Not sure what I like best, vegetable flans or fruit flans…

The French love flans, for the simple reason that they’re just too good. I bought too many apples and needed to do something with them. The thought of more apple cakes, apple tarts, baked apples, and last night apple papillotes, did not inspire me at all. When I am in that particular mood, I cannot put my mind to rest until I start coming up with something, just like an obsession. I am sometimes possessed by the cooking devil, that’s what I like to call it.

Nothing complicated in these flans, simple ingredients for irresistible little bites. Their particularity is that apples are reduced in a “compote” then mashed in a purée type of texture. I did not use sliced apples, so the apple flavors are well blended in the flan and adds great texture to it. As any fruit based dessert, they’re very light and are guilt-free desserts, so no need to worry about calories. Maybe some of you guys don’t worry about it but I do, so winner desserts for me are the ones that are light, un-greasy that satisfy sweet cravings. I hate to feel stuffed at the end of a meal, such an unpleasant and unsexy feeling. After eating the five of them, I felt as light as a feather.  So for those who are somehow health conscious, I would recommend those apple flans.

Ingredients for 5 flans

• 2 eggs
• 2 medium size apples or 4 small ones, peeled and sliced
  
• 100 ml milk
• 2 tbs sugar
• 2 tbs flour
• 2 tbs crème fraîche or heavy cream
  
• vanilla extract
• vanilla powder

Preparation

Place apple in a pot, add one tbs water and cook at low heat until the apples are cooked and reduced into a compote. Then mash with a potato masher to make it into a puree. Let them cool down.

In a mixing bowl, add apple compote, sugar, eggs, milk, cream, vanilla extract and powder and flour. Mix well to obtain an homogenous batter.

In individual silicon molds, pour batter in each mold and cook in a pre-heated oven for about 20-30 minutes until the flan are cooked. Let them cool and refrigerate for a couple of hours.

That goes not only for hair products, but for food too!

Crème caramel or flan aux oeufs, or crème renversée, they’re all the same things. I think the English translation would be custard, but I am not going to use it, because it sounds weird to me, not a name for a dessert but more so for a gardening tool.

Please don’t think that I am pretentious, but it is true that I have never failed making a caramel. I did fail in many other cooking experiments, but caramel was not the one, it always worked fine for me…until last year in France. I wanted to make a crème caramel for a friend’s party, and it turned out a complete disaster. I used all my mom’s sugar, tried four times in a row, and that darn sugar would crystallize. I had to run to the supermarket, bought tons of the top sugar, (I was convinced there was something wrong with her sugar), came back, tried again twice and it did not work either, so I was convinced there was something wrong with her pans. Obviously there was something wrong with me and still cannot figure out what. I was just so irritated that I threw everything away the egg mixture, milk, everything went in the sink. That was unbelievable that after six tries, it would not work.

The first time I made caramel after that disaster was today. Now I get the caramel phobia, and thinking, OK it will crystallize again, so I was ready for it. I was staring at the sugar in the pan, waiting to see formation of crystals. The sugar started to melt and colored beautifully, I could not believe it. I have absolutely no idea why when in France I just could not manage to make a caramel. That is a mystery, since I proceeded exactly the same way as I usually do. Everyone gave me all kinds of explanations and reasons…but since I did exactly the same thing, I don’t understand it. My theory is that since cooking is somehow like chemistry, I assume there were some chemical reactions involved which I was not aware of.

This crème caramel has a little twist, the pears and the orange blossom water which gives it a very nice kick. It’s a very easy dessert to make (of course if your sugar does not crystallize) and very light sweet touch after a multiple course meal.

As you can see, my crème caramel is overcooked because of the holes around it. If the water boils, it will create those holes. It does not affect the taste of the crème though, but it gives it some weird-looking aspect. To avoid this, you might want to check and make sure the water is not boiling and decrease the temperature accordingly.

Ingredients for 4-6 individual crèmes caramel (depending on the size of your ramequins)

For the crème caramel

• 1 pint (or about 500 ml) milk
• 3 eggs
• 2 yolks
• 1.41 oz (or 40 g) sugar
• 1 large pear, peeled and sliced
• 1 vanilla bean cut lengthwise
• 1 1/2 tsp. Orange blossom water

For the caramel

• 200 g sugar
• 1 tbs water

Preparation

For the caramel, place sugar in a pan with 1 tbs of water and let it melt slowly without stirring. When it has reached a nice dark golden color, distribute caramel evenly in ramequins. Place pear slices in caramel and set aside.

