Mini Bites Are A Total Delight

A one or two bite morsel can tickle and delight your senses more than a belly full of bacon. I often make tiny little nibbles since they both dazzle and impress while not taking up too much space. One such little bite I made recently was a no bake key lime pie. I made a custard, I colored it with parsley juice that I made from an extractor and I topped them with both Chantilly cream and a meringue that I used a caramelized sugar giving it a nice off golden color that toasted nicely with the torch.

No bake pie, sure thing. I made a lime curd that I added a bit of gellan and cornstarch as well as egg yolks on the double boiler - when it was nice and thick I put it in a piping bag to chill.

The crust is a simple butter, sugar, flour and a pinch of salt short bread dough that cut with a fluted mold and  I baked in a mini tin.

I piped the lime curd into the baked shells and served some with the cream and some with the meringue and they all got some zest and a little blackberry coulis to round it all out. The guests loved it, I loved it and this simple preparation I will most likely do again and again.

Flan is Crème Brûlée's latin cousin - flan is a kissin' cousin

my basket of freshly picked salad greens that has nothing to do with flan

Okie dokie folksy wolksies its time for another installment of "this ol' blog" let me see where did we last leave off? Oh I know our hero - me - was extolling those things I extoll about - I mean those things he extolls about (this speaking in third person is tough). My dreams do come true, life is good and everyone is living happily ever after - there the whole thing in a nut-shell. So with all that little hub bub out of the way lets talk flan.

coconut flan with coconut milk

Egg custards of any kind are probably my most favorite desserts and if you know me its probably because it has egg in it, I like eggs, eggs like me, eggs and I have a symbiotic relationship.

coconut flan with coconut milk and coconut whipped cream

Ok lets make some flan and to do that you need a recipe and as much as I despise recipes I am finding that they are important tools of communication between those of us that can cook and those of us that cant. Let me clarify this - some people (me) think outside of the box instinctively so recipes are simply suggestions or guidelines and other people (not me) like to follow the guidelines to a T(ee) because thinking outside of the box makes them nervous, then there are other people (you know who you are)  that realize the vulnerable ones are out there and they want to cash in on it so they make easy to follow apps and what nots to teach people things they themselves are not really qualified to be teaching and this whole vicious scenario gets played out all day long on every social media sight that exists - including right here at ChezWhat? - damn I like to rant...lets just make some flan.

coconut flan with coconut whipped cream

Coconut Flan

7 eggs
1 can of coconut milk
1 can evaporated milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups of sugar
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 325F.  Melt one cup of sugar in a sauce pan until amber in color then pour it into the bottom of one glass 9x13 baking pan. Mix milks and eggs in a stand mixer until light then add sugar and vanilla and mix for one minute. Pour mixture into baking pan and bake in a water bath (bain marie) for 45 -55 minutes or until it begins to set, remove from oven and as it cools it will continue to set. When it is cool to the touch refrigerate for 4 hours or over night. Cut and serve with coconut whipped cream and pour some of the sugar syrup that collects in the bottom of the pan.

Coconut Whipped Cream

1 pint heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons coconut powder (you can find it in asian supermarkets)

Whip the cream with the sugar and coconut until stiff peaks form - put in a piping bag and serve.

Once you have had this simple flan - no other flan will do, oh and for an added treat spoon over a little coconut milk as well as the syrup and you will be in flan heaven.