I Made Flan

I wasn't thinking about doing it when I woke up or anything. In fact, I'm really not a flan fan (pun intended). But I was invited to a friends' place, and when I asked the typical "what can I bring, and don't be shy" question, they answered with the typical "wine” but then added “or dessert - flan if you can find it" and then chuckled , since it's not like going to the grocery store and picking up pound cake. Well... because they are good hosts, I decided to be a good guest. And I tried my hand at making flan. I didn't have a lot of time, since I still needed to get ready, buy ingredients, etc., etc., etc. I went through several links online to get a general idea, but in the end, it was this URL by LaGasse that I took the most notes from, mainly because it looked quick:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuF1qsVpgsE


Though I grew up eating flan, which is probably why it bores me, I'm not a connoisseur by any means. I know what it's supposed to taste and look like, and I can tell which ones taste better and have better texture, but after that, I don't get excited over it like my friends do whenever seeing it on a menu at a Latin restaurant. In fact, I don't think I've ever ordered it myself. I give that disclaimer so you have that in mind when I describe the outcome.


For me, I was quite impressed with the way it looked. Everyone else at dinner seemed to have had the same reaction. The really enjoyed the caramel topping and how reflective it was and the silkiness of the actual flan itself. I served it to everyone and actually let everyone take a couple bites before I even served myself. I made sure they felt comfortable to give me proper feedback and not be shy, and they genuinely seemed to like it. Some a lot, in fact. One person did mention the caramel part seemed bitter, but I did see her spoon some more over her own piece of flan and even go in for seconds. For me? It was, well… flan. Nothing else. Boring ol’ flan that I’m used to. It did, however, have a hint of a burnt taste to it. It wasn’t burnt or anything, but to me, I just tasted it. Nobody concurred.

All in all, people seemed to like it. Perhaps I’ll make it again another time, since I see how easy it is. I may even experiment and throw in some cream cheese, maybe fruit, or substitute/add cinnamon instead of nutmeg, try coffee, etc. If I do, you know I’ll post it here.

And while I’m blogging on this flog, I can’t pass up mentioning my hosts’ spaghetti dinner. The sauce was quite good. In fact, if they left me in the room alone, I would have finished a lot more than the two servings that I had including thoroughly licking the bowl clean. Meatballs? No. We’re talking Italian sausage, baby. Da good stuff. Had a little spice to kick up the heat. The rest of the sauce had the health factor with large chunks of carrots and other goodness. Now I’m thinking I should have asked for leftovers. Two days later, and I think that sauce should probably taste even better. I wonder if she’s free for dinner. Hmmm…