Place milk, in a pot, grate beans from vanilla beans and add to the milk, add sugar and heat for about 2-3 minutes until the sugar has melted. Do not let milk boil, it just needs to be lukewarm.

In a container, mix eggs thoroughly and add milk, keep stirring until the mixture gets homogenous and smooth. Add orange blossom water.

Fill the ramequin with milk/egg mixture. Place ramequins in a large tray filled with water and cook in a pre-heated oven at 370-375F for about 50 minutes. Let it cool and place in the refrigerator for about 3-4 hours.

Serve upside down. You might have to use a knife to enable the crème caramel to detach itself from the sides of the ramequins.

You can make those just for the fun of it because they’re so easy and quick to make. Those cute flans have been always a favorite of mine and whoever tried them too. They are addictive and once you’ve made them, you will keeping making them over and over again just because they’re so quick to make and for such a fasted prepared meal, the result is worth the effort. Sometimes, it happens you spent so many hours cooking and then when it’s time to eat, you realize that all that time cooking was not worth it, because the result ended up just ordinary. This is not the case.

I did some research to find out what was the right translation for the word heirloom in French since I have never seen them over there, and weirdly enough, it’s literally translated by “ancient tomatoes” or tomates anciennes. I have never seen them in France in supermarkets but seems like they do exist, so I would imagine it’s something that had been introduced recently to the market.

Anyway, I bought one giant yellow tomato that weighted 1 lb, it was huge and was enough to use in a few recipes. You might want to use a red tomato instead of a yellow one, the contrasts will be much prettier since the flans are already on the yellowish tone, here it looks like yellow on yellow. I have always learnt that you just don’t wear the same tones of colors together…and what works for clothes, works for food too. Colors and just colors after all.

The tomato vinaigrette is a great and refreshing way to accompany this kinds of dishes, and I use it quite often.

Ingredients for 6 flans

For the flans

• 3 small zucchini, grated
• 6 tbs feta
• 12 mint leaves, roughly chopped
• about 8 kalamata olives, roughly chopped
• 2 eggs
• 3 tbs heavy cream
• 4 tbs milk
• salt and pepper

For the heirloom tomato vinaigrette

• 3 medium heirloom tomatoes, grated
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the zucchini flans

Grate zucchini. Squeeze water with your hands and place in a container. In small silicon molds (you can get any shape you want) place about 1 tps zucchini, then add feta, olives and mint. Proceed with zucchini and with the other ingredients for a second layer.

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs with milk and cream, salt and pepper.

Pour on top of the zucchini layers filling all molds equally.

Cook in a pre-heated oven at 375F for about 30 min or until the flans are slightly browned and cooked in the middle.

For the tomato vinaigrette

Cut the tomatoes crosswise and remove seeds. Using a cheese grater, grate tomato halves and place in a container. Add olive oil, cayenne pepper, vinegar, salt and pepper.

Place one flan per plate and spoon about 1 tbs of tomato vinaigrette around it.

]]> http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2009/09/just-for-fun-zucchini-flans-with-olives-feta-and-mint-in-a-heirloom-tomato-vinaigrette/feed/ 12 http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2009/07/small-dessert-for-a-friday-afternoon-almond-milk-tapioca-flan-with-coconut-and-banana/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=small-dessert-for-a-friday-afternoon-almond-milk-tapioca-flan-with-coconut-and-banana http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2009/07/small-dessert-for-a-friday-afternoon-almond-milk-tapioca-flan-with-coconut-and-banana/#comments Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:35:08 +0000 silvia http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/?p=2809 Petit dessert pour un vendredi après-midi – Flan de tapioca au lait d’amandes, noix de coco et banane

Travels always leave you some special memories, flavors, and sensations…My trip to Japan left me with an incredible and delightful sweet sensation I will remember for the rest of my life…eventhough I prefer from far savory dishes than sweet ones, but desserts in Japan are probably like in the rest of Asian countries, light, fresh and not sweet, so for someone like myself, you’re in heaven. The thing is that you can barely taste the sugar in them and that’s exactly what I love most. In the US, everything is very sweet, in fact even the mouth fresheners are sweet. Isn’t it weird? probably because Americans have been used to sugar since their childhood.

The thing is after our western meals, it is almost impossible to eat traditional dessert pastries or cakes. I need to have a light meal to be able to enjoy my dessert. I think Japanese have understood this, and their traditional desserts have just the perfect light sweet touch you need to close a meal, it’s like the “THE END” after a movie.

Those beautiful pearls are what I tasted in Japan, they were served with a big green tea shaved ice huge bowl, and it was perfect for a hot and humid August summer in Tokyo.

