While you want consolation and also you’ve obtained some additional eggs, listed below are two recipes that may raise your spirits: a pan-sized puffed pancake often known as a “Dutch child” and baked custard, which my grandmother usually made for me if I used to be feeling a little bit down or a tad below the climate. This week, as a result of my spirits wanted additional lifting, I made a decision to make each. One recipe turned out nice and the opposite turned out not essentially as deliberate however nonetheless delicious sufficient for seconds.
The necessary factor is, I used up a half-dozen of the eggs that had been in my fridge for a number of weeks, slowly easing previous their viability as comestibles. It really takes an egg a very long time to go unhealthy. The U.S. Division of Agriculture considers eggs fit for human consumption for 45 days after processing — that’s, roughly 5 weeks after the pack date, assuming they’ve been refrigerated the entire time. The pack date is on the fitting facet of the carton, subsequent to the “promote by” date. (It would appear like a serial quantity, but it surely’s really one thing referred to as a Julian date, which marks the times of the yr from 001 to 365.) For those who assume your eggs is perhaps too outdated to eat, it’s much better to be protected than to turn into unwittingly acquainted with salmonella.
Now that we’ve gotten meals poisoning out of the best way, we will transfer on to the yummy stuff. I used to make baked custard quite a bit when my daughter was youthful, as a result of she wasn’t (and nonetheless isn’t) a lot of a meat eater and I used to be all the time searching for methods to feed her additional protein. I like this recipe as a result of it makes use of honey instead of sugar and isn’t too candy, so I suppose it’s comparatively wholesome. I imply, it’s not a pile of broccoli, but it surely’s not a deep-fried Snickers bar, both. It does, nonetheless, have a luscious, velvety texture that makes me consider crème brulee or flan.
Warmth 2 cups of milk on the stovetop till scalded however not boiling. (I scalded mine a bit an excessive amount of as a result of the underside of the pan was blackened, but it surely didn’t have an effect on the flavour, so I suppose I beat the Legislation of Kitchen Mishaps no less than on this small regard.) Combine ¼ cup honey to the recent milk. For a sweeter custard, add 1/3 cup honey. Beat 3 eggs with ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon nutmeg. Slowly add the recent milk to the crushed eggs. Pour the combination into six ramekins or small cups and organize them in a pan containing about half an inch of scorching water. (That is referred to as a bain-marie, a French time period that I think about means “Mary’s bathwater.”) Sprinkle extra nutmeg onto every ramekin and prime with a tiny pat of butter. Bake at 325 levels for 40 minutes. The custard could be loved heat or chilled.
I used to be not launched the wonders of a fluffy, heat Dutch child pancake till my 40s, when our household first visited The Authentic Pancake Home in Portland. I noticed these huge, buttery yellow and golden brown creations being borne throughout the eating room to broadly smiling diners. It appeared like a giant upside-down mushroom. I used to be skeptical, however I used to be additionally curious, and curiosity gained out.