Recipe: Gingerbread Flan

This is a recipe of my own devising. I was first inspired by a guest post on The Pioneer Woman's blog - the post was for pumpkin leche flan. First I had to get ramekins, so I asked for some for Christmas (and got them, thanks to my family!). (Another food blogger inspired that request - I asked for the ones that Deb recommended.)

But now it's January, and I'm a little bit over pumpkin. Don't get me wrong - I'm still a fool for it, but I've had a goodly amount of it lately. I tried to think what might be wintery, but still good with the carmel that goes with flan, and decided that gingerbread flan sounded intruiging!

Ingredients, and recipe creation.

So, I searched for gingerbread flan recipes. I didn't get a lot of hits, but this one seemed to have a good spice mixture, so I cribbed that part of the recipe. Finally, I referenced the Joy of Cooking to get their take on flan, and to use for the carmel sauce when I realized I didn't have corn syrup and I wanted to get started. I also wanted to make a bit more filling and a bit more sauce, so I used the Joy of Cooking to help me scale the recipe up just a teeny bit. I also decided to use their slightly-lower-temp & longer-time baking instructions.

So here we go!  

Gingerbread flan

Prep: 
 - Set out 8 small (6-ounce) ramekins.
 - Put a full kettle of water on to boil (lower to a simmer if it's boiling before you need it)
 - Set out a roasting pan large enough to hold all the ramekins; line it with a towel.
 - Remove extra oven racks; leave one at the lowest level (I just moved my other rack to the top slot)
 - Preheat oven to 325.

For the sauce, which gets poured into the bottom of the ramekins:
1 c sugar
1/4 c + 1 T water

Combine the sugar & water in a small pot. Do not stir - turn the burner to medium high and swirl the ingredients occasionally. You want to make sure the water & sugar are mixed well before they start boiling. It will boil merrily along for at least 10-15 minutes (on my dinky stove, at least).

Look at that lovely color! 

I could have used a wet brush to moosh the sugar on the side back into the syrup.

Eventually it will turn golden in color - keep an eye on it, and when it's a nice amber tone, remove it from the heat and carefully pour it into the ramekins (have them on your stove or some other nearby and easy-to-clean surface). Let the carmel harden.

Ramekins with carmel.

While the sauce is boiling away, in a large bowl combine:
4 eggs
3 egg yolks
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract (I used my own!)

1 T molasses (I used blackstrap)
1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves

You can use a whisk to start combining these ingredients, but I was most successful with my beloved immersion blender. Combine thoroughly, with a minimum of frothing. Then strain the ingredients at least 3 times, alternating between two bowls. You want to remove any bubbles or other lumps. (This technique is from the pumpkin leche flan recipe, and I don't know that it's strictly necessary, but I figured it couldn't hurt.)

Triple-filtered - because I am thorough, or gullible.

By now the carmel in the ramekins should be hardened. Carefully pour the liquid mixture into the ramekins, filling them most of the way but NOT to the top. (I noticed some cracking noises at about this point - I think the carmel was cracking. I don't know what to make of that, but I think it's okay.)

Cover each ramekin tightly with foil. Set them in the towel-lined roasting pan (I gather that the towel helps keep the contents from cooking too fast; I didn't have the nerve to skip that step!). Set the roasting pan in the oven and carefully pour the water from your kettle into the pan. Fill it with water so that the ramekins are half immersed.

Ready for the hot water, and then the oven.

Bake at 325 for 45-60 minutes, until they jiggle only slightly. They will be HOT - I used tongs to handle the ramekins. If you have canning equipment, jar tongs might work well.

Cool on a rack for a while, then in the fridge for 2-48 hours. Serve by inverting onto a plate - note that the idea is that the carmel topping will now be a bit saucy, so be sure to use a plate that has an edge, or you'll risk losing the sauce (and making a mess of your tablecloth).

I made a small sample ramekin for me to test later; the rest are for a dinner on Friday night. This is the first flan I ever made; it required concentration but didn't feel difficult in any way. Stay tuned for my review!

