)

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a glass 9x13" pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Open 1 can of crescent rolls and lay flat on the bottom of the pan, pressing to meet sides and corners.

Mix together cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, vanilla, and egg, until well blended.  Pour over flattened crescent rolls.  Open second can of cresent rolls and lay over cream cheese layer.  Melt butter in microwave for 10 seconds.  Drizzle over top of crescent dough.  Sprinkle top with cinnamon/sugar mixture.  Bake uncovered for 30 minutes.

This is great served with a giant glass of 14 Hands Hot to Trot red blend.