Ladies and gentlemen,
if you recall,
I have a plethora of egg yolks in my fridge,
leftover from all the egg whites I used to clarify my gallons of stock.
And they're just waiting for me to wave my magic wand
and transform them into something incredibly edible.
I cannot rest on my pomegranate laurels.
I must continue.
But before I started on my egg yolk project,
I needed sustenance.
I always think better when I'm well-nourished.
Even if it is leftovers.

But, my goodness.
What leftovers!
Medium rare tuna.
Reduced marinade.
Toasted sesame seeds and hot pepper flakes.
Candied grapefruit zest.
Paper thin slices of ginger root.
This was excellent.

This is the tuna
from the other night when the Xmaskaties and Glowria
were here for dinner.
It's from the
Alinea recipe
except I refused to make tuna jerky.
Instead, I sauteed the tuna.
And I swear, it's better the second time
around than it was the first.
(By the way, I made the tuna last Saturday
and these pictures are from Monday or Tuesday.
So don't think I'm eating almost-week old tuna.)

I had a few stuffed
jalapeno poppers
left in the freezer and made a batter for them
Alas, I had no beer.
So I just used equal amounts of flour and seltzer
with salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning.

I just dropped the jalapenos in the batter
and coated.

Fried 'em up
and drained on paper towels.

Yummy, creamy, gooey, cheesy interior.
Slight jalapeno bite.
Crispy exterior.

Just a wonderful combination.
OK.
I'm ready to think about the over-abundance of yolks
now that my stomach and taste buds are happy.

And I'm thinking ...
caramel flan.
Here are my ingredients for my flan:
1/2 cup milk
(I used 1%. Yeah, counteract that heavy cream.)
2 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
pinch salt

I mixed all ingredients together.

Decided to add in a teaspoon of vanilla extract for good measure.
Brought it to a simmer.
Then set aside for 30 minutes to steep.

I used Julia Child's measurements for caramel -
the same as when I make my
spun sugar
to decorate my cheesecakes.
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water

Stir to dissolve.

Bring it to a boil
and let simmer ...

... until it turns a nice amber color.

Pour into ramekins,
swirling around to coat the sides.

Swirling needs to be done quickly.
Sadly, I forgot to do that.

Caramel coated ramekins in the background.
Milk/cream/vanilla mixture on the left.
Five EGG YOLKS
and 7 tablespoons sugar
in the foreground.

Whisk sugar into yolks,
1 tablespoon at a time.

Gradually whisk in the milk/cream mixture.

I poured the custard mixture into my caramel-coated ramekins
and poured hot water halfway up the sides.

I baked for 60 minutes
in a 350 degree oven.

Ta-daaaaa!

Aren't these pretty?

I inverted one today for my dessert.

It's looking mighty good.

Oh my.
This was exquisite.

Look how creamy this is.
The texture was out of this world.

This is absolutely delightful.
Look up the word
ethereal in the dictionary.
It will have this picture next to it.

Mr. Hawthorne declared this ...
"Pure delight."
"Heaven."
"I thought creme brulees and cheesecakes
were the ultimate desserts, but it doesn''t
get any better than this."

I was eating lunch by myself today
and I actually licked my plate clean.
Ta-daaaaa!
ReplyDeleteI wish I was there to try one (or 2). I think I will attempt to make this, but I first need to buy some ramekins (the 3 syllable kind).
Ummm ... jealous!! I want flan! It is too bad I have a list of things to make this weekend otherwise I would make some for myself.
ReplyDeleteThe tuna looks magnificent. I love the grapefruit garnish. The flan looks out of this world. Your photo really captures the creaminess.
ReplyDeleteBTW, Diana from POM Wonderful said she is shipping out your case next week.
I totally hate flan. But that stuff looks awesome.
ReplyDelete