I think we can accommodate those cute tapioca pearls with some exotic fruit compote. In France, weirdly enough, people used to eat those in soups I guess, it is somehow remained a “soup ingredient”.

I made a few times tapioca with raspberry purée a while ago, and it was excellent but I just wanted to try to get something that had the texture of a flan, and this is it.

Ingredients for 4 flans

• 5 tbs tapioca pearls
• 1 banana, pureed
• 2/3 cup coconut milk + 2 tbs 
• 1 cup almond milk + 3 tbs
• 3 tbs light brown sugar + 2 tbs
• 2 eggs

Preparation

In a pot heat the cups of coconut milk and almond milk and 3 tbs of sugar, when the liquid is almons boiling, add tapioca. Stir at low heat for about 15 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs with banana and the rest of the almond and coconut milks. Add the tapioca mixture and mix well.

Pour in silicon molds or individual ceramic molds previously buttered and cook in a preheated oven at 370F for about 20 minutes. Let cool and place in the refrigerator. Grill some slices of banana and decorate.

I haven’t posted anything lately…I was tired and sick for about a week, let’s not pretend the San Francisco summer weather has nothing to do with it. It’s been muggy, foggy and obviously very gloomy, and that really does not help with the low energy level. But that’s enough, I will not let anything come in between me and my cooking experiments, and let’s not dwell on the weather…but still when I think that in the South Bay, starting from the San Francisco airport, they get the sun and a real summer, it makes you wonder that maybe life in the suburb is not that bad.

So for those gloomy San Francisco days, you need something fresh, flavorful and exciting to keep your spirit up.

Since I bought silicon molds last time I went to France, I fell in love with them. They’re wonderful in all their aspects. Whatever you make in them cooks very quickly, they’re so easy to use and even go in the dishwasher and they don’t take much space. So if you don’t yet have silicon molds, go and buy some. You’ll love them and become addicted to cooking with them.

Lately I have been in the mood for green vegetables, probably to color my days, and I realized that if it’s not green, it will not be eaten. It needs to be green, delicious and healthy.

I never made asparagus flan before, I did not add too many spices, I wanted them to keep their natural and delicate flavor. I think asparagus have this very special and refined taste that it’s a pity to kill it with spices. The flan is enhanced with a fragrant herb coulis. 

You can serve those flans with chicken but with white fish also, they go perfectly well with any fish or white meat.

Ingredients for 6

For the asparagus flans

• 1 bunch asparagus
• 2 eggs
• 3 tbs heavy cream
• salt and pepper

For the chicken

• 4 chicken breasts, cut in large cubes
• 1 cup plain bread crumbs
• 2 tbs sesame seeds
• 2 tbs fresh thyme, chopped
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/3 cup flour
• 2 eggs, beaten
• salt and pepper

For the herb coulis

• 1/2 bunch flat parsley
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 bouillon cube

For the side dishes

• 4 asparagus
• 4 tomatoes, peeled, seedless and diced
• Rock salt

Preparation

For the flans

Wash asparagus, set 4 whole asparagus aside to use later. Cut the tips of the other asparagus and cook in boiling water for 3 minutes. Remove and place in a bowl with cold water to keep their green color. In the same water, cook the rest of the asparagus, cut in pieces. Cook for about 5-10 minutes until soft. Mix in a blender to produce a purée. Add cream and eggs, salt and pepper. Mix well. Add tips of asparagus at the end, and mix carefully not to break them.

Place the mixture in silicon molds and cook in the oven for about 25 minutes at 375F. If you don’t have silicon molds use other ceramic molds but they need to be buttered or the flan will stick at the bottom.

Slice the 4 asparagus left aside with a potato peeler, making thin slices of asparagus. Cook in boiling water for one minute and place in a bowl of cold water to keep the green color. Pat dry before serving on the plate.

For the chicken

Cut chicken in squares about 2 x2 inches. Add salt and pepper on all sides. Dip in flour, then in egg, then in the mixture made of breadcrumbs, thyme, sesame seeds, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Cook in the oven on broiler mode, do not place chicken too close to broiler or it will burn, place mid oven.

For the herb coulis

In a small pot dilute bouillon cube with 1/3 cup water, bring to a boil. In a blender, mix herbs, olive oil and some of the broth you made with bouillon cube. Blend for a while to get a nice green mixture. Add lemon juice and adjust with salt and pepper if needed. The bouillon cube has salt in it, so you might want to check to taste if it needs additional salt.

Serve with a flan, add some sliced asparagus on the side, two pieces of chicken, add one tbs of tomatoes topped with rock salt, and drizzle with herb coulis.