Recipe Review: Clams & Bucatini for 1

Last night I made Clams & Bucatini for one as created by Joy, the Oyster Evangelist. Short story: it was delicious! It's interesting, but I realized I've never cooked shellfish before. I've been at a friend's for a clam bake, and a LONG time ago spent a winter weekend on the Oregon coast with friends, where we got permits to dig clams up by moonlight, and our friend Chef Dave cooked them.

But I've never done shellfish myself. I forget what kind I got, but comparing the pictures, I can see that mine were quite a bit bigger than the cockles or littlenecks that Joy recommended. Mine took 5-7 minutes to cook, but in the end they DID all open (and yes, I know not to eat the ones that won't open on their own!).  I got enough for two generous nights' worth, because I don't mind eating leftovers but I DO mind cooking every night.

I ate half last night, and stored the rest of the pasta for tonight. I removed the leftover clams from their shells and stored them separately from the pasta. Then I reheated the pasta and added the clams, but then still needed to heat it all a bit more.

It was delicous! It would be a very easy and impressive meal for company as well.

Recipe Review, continued: Marshmallows!

Whew. I wound up letting the marshmallow mass I made sit for over 24 hours, since I had to work today, and they were still pretty sticky last night. I think the extra time was good for them, but it certainly didn't hurt.

I used the tinfoil to lift them out of the pan, then peeled the foil off. I used a sharp knife (liberally dusted with cornstarch & confectioner's sugar) to cut them up. It was quite messy!

I put them in a bag with more of the cornstarch/sugar, and shook it up, to try to seal the sticky edges. Finally, I piled them into a pan:

But really, the most important thing was USING them, right? Fortunately I was headed to my local grocery store, where I pondered the many fancy drinking chocolates/hot chocolates/powdered chocolates/shaved chocolates...it was rather dizzying. I wound up buying something I've been curious about for quite a while: Ibarra Mexican table chocolate. It was about half the price of all the other options (it cost $3.89, I think) and had a LOT more servings in the package: 24, or two wedges per serving.

I was surprised to find that the chocolate is in a pretty solid cake - it took some effort to cut off two wedges. You're supposed to heat milk, add it and the chocolate to a blender, and puree it. I microwaved a cup of milk, added the chocolate, heated another 30 seconds, then used my immersible blender to do the honors. Then, of course, I topped with a marshmallow!

It was terrific.

Recipe Review: Marshmallows

I've been aware of what I'll call gourmet marshmallows for at least a couple of years. Catalogs like Crate & Barrel and the Pottery Barn have been selling them for a while, but I've never yet had one.

More recently I've seen a number of blog posts that reference home-made marshmallow, and I've finally taken the plunge. I admit that I didn't compare a bunch of recipes; I went with this one from Not Without Salt and am so far cautiously optimistic. It's very easy: let some gelatin get wet while cooking water, sugar, corn syrup, and a bit of salt in a pan. The tricky bit was getting the mixture up to 240 degrees - my stovetop seemed happy to sit at 215 for a LONG time. I finally mostly-covered the boiling liquid to keep more heat in, and that seemed to help. I was terrified it would boil over and make a horrific mess, but it didn't.

 Once I finally got the stovetop mixture to 240, I added it to the gelatin and started whipping it madly. Boy do I continue to love my mixer. The combined ingredients went from a cloudy, hot liquid:

To a gooey white mass almost instantly:

Now I have to let them sit for a few more hours (or overnight! ha! as if I could wait that long) before I can try them. I can confirm that I licked the bowl after turning out the marshmallows. I feel a bit jittery and have a small headache, so they must be good!

I'll add a note later with the report. Stay tuned, true believers! 

Final note: next time, try adding peppermint extract! 

Calendar: Two Thousand Ten - January

January's calendar image comes from the remains of Holyrood Abbey, in Edinburgh. The ruins are over 800 years old! They're on the grounds of Holyrood Palace, at the foot of the Royal Mile.

