Flan Patissier (Sweet Custard Tart)

Flan patissier is another favorite of mine from the boulangerie/patisserie in France. I don't recall seeing this in the US but I am sure there must be an equivalent.
I had to make the recipe twice before getting it right. The first time I made it, I misread the recipe which ended in a complete disaster (more on that later in the post).

First thing first, the shortcrust pastry (pâte brisée). Here are the ingredients:

-2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp granulated white sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1/2 to 1/2 cup ice water

In a food processor (I just used a mixing bowl and a pastry blender), place the flour, salt and sugar until combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture looks like coarse meal:

Pour 1/4 cup water in a slow and steady stream until the dough just holds together when pinched. Add the remaining water in necessary. Do not process more than 30 seconds.

Turn the dough onto your work surface and gather into a ball.

Divide the dough into two pieces, flatten each portion into a disk, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 mins to one hour before using.
If your dough doesn't look so pretty (mine looked rather ugly!), worry not! When you roll it out, it will be just fine!

For each disk of pastry, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the chilled pastry to fit into a 8 or 9 inch tart pan. Since you are only using one disk, you can freeze the other one, tightly wrapped for up to one month.

To prevent the pastry from sticking to the counter and to ensure uniform thickness, keep lifting up and turning the pastry a quarter turn as you roll (always roll from the center of the pastry outwards to get uniform thickness). To make sure it's the right size, take your tart pan, flip it over, and place it on the rolled out pastry. The pastry should be an inch larger than you pan.

Gently lay the pastry in your pan and press into bottoms and sides. Cut out the excess pastry and prick the bottom of the dough to prevent it from puffing as it bakes. Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

And now, for the Flan! You will need:

- 4 cups whole milk
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup corn startch
- 2 eggs + 1 yolk
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Keep 1/2 cup of the milk aside. Heat up the rest of the milk with the sugar on medium-high.

While the milk/sugar is heating up, mix the 1/2 cup of milk that you had set aside with the cornstarch, the eggs and the vanilla extract.

When your milk/sugar just starts boiling, gently pour it over the cornstarch/eggs/milk/vanilla mixture while mixing with a whisk.

Put your mixture back into the pan and onto the stovetop on LOW! This is where I meseed up the first time I made this recipe. I didn't set it to low (it was still on high).
Now, you need to stir it gently with a wooden spoon (while on low heat) until it becomes thick. This may take a while (between 5 and 10 minutes). Be patient! Do not stop stirring gently and do not take it off the heat until it has thickened!

When it is thick enough (like in the next picture), pour it into your tart pan and into the oven set at 355 F for 35 to 40 minutes. At the end, you can use the broiler for a minute or so (watch it carefully!) if you'd like the top of your flan to darken.

Let it cool on a cooling rack and then in the fridge until it is completely cooled down.

And just so you see what happened the first time (when I put it on high heat for a few seconds rather than on low heat for 5 to 10 minutes):

It was all hard at the bottom and all liquidy at the top... not at all what a Flan Patissier is supposed to be!

But, perseverance pays off and I ended up with a perfect flan the next time I made it so I am very happy :-)

The shorcrust pastry recipe was adapted from here. The Flan recipe from here.

Crêpes!

I am proud to say that I can still flip Crêpes up in the air! I had not done this in years! It's lots of fun :-)

Ingredients:

These ingredients are for about 3 people (about 10-12 Crêpes)

- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups milk
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (if you are making savory Crêpes, omit the vanilla)

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and the salt.
Add the eggs one by one while whisking.

Gradually add the milk until well combined. Lumps are practically inevitable so don't worry about it too much, they will disappear when the batter in cooking.
Add the sugar and vanilla and stop whisking once the batter is nice and smooth.

Let the batter rest for 30 minutes to an hour.

If you have 2 pans, it will go more quickly :-) Here was my set-up:

Lightly oil the pan (do this before cooking each crepe):

Set the burner on medium heat.
Scoop about 1/4 cup of batter onto the pan and with a circular movement of the wrist, tilt the pan until the batter coats the surface evenly.
The first Crêpe is often a test one. Adjust the burner temperature after the first crepe if you think it needs to.

Cook the crepe until the edges start lifting off the surface and the bottom is light brown (about 45 seconds), then, with a spatula, make sure the crepe is not sticking to the pan at all. At this point, you can either flip it in the air or use your spatula to flip it. Cook until the other side is done.

You can use a variety of fillings for crepes: savory (grated Gruyere cheese is a good one) or sweet. My favorites are chestnut spread, nutella and strawberry preserves. Yum!

On a side note, if you are looking for a good Crêpe pan, this is the one I have and I love it!

Delicious mashed cauliflower.

I hardly ever eat cauliflower. No reason in particular, it's just not something I usually get when I am browsing the produce department. Last week I decided to try and make mashed cauliflower with salmon. We really liked it so I will buy more cauliflower from now on!

Ingredients:

(The picture actually also shows ingredients I used for the salmon but I won't be talking about those)

- A head of cauliflower
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup cream cheese
- salt and pepper to taste

First, I steamed the cut cauliflower until it was soft, about 15-20 minutes

Then I got rid of the steaming water and put the soft cauliflower back in the pan.

I added all the other ingredients:

I used my immersion blender but you could use a potato masher.

And voila!

Chicken-Coconut Curry.

I made this recipe a few days ago and I can say that it has become an instant favorite! The recipe is from Maria Sinskey's Family Meals.

Ingredients:

- 1 small yellow onion
- 2 lemongrass stalks
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 can (14.5 oz) coconut milk (I used light coconut milk and it tasted great!)
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 2-3 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 lime leaves
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup firmly packed freas basil leaves
- 1 cup thinly sliced fresh mushrooms
- 2 tbsp lime juice

Peel and thinly slice the onion. Trim the lemongrass to the white bulb only and slice it in half lengthwise and crush it with the side of your knife:

Heat a saucepan on medium-high and add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the onion, lemongrass, ginger, and garlic. Sautee until the garlic is golden (1-2 mins).

Add the cumin and brown sugar, and cook until the sugar bubbles, about 30 secs.
Add the coconut, chicken stock, fish sauce and lime leaves and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low ans simmer for 15 mins to blend the flavors.

Add the chicken, basil, mushrooms and lime juice and simmer until the chicken is opaque, about 10 mins longer.

On a side note, this is how I got my chicken breast to be nice and flat. I used my "meat hammer". Yes, I know that's not how it's called, but I don't know the right word and don't feel like looking it up right now. Meat hammer will have to do!

Remove and discard the lemongrass stalks and the lime leaves.

Serve over jasmine rice and garnish with cilantro sprigs and lime wedges. Serve right away.

Don't hesitate to squeeze much lime juice on top of your curry. Julia and I loved the added flavor which went so well with the coconut!