Shel_B

First, allow me to thank everyone who gave me advice about making custards and about making the crème caramel. Your input was very helpful. This shot shows the caramel just after having been poured into the ramekins. I used 6-oz Anchor glass cups because they were the right size for small, individual portions that I'll use for an upcoming dinner, plus I like the idea of being able to look through the glass to see how the ingredients look at various stages of preparation. This shot shows the finished, plated flan, which is about what I'll be serving for our upcoming dinner. The plating looks pretty good, although suggestions on making it a little nicer would be appreciated. And here's the portion cut open. It looks like there are no air bubbles, runny liquid, or signs of overcooking. What's needed now is a better balance between the sugar in the custard and the crème caramel. I used a little less sugar in the custard than usual because of the caramel's sweetness. However, I may have cut back just a little too much, so the flans I'll make for dinner will have a little more sugar, or I may adjust the caramel in some way. Also, I may want to add a little more vanilla bean ...

Today I learned that the vanilla seeds that are scraped from vanilla pods is called caviar, and mine are sinking to the bottom of my custards. Up until recently, while learning custard-making techniques, I've use vanilla extract, but now I'm using vanilla beans (what a flavor difference!). Is it possible to get the "caviar" to disperse throughout the custard, rather than sinking? I know it won't add much to the flavor of the finished custard, but it sure would look nice. Thanks for any suggestions ....

Porthos ... my experience is that a fuller fat milk will provide a tighter sauce, all else being equal.

I was about to make a flan this afternoon, and, in reviewing some recipes for making the caramel sauce, I came across a few that suggested adding lemon juice to the sugar mixture. What's the purpose of doing that?

Recently Toots and I visited a new thrift store, and I was hooked by these plates. They'll make a nice addition to a spring-summer table. Cost was $1.00 each ...

There are several varieties of tomatillo, and some are quite small. Yesterday, when purchasing a few pounds of the more typical tomatillo, I saw in the bin next to them some very small ones, the size of a large marble. The sign indicated that they were a different variety. https://www.google.com/search?q=tomatillo+varieties+pictures&biw=1366&bih=620&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=xV--VLfXMc76ggSM9YHABg&sqi=2&ved=0CB0QsAQ

I've used tomatillos just a few times, and have never really known what to look for to determine if a tomatillo is ripe and ready for cooking or eating. I've just bought what was in the bin and prepared them ... So, what do you look for to determine if a tomatillo is ripe and ready? Should they be hard, firm, soft? Dark green or light green? Any fragrance to look for? Do they husks give any indication of ripeness? Can a tomatillo be left to ripen on the counter? Thanks for any help!

Thanks for posting that info. I am able to watch all the episodes on line ...

Thanks to all. Got some useful info, especially about resting the flan for a number of hours.

That seems awfully high ... I often pay less than 30-cents per day for my entire apartment, including cooking. Does your power company use smart meters? If so, it may be possible to go on line and get your electric costs. PG&E up here gives me a breakdown of electric use/cost in fifteen minute intervals. I sometimes use this meter http://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421531688&sr=8-1&keywords=kill+watt+meter&pebp=1421531819530&peasin=B00009MDBU for more precise and specific information. I'm curious: What toaster oven are you using. FWIW, I use the Breville Smart Oven and it uses far less juice than what you've seemingly calculated. On New Years Eve, from 5:45pm through to 8:15pm, I used the oven, the rangetop, the Breville, had lights on throughout the apartment, and the background electricity (fridge, emergency lights, computer, etc) was running, and I only used 25.5 cents worth of electricity. I get a good deal on power - at the time I was paying ten cents per KWH, so you can calculate how much electricity was used. At your rate, it would be about 50-cents or so. It seems odd that one toaster oven would cost so much ...

And that's not what I'm responding to ... this is "The high-power blender topic," not the "What did Hassouni just say?" topic.

I came across this test of high-powered blenders https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej048qZNxpk . The Waring did very well ...

I came across this test of high-power blenders https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej048qZNxpk. The Waring fared very well.

I've been learning how to make a simple custard dessert. I'm almost where I want to be. Next is learning how to make the caramel sauce. I've seen different techniques. One is to cook the sugar with water, another uses no water, and there are opposite positions about not swirling the pan when the sugar starts to boil, and, in at least one situation, the cook would just caramelize the sugar in the mold over the heat from the stove burner. So, what do you do to melt your sugar? Do you do it that way because it gives a specific, different result from another technique. Any general suggestions for making a caramel sauce? Thanks!

This one was the winner in the Cook's Illustrated test of butter dishes. Amongst it's attributes is the ability to hold large, European-style, blocks of butter and the butter tray is removable.. Not very stylish, but certainly practical:

Just following up on this. Last week I stopped into a supermarket that had the Ziploc containers, and right next to them on the shelf were some similar store brand units. The store brand had a size closer to what I was looking for, and I bought a package of three. On the way to the register I saw some really inexpensive aluminum loaf pans (like these: http://www.apartysource.com/al-16.html), and they were even closer to the size I wanted, so I bought three. Both are installed in the cupboard, and the aluminum loaf pans have turned out to be the best option. So, I'm all set. Thanks to all who jumped in with ideas and suggestions.

I've never heard of those noodles ... I'll have to look for them. They sound much better than the supermarket fried ramen packages. Thanks for posting!