What To Do With Leftover Yolks. Part One. Caramel Flan

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.