I was quite taken with the stonework - it was dramatic on that drizzly day, and refreshing after we spent time indoors touring Holyrood Palace.

I especially liked this gravestone from 1812 reminding us "Of the uncertainty of human life, / And the instability of earthly possessions / And enjoyments." - Yet another reminder to value experiences over things!

post-travel settling-in

I'm back on the West Coast after a lovely and fairly uneventful trip to Rhode Island for Christmas! The biggest excitement was when my dad turned too widely into the snow-choked driveway and got stuck, hanging out into the neighborhood street. Fortunately it's always a quiet street, and there was no one out at 8pm on that Sunday night, so we went inside for dinner and called AAA (after some futile pushing and heaving, involving me, my dad, my mom, and my sister!).

Now I've got a day to settle back in before I resume my working life. It's tempting to try to run around to a bunch of stores and hit any holiday sales that may be on, but I'm also enjoying being in my own little slice of the Bay Area and not mixing with civilization as a whole.

an aside: I'm mulling over adding a bit of (ha! I should say: still more!) storage for kitchen stuff, but this time it's going to have to spill over into my living room. I think I want a cabinet with solid doors to store things like my liquor, wine, wine glasses, crock pot, Dutch oven, cookie sheets, Bundt pans.. I even have a place to put this storage - I just don't know what I want. And I don't think I can bring myself to hit IKEA today, so it will wait.

a second aside: Every time I add to my now-copious stores of Stuff, I realize I'm less and less likely to chuck it all and travel the world. Truthfully, I think I'm a bit too much of a homebody to EVER do that, but it is something I think about whenever I acquire yet another thing. Of course stumbling onto my Most Excellent Apartment when I moved here has already dictated that I won't stick my stuff in storage and go on a long trip in-between jobs. Traveling without paying rent/mortgage back home seems ideal, but at present, I don't see that happening.

back to the main post: I've so far accomplished two of my time-honored post-travel rituals: first, I've exploded my bags into my living space. The second ritual is to go out for breakfast for one last hurrah before I resume cooking for myself. I did it when I got back from my three-week trip to Ireland & Scotland this spring, too: even though I was SO happy to be in my space, and was looking forward to cooking, I had nothing on hand and wanted breakfast. I remember knowing I was really ending my vacation, and I almost went for Fancy Breakfast at the Spanish restaurant, but at the last minute didn't want anything complicated. I also really wanted an American Breakfast after three glorious weeks of non-standard breakfast fare. So today, I did what I did that day in May - walked around the corner to the neighborhood cafe, and ordered the Pancake Special: 2 pancakes, 2 eggs (fried, over hard), and 2 strips of bacon - with coffee, and water. Bliss.

Calendar: Two Thousand Ten - cover

This is the third year in which I've created a calendar of my photos to share with family and a couple of friends. I also keep a couple of copies for myself, to use at home and work. It's a challenge to go through a year's worth of pictures to choose my twelve favorites!

This year I failed, actually - I whittled the list to thirteen and stopped there. So my calendar has a cover photo that doesn't appear elsewhere in the calendar - unusual, but couldn't be helped. Also, I wasn't sure how well this photo would translate to print: would it be good enough to look at daily? Turns out the answer to that is "probably" - I think it's fine. Ah well.

So I decided to use the calendar as blog-fodder. Once a month I'll be able to write about the calendar picture! Here's the cover photo:

The above is one of the departure bays in Glasgow's Central Station , one of two main train stations in the city (and the busiest train station in the UK, outside London). My mom and I traveled through Central Station twice in one day (May 10, 2009), when we took the train to Gourock to see the season's first Highland Games. As we could testify, it had been a VERY rainy week, and we arrived in Gourock only to find that the games were canceled due to squashy fields. Ah well, it was a lovely day (ironically enough) and we wandered around town for an hour until the next train arrived to take us back to Glasgow.


See how pretty it was? Shame about the games and the squashy fields.