Fish Fingers and Custard (Vanilla Custard Recipe)

My boys have no idea how weird they are.

It's not that they eat delicious homemade vanilla custard (one of my new favorite treats to make with our backyard eggs), it's that they eat it with fish fingers, and think that's normal.

See, we've been trying to figure out how to introduce the boys to Doctor Who. They know a lot about Doctor Who. Their Mom and Dad dressed up like Amy and Rory two Halloween's ago.

They know the characters and all about the TARDIS and sonic screwdriver.

(Here's a recent LEGO creation by Jonas: The Doctor, his TARDIS, and two Daleks.)

But they haven't ever actually seen the show.  I'm kind of an old school mom, and think they should all be watching Baby Einstein videos still--not anything even remotely scary.  (And believe me--Doctor Who can be scary!)

So we've decided that maybe we should begin by simply introducing them to "clips" of Doctor Who.  And the one we started with was "Fish Fingers and Custard", where the Doctor has just regenerated into a new body, and is trying out foods for the first time to find something he likes.

 

Classic! The boys love it, and just that clip has a ton of great quoting potential. (Store-bought yogurt?  "It's just stuff with bits in it!")  And that clip ends at just the right spot--you can tell by the music--things are about to get scary.

But then of course the boys started asking for it.  Fish fingers and custard.  Because they didn't quite get that it's supposed to be a revolting, or at least very odd, food combination the Doctor settles on.

But who am I to deny my children delicious homemade food?

So we did it. 

Of course we had to watch the clip for dipping instruction.

Then we ate.

Truthfully?  It's not that bad.  It's got that salty-sweet thing going on.

It may not be what I make every night, but we enjoyed it.  So I will share our recipe.

Homemade Vanilla Custard Recipe

(fish fingers optional)
Makes 6 half cup servings

 

3 C milk

1/2 C granulated sugar

6 egg yolks

4 Tbsp corn starch

3 T butter

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 large pinch salt

In a med saucepan scald milk, sugar, cornstarch, and salt.  (Heat it just to steaming, not boiling.) Temper the egg yolks by very slowly pouring the hot milk into the eggs while quickly whisking the yolks.  Pour mixture back into pot.  Cook over medium heat until thickened.  Stir in butter and vanilla.  Pour through a strainer into a bowl to get out any clumps.  

If you want you can lay a piece of plastic wrap over the top to keep it from forming a skin.  It will set up firmer in the fridge, but we prefer eating it warm.

And if you're like Jeremy you can shave some chocolate on top.

Enjoy!

 

Homemade Mayonnaise

Homemade Mayonnaise may just be too "out there" for some people. But I really love that feeling of knowing how to do something myself--even if I don't always choose to actually do it myself.

When you make this yourself you can control the type of oil you are using--that's a big bonus.

Homemade mayonnaise would be necessary for making the homemade ranch dressing entirely from scratch. We've also been making a homemade tartar sauce from scratch using mayonnaise--yumm!

This is a Martha recipe and she says:Note: Raw eggs should not be used in food prepared for pregnant women, babies, young children, the elderly, or anyone whose health is compromised.

Alton Brown would say: If you are worried about it just buy pasteurized eggs.

Homemade Mayonnaise Recipe

Makes 1 cup

1 large egg, room temperature
Salt
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon


Wrap the outside and bottom of a 1-quart bowl in a damp towel to secure it in place on the work surface. Combine egg and salt with a large balloon whisk, mixing until foamy and pale. (Or do it in a mixer with the whisk attachment.) Whisking constantly, add oils a few drops at a time, and then in a steady stream as the mixture emulsifies. Add lemon juice; blend briefly. Add additional salt and lemon juice to taste. Store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.

What to Cook with Eggs

Spring is here, and Easter is near. That means it's time to take advantage of the big sales on eggs at the grocery stores. That is, if you aren't lucky enough to have your own laying hens.

We love our backyard flock. There's something amazing to be said for the feeling of walking 10 feet out your back door and returning with nutritious food. With three hens we get approximately 2-3 eggs a day or 18 eggs a week. Well, what in the world do we do with our 18 eggs a week?

Whatever we want!

Eggs are useful in so many different ways. As we are exploring all the uses of our eggs I thought it would be fun to catalog them and create a new recipe feature on my blog:


First, for the curious (or skeptical) our eggs are consistently the size of normal grocery store "large" eggs--sometimes even bigger.

This will vary based on the breed of chicken you have, but for us we can use our eggs in baking recipes without any concern.

At first we stored our eggs in old egg cartons, but those break down over time, so recently we found this fun thing in the camping section:

It's sturdy, stackable, reusable and holds a dozen eggs. Jeremy marked one end "NEW" with a sharpie and we rotate the eggs down as we use the "older" ones. And when the carton is full that means it's really time to make something.

Below please find a listing of things we have made using our eggs. I will link the recipes as I add them, along with adding more recipes, then they can be accessed as a group by clicking on the "Using Eggs" button on the top of my blog.

(I'm not sure about how to organize the categories so it might change)

Breakfast:
Crepes
French toast
McMuffins
Scrambled eggs
Soft-boiled egg
Swedish pancakes
Cowboy Toast

Lunch:
Egg-salad sandwiches
Hard boiled eggs
Huevos rancheros
Poached egg salad

Dinner:
Fritatta
Quiche
Cheese Souffle
Pasta carbonera
Baked eggs in marinara

Dessert:
Creme brule
Meringue topping
Meringue cookies
Pudding
Cream puffs

Extras:
Egg wash for breads and pastries
Coating ingredient for frying shrimp etc.

Not to mention all the baked goods from pancakes to cookies that use eggs as one of a dozen ingredients.