Cinco de Mayo - update
Our Cinco de Mayo fiesta was a huge success. David’s margaritas were great - so great, in fact, I had a hard time taking pictures of the food! We had the standard fare - tacos, burritos, fajitas, and I made corn fritters instead of cornbread. The only downer was the rain. All of a sudden, the clouds came over and it started raining. Just as we finished bringing everything inside, it stopped (of course). And, after a few more margaritas no one cared!
Here’s the margarita - David put a splash of pineapple juice in it and a cherry for color. That’s my pig, Francoise, behind the glass announcing that it is, in fact, Cinco de Mayo. He has his own pedestal to keep him from mingling amongst the other appliances. Don’t mind the cord behind him, that’s to my slow cooker which was keeping the chicken fajitas hot.
And my lovely corn fritter, topped with sour cream, cheese and salsa - it almost looks like a sundae:
The piece de resistance was my creme caramel, aka flan. Wow. I’ve never made it before and if you’ve never tried it, I would tell you that the consistency is strikingly similar to creme brulee, without the crunchy top. I used a 2 qt. corning casserole dish, because I don’t have an 8″ cake pan that the recipe calls for. I also didn’t have any cream in the house so I substituted evaporated milk. Here it is, right after I unmolded it - don’t mind the stripes on the left side, that a shadow from the lattice overhang in the backyard.
This is what was left after my third piece:
Yummy yummy. Can’t wait to make this again, it was so easy and delicious!
Corn Fritters - adapted from Everyday Food
Serves 4
1 - 15 oz can corn, drained
1/3 cup milk
1 large egg
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. coarse ground pepper
¼ cup cornmeal
¼ cup flour
2 tbs vegetable oil
Sour cream, shredded cheese, salsa
Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
In large bowl, combine corn, milk, egg, baking powder, and pepper. Fold in cornmeal and flour. Line a rimmed baking sheet with paper towels. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium. Working in two batches, drop batter into pan by heaping tablespoons. Fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt; place in oven. Repeat. Keep warm in oven up to 30 minutes. Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese and salsa.
Caramel Topped Flan - Dorie Greenspan - Baking From My Home To Yours
For the Caramel
1/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp water
squirt of fresh lemon juice
For the Flan
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
1-1/4 cups whole milk
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a roasting pan or a 9-x-13-inch baking pan with a double thickness of paper towels. Fill a teakettle with water and put it on to boil; when the water boils, turn off the heat.
Put a metal 8-x-2-inch round cake pan-not a nonstick one-in the oven to heat while you prepare the caramel.
To Make the Caramel: Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice together in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan. Put the pan over medium-high heat and cook until the sugar becomes an amber-colored caramel, about 5 minutes-remove the pan from the heat at the first whiff of smoke. Remove the cake pan from the oven and, working with oven mitts, pour the caramel into the pan and immediately tilt the pan to spread the caramel evenly over the bottom; set the pan aside.
To Make the Flan: Bring the cream and milk just to a boil .Meanwhile, in a 2-quart glass measuring cup or in a bowl, whisk together the eggs, yolks and sugar. Whisk vigorously for a minute or two, and then stir in the vanilla. Still whisking, drizzle in about one quarter of the hot liquid-this will temper, or warm, the eggs so they won’t curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the hot cream and milk. Using a large spoon, skim off the bubbles and foam that you worked up. Put the caramel-lined cake pan in the roasting pan. Pour the custard into the cake pan and slide the setup into the oven. Very carefully pour enough hot water from the kettle into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the cake pan. (Don’t worry if this sets the cake pan afloat.) Bake the flan for about 35 minutes, or until the top puffs a bit and is golden here and there. A knife inserted into the center of the flan should come out clean. Remove the roasting pan from the oven, transfer the cake pan to a cooking rack and run a knife between the flan and the sides of the pan to loosen it.
Let the flan cool to room temperature on the rack, then loosely cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. When ready to serve, once more, run a knife between the flan and the pan. Choose a rimmed serving platter, place the platter over the cake pan, quickly flip the platter and pan over and remove the cake pan-the flan will shimmy out and the caramel sauce will coat the custard.
