Spanish Flan

Yield: 1 - 10 inch round pie

Ingredients

• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt sugar until liquefied and golden in color. Work in layers of small amounts of sugar at a time, adding sugar and working more in as it melts
3. Carefully pour hot syrup into a 10 inch round glass baking dish, turning the dish to evenly coat the bottom and sides. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Beat in condensed milk, evaporated milk and vanilla until smooth. Pour egg mixture into baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil.
5. Place the dish on a lined baking dish to catch any overflow during baking
6. Bake in preheated oven 60 minutes. Let cool completely.
7. Chill for several hours or overnight
8. To serve, bring to room temperature. Warm the bottom of the dish to liquify the caramel some to release it from the bottom of the dish. Run a knife around the edge of the baking dish to release the flan. Place a serving plate over the baking dish, then invert.

Based on: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/20979/spanish-flan/

Sweet Jalapeno Cornbread

Ingredients

• ⅔ cup butter, softened
• ⅔ cup white sugar
• 2 cups cornmeal
• 1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
• 4 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 ⅔ cups milk
• 1 cup chopped fresh jalapeno peppers, or to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
2. Beat margarine and sugar together in a large bowl until smooth. Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt in another bowl. Stir eggs and milk in a third bowl. Pour 1/3 milk mixture and 1/3 flour mixture alternately into margarine mixture; whisk until just mixed. Repeat with remaining ingredients and stir in jalapeno peppers. Spread mixture evenly into prepared baking pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 22 to 26 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before slicing.

Cook's Notes:

• Recipe works well with 1/2 to 1 cup sugar; adjust to suit your taste.
• The batter should be thick enough to not pour easily.
• It is important to grease pan and chop peppers before starting. Allowing mixture to stand, then disturbing will reduce the effectiveness of the baking powder.

From: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/230999/sweet-jalapeno-cornbread/

Roasted Cauliflower and Quinoa with Candied Walnuts

Ingredients

• 1 small head of cauliflower (1 bag of TJ's broccoli & cauliflower mix)
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons quinoa

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 420° and set the oven rack to the highest setting. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Cut cauliflower into bite-sized pieces, toss with the extra-virgin olive oil and spread on a sheet tray. Roast in the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until soft and very brown in spots, turning half way through.
3. While the cauliflower is roasting, prepare the walnuts. Line a plate with a piece of parchment paper. Add the walnuts, sugar, salt and pepper to a small frying pan over high heat and stir well. Cook until the nuts have caramelized and all the liquid has evaporated, shaking the pan occasionally, about 4 minutes. Transfer the walnuts to the plate, making sure they are in a single layer.
4. Add the quinoa to a small frying pan over medium high heat. When the quinoa begins to pop, shake the pan occasionally and continue to cook for about 2 more minutes, or until the quinoa is fragrant and light brown. Remove from the heat.
5. To serve, place the roasted cauliflower on a serving platter and top with candied walnuts and toasted quinoa.

From: https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/roasted-cauliflower-and-quinoa-candied-walnuts

Lemon Blackberry Tortilla French Toast

YIELD: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 6 tablespoons lemon curd, divided
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (or 2 tsp lemon extract)
• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 6 flour tortillas (6 inches)
• 1-1/3 cups fresh blackberries
• 1/4 cup seedless blackberry spreadable fruit
• Additional grated lemon zest, optional

Directions

1. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, 3 tablespoons lemon curd, lemon zest and extract until fluffy. Set aside.
2. In a shallow bowl, whisk eggs, cream and remaining lemon curd until blended; stir in poppy seeds. In a large cast-iron or other heavy skillet, heat 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Dip both sides of a tortilla in egg mixture, allowing excess to drip off. Place in skillet; toast until golden brown, 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove to a wire rack. Repeat with remaining tortillas, adding butter to grease the skillet as needed.
3. Spread about 3 tablespoons cream cheese mixture over each tortilla to within 1/4 in. of edges. Fold tortillas in half over filling. In a microwave-safe bowl, combine blackberries and spreadable fruit; microwave, covered, at 50% power until warmed, 2-3 minutes, stirring once. Serve with tortillas and, if desired, additional lemon zest.

From: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/lemon-blackberry-tortilla-french-toast/

Simple Celery Soup

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, or butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 fat garlic cloves, rough chopped
• 6 cups celery, sliced thin (about 1 ¼–1 ½ pounds) 1 extra-large head, save some leaves for garnish
• 2 cups potatoes, sliced into ½ inch thick rounds ( about ¾ lb –  1 extra-large russet peeled, or use a few yukons, unpeeled.
• 4 cups veggie or chicken broth ( or 4 cups water + 1 tablespoon “Better than Bouillon” Vegetable Base)
• 1 cup water
• 1 bay leaf (optional, remove before blending)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, start conservatively, add more to taste or leave it out entirely.

Add after cooking:

• ¼ cup fresh dill (small stems ok)
• ½ cup fresh parsley (small stems ok)
• Stir in: ½ cup (or more) of sour cream, plain yogurt, vegan sour cream, heavy cream or cashew cream. (see notes)

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a big pot over medium high heat,  and add the onion, stirring occasionally, letting the onions get golden, about 5 minutes.
2. While the onions are cooking, rough chop the garlic, celery and potatoes.  When the onions are golden add the garlic and stir 1-2 minutes, until fragrant. Add the celery, potatoes, broth, water, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and cayenne. The liquid should just cover the veggies. Cover, bring to a rolling boil, turn heat down and simmer gently until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.
3. Turn heat off, remove bay leaf and add the fresh herbs and just wilt them (don’t cook herbs or you lose the vibrant color!)
4. Using an immersion blender blend until very silky smooth – OR if using a regular blender, let cool before blending in smaller batches. ( If blending warm soup, fill blender no more than halfway full, cover tightly with a lid and kitchen towel, holding it down firmly, when you start the motor (on the lowest setting, working up gradually) to prevent a blender “explosion”).
5. Blend well, a full minute, until herbs are fully blended, creating a vibrant colored soup. For extra “green” color, add a handful of raw spinach if you like, or more fresh parsley. Place it back in the same pot over low heat. Stir in your choice of sour cream, or any of the other options.
6. ***Gently heat, careful to not over simmer, or you may lose the lovely vibrant color.
7. To make the crispy celery leaves, heat a generous amount of olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Wait until the oil is hot. Fry a “tester” celery leaf for 10-20 seconds on each side. Set on a paper towel. If it is crisp, continue on. Adding a few at a time, not overly crowding.  If not crisp, fry them a little longer. You want about 3-5 leaves per serving bowl. In the same oil, you could fry the nigella seeds until you just begin to hear popping. Turn heat off.  Arrange the crispy celery leaves in a crescent shape. Spoon a little of the nigella seeds along with a little oil in the same shape. Sprinkle with hemp seeds if you like.

Notes

1. If using cashew cream, adding a little splash of lemon juice, enlivens the soup. Sour cream and yogurt have a natural tanginess, so you may not need it.
2. A quick way to make this vegan version ( with cashew cream), is toss the ½ cup of cashews into the simmering pot at the beginning with the celery and potatoes, letting them soften. Then just blend it all up!
3. Slicing the celery thinly will prevent fibers texture.
4. If freezing, best to freeze without the sour cream, as it may get granular- then add it later when reheating.

From: https://www.feastingathome.com/celery-soup/