Authentic Mexican Flan

Flan is a traditional Mexican custard dessert, it has a delicate and creamy texture and is very sweet, feel free to add fresh orange zest to the custard to give a different flavor and I always finish mine with fresh berries for tartness.
















Ingredients:

1 cup granulated sugar

5 large eggs

1-12oz can evaporated milk

1-14oz can of sweetened condensed milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract
sliced fresh fruit (optonal)

Boiling hot water, enough to come 1/2 way up the dish in the roasting pan

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place a 9 inch circular glass baking dish into a roasting pan and place in the middle rack in the oven to heat up.

1. Heat sugar in a medium-sized sauce pan to medium heat, stirring occasionally with a silicone spatula to melt all the sugar. This typically takes 20-30 minutes. Meanwhile..

2. While the sugar is melting; add eggs, both milks and vanilla into a blender and blend for a few seconds to ensure a smooth mixture.

3. Once the sugar has melted into a smooth, golden syrup. Remove the roasting pan from the oven, pour sugar syrup into the circular dish and turn the dish around with hot mitts to swirl the syrup across and along the sides. Let sit for a minute and pour egg and milk mixture into the syrup dish and return to the roasting pan. 

4. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan to make a hot bath for the flan.

 Return to oven and bake for 60 minutes.

5. Once flan is removed from the oven, let cool and then transfer to your refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

6. After refrigeration, run a knife around the edges of the dish, then place the bottom of the dish onto a shallow baking pan and pour boiling water around it, not in the flan, the hot water will help melt the caramel that will be the topping once inverted. Next, place the plate or serving platter on top of the flan and quickly flip to invert the flan, tap the bottom of the flan dish to help release it.

You can garnish the flan with some whipped cream or some fresh fruit for a contrast in texture and flavor.

EASY Pineapple upside-down cake

Pineapple upside-down cake always brings back memories of my Grandmother's kitchen, she loved this cake. She was an amazing cook and always had some kind of dessert and kool-aid popcicle cubes in her freezer :) Make this cake for someone you love.

Makes 1-12in cake 12 slices

Ingredients:
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
120oz can pineapple slices
1 jar maraschino cherries, stems removed and halved
1 box duncan hines deluxe pinepple cake mix
11/3 cups pineapple juice
1/3 cup vegetable oil or applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
Directions: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

1. Melt margarine in a 12-inch cast iron skillet swirling around to coat pan sides on medium heat, once butter is melted sprinkle brown sugar to cover the bottom of the pan.

2. Arrange pineapples starting from the center of the pan to cover the the bottom of the pan, place maraschino cherries cut side up inside of pineapple rings. (Decorate with as many cherries as you like.)

3. In a large bowl mix together cake mix, pineapple juice, oil, vanilla, and eggs beating well after each addition of eggs. Whisk batter until everything is well incorporated, there will be some little lumps but make sure all larger lumps are gone.


4. Slowly pour batter over pineapple and cherries, scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to get all the batter in the pan. Bake on center rack for 40-45 minutes, once a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean the cake is done.

5. Let cake cool for no longer than 10 minutes run a sharp knife along the sides of the cake and quickly invert onto a large plate to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Baked Chicken Nuggets

Chicken nuggets! A kid favorite, and so easy to reheat for a quick and healthy lunch. If you do not have a food processor, just blend the onion and garlic together and then mix it with 3/4 lb of ground chicken and additional ingredients. Freezing** instructions below.

Makes about 60 1-inch chicken nuggets

Ingredients:
3 garlic cloves, smashed
1/2 a small yellow onion, skin removed
3 boneless skinless chicken breast, or ground chicken breasts, if you do not have a food processor
1/2 teaspoon creole seasoning
couple dashes of valentina hot sauce or any mild hot sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup bread crumbs
2 cups panko Japanese bread crumbs

dash of salt to the bread crumbs
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
Food processor

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper. Mix bread crumbs with parmesan, dash of salt and panko together in a shallow dish, beat eggs and milk in a shallow dish, and place flour in another dish.

1. To a food processor add onion and garlic, pulse until the onion is no longer chunky. Add in chicken, salt, pepper, hot sauce and creole seasoning. Grind together for 1 minute or until everything is combined and is a paste.

2. Drop tablespoonfuls of chicken mixture into the flour, flip over to completely covered with flour. Next dredge  in egg and milk mixture turn to cover using a spoon and a fork until completely covered. Finally roll in panko bread crumb mixture and turn to coat completely and place onto parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the chicken and bake for 20 minutes.

