Chicken and Flan with Family

Written last night:

Dear Friends,

How enjoyable it is to sit and talk over dinner with friends/family! Keith and Judy just left and that’s the way it was. 

I have promised the foodies among you (Gretchen!) to describe the menu:

Cheese: Smoked and Manchego, with Trader Joe’s Crackers

Joel Gott Oregon Pinot Gris (I’ve got to admit I love it because it’s got a screw top … but it’s also delicious.)

Keith and Judy brought a beautiful salad with greens, tomatoes and almonds.

Coq au vin from the New York Times. You cook chicken with wine. The man at the wine store recommended I use Louis Jadot Pinot Noir.  I am trying to learn to make this kind of French stew as well as my great-grandmother did. My mother would say she loved the way it smelled coming from her grandmother’s oven, and she tried to make it herself but was never satisfied. I’ve made the stew before with beef, but this is the first time I made coq au vin. I used dark meat, as suggested in the recipe, even though I am usually a white meat person. Also, this time I cooked the stew over a couple of days, marinating it in wine for the complete 24 hours, then making the stew itself, then refrigerating it overnight. I also used fresh little onions, rather than frozen. The recipe tells how they peel them easily if you immerse them in boiling water for one minute first, and it says frozen onions are too full of water to brown easily. It turned out delicious!

I like this stew because it’s ready the day ahead, so entertaining is easy. Same for tonight’s dessert: flan — Margarita’s recipe from 40 years ago in Miami. Margarita was our next-door neighbor when we lived in North Miami across the street from what was then called Barry College. She was from Puerto Rico, and her husband Laurenzo was Cuban. 

Margarita's Flan

Make a caramel by melting 1/2 C. sugar with 2 1/2 T. water in a small pan over medium heat. Be patient! Wait until it's brown, but not burnt. Pour that into a bread pan,* tilting it to cover the entire bottom. Then mix 1 can evaporated milk, 3 C. whole milk, 3/4 C. sugar, dash salt, 4 beaten eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla. Pour that over the carmel. Put the pan into a larger pan with water in it that goes halfway up the bread pan. Bake at 350° an hour or more, until the custard is set. Chill thoroughly, then turn the pan upside down on a platter so the custard is surrounded by carmel.

*I used glass custard cups instead, & did not turn them upside down for serving. It's comforting to have your own cup of custard, I think.

Love,

k