Be careful when eating nuggets, let cool the inside will be very hot. Serve with desired dipping sauce, I like sweet chili sauce with my nuggets.

**Freezing Instructions: To freeze chicken nuggets, let cool on baking sheets then transfer to wax paper lined baking sheets and freeze for 45 minutes, then move nuggets to ziplock freezer bags and freeze for up to 3 months. To reheat nuggets place nuggets on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 400 degrees F.**

Bacon n' Spinach Quiche Cupcakes

 Quiche is such a versatile dish, and easy for freezing and reheating later. Great to eat for breakfast, lunch and even dinner. Change up the veggies and meats and you have endless possibilities.
**Freezing instructions at the bottom of the page.**

Makes 16 cupcake sized quiche

Ingredients:

1 cup Gruyere cheese, grated

1cup Swiss cheese, grated

6 large eggs

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 medium sized onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 10oz package of chopped spinach, thawed and drained

12 slices of cooked bacon, chopped

2 refrigerated pie crust, at room temp

1 teaspoon olive oil

pinch of salt and pepper

pinch of paprika

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

1. On medium heat; heat olive oil in a small skillet and add in onion, once it is soft and transparent add in garlic and cook for 1 minute, remove from heat and set aside.

2. To a blender, add eggs, cream, salt, pepper, and paprika, blend until eggs are beaten.

3. Using a 3in biscuit cutter or glass cut 18 circles out of the pie crust, spray cupcake tins with nonstick cooking spray and place one circle in each tin and press it down so the dough fits about a third of the way up.

4. Start layering on the fillings, add a small pinch of garlic and onion, then about 1/2 teaspoon of bacon pieces, pinch of spinach and about a teaspoon of cheese mixture to each tin. Then pour the egg and cream mixture into every tin almost to the top. 

5. Bake for 20 minutes. Quiche is done when an inserted toothpick comes out clean, run a sharp knife around the edges and let cool for 2 minutes then use a small spoon to scoop out the little quiche's.

**Freezing instructions: Once they have cooled wrap tightly in plastic wrap and then put them in a freezer bag and they will be good in the freezer for 3 months. Great for a quick after school/work snack or even breakfast or dinner. To reheat them straight from the freezer just preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake them on a cookie sheet for 20 minutes, they should look puffy and golden. Be careful they will be HOT. Enjoy :)**

 Pie crust.

Onion, garlic and bacon.

Spinach.

Hot out of the oven!

Lasagna

 Use leftover spaghetti sauce to make a hearty lasagna, great for freezing to have back up dinners ready quick! Pair up with a big piece of Garlic Bread

Ingredients:

Spaghetti Meat Sauce

1 egg

1 package oven ready lasagna noodles

2 small containers of ricotta cheese

2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped

1 cup parmesan reggiano cheese, grated

1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

1.  In a small bowl mix together egg, ricotta cheese, parmesan reggiano cheese, and parsley leaving 1 teaspoon behind for the top of the lasagna.

2. Spread the bottom of your lasagna pan with meat sauce, then lay down the lasagna noodles (but leave space in between them because once the lasagna cooks it will cook the oven ready noodles.) Next using a slotted spoon scoop meat sauce onto noodles and spread evenly then put the next layer of noodles, then pour all of the ricotta egg mixture and spread evenly. then more noodles, meat sauce, and lastly the last layer of noodles then top with some of the meat sauce, then the mozzarella cheese and parsley.

Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees, F.

Let stand to cool for 15 minutes, it will be easier to cut and more safe to eat!

Ready to eat!

Ham & Cheese Quiche

Quiche is full of savory flavors and fluffy textures I love it for any meal. Breakfast. Brunch. Lunch. Dinner. Experiment with different meats, cheeses and vegetables to make your own version!

Ingredients:

6 large eggs, beaten

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Salt and pepper

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

Pinch of paprika

2 cups diced ham (sandwich meat works fine)

1 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese

1 1/2 cup shredded Gruyere cheese

2 (9-inch) refrigerated pie crust,

1 medium onion, diced

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

1. In a small skillet saute onion and garlic until onion is transparent. Combine the eggs, cream, salt, and pepper in a food processor or blender.

2. Layer the  ham, onion, and cheese in the bottom of the pie crust, then pour the egg mixture on top.

3. Bake for 20 minutes remove from oven and place aluminum foil around the crust to prevent burning, place back in oven for 15 to 20 minutes until the egg mixture is set or until a knife comes out clean. Let cool for 20 minutes, Slice into 8 pieces and enjoy!