Cheese Custard Recipes

Steps:

• Cook and stir milk, vanilla extract, and butter in a saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Remove mixture from heat before it comes to a boil.
• Whisk eggs, sugar, and cornstarch together in a bowl until sugar dissolves.
• Set saucepan back over low heat. Pour in egg mixture slowly, whisking constantly, until custard thickens enough to coat the bottom of a spoon, 5 to 10 minutes.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate (or four 10-ounce ramekins or custard cups) with butter; set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir in vegetables, half the goat cheese, and scallions. Place pie plate (ramekins or custard cups) on a rimmed baking sheet; pour egg mixture into pie plate (or ladle into ramekins or cups). Sprinkle with remaining goat cheese. Bake until eggs are set and tops are golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. Serve with Chopped Romaine Salad.

Steps:

• Put cream in a small pot with thyme and garlic, if you're using them. Cook just until it begins to steam. Heat oven to 300 degrees and set a kettle of water to boil.
• Put eggs, cayenne and salt in a medium bowl and whisk or beat until blended; stir in the cheese. Remove thyme and garlic from cream, then add cream gradually to egg mixture, whisking constantly. Pour mixture into a 1-quart dish or into 4 ramekins or custard cups.
• Put dish or ramekins in a deep baking pan and pour boiling water in, to within about 1 inch of top of dish or ramekins. Bake until mixture is not quite set; it should jiggle a bit in middle. This will take about 30 minutes for ramekins and longer for baking dish; also, cream sets faster than milk. Serve warm, at room temperature, or cold within a few hours of baking.

Steps:

• Combine milk, onion, garlic, bay leaf, and thyme in a medium saucepan over medium heat until bubbles start to form around the edges of the pan.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Remove from heat, add goat cheese and stir until smooth. Let stand 5 minutes, then strain into a glass measuring cup. Discard solids.
• Whisk eggs and yolks in a bowl. Add the goat cheese mixture and season with salt. Spray a 4 cup ceramic baking dish or 6-4 oz. ramekins. Pour goat cheese mixture into each dish.
• Place in a large roasting pan. Fill roasting pan with boiling water reaching half way up the sides of the dishes. Carefully transfer to oven.
• Bake 30-40 minutes, until center is set but still wobbly (watch closely it will be much closer to 30 minutes for the ramekins).
• Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Serve warm.

Steps:

• Make ratatouille:
• In a 12-inch non-stick skillet heat 2 tablespoons oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking and cook half of eggplant, stirring frequently, until golden brown and tender, about 6 minutes. Transfer cooked eggplant to a 2- to 2 1/2-quart gratin dish or other shallow baking dish. Cook remaining eggplant in 2 tablespoons oil in same manner and add to dish.
• In skillet cook onions, garlic, and red pepper flakes in remaining tablespoon oil over moderately low heat, stirring, until onions are softened. Add bell peppers and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 8 minutes. Stir in remaining ratatouille ingredients and simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Season mixture with salt and additional pepper and spoon evenly over eggplant.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Make cheese custard:
• In a 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan melt butter over moderately low heat and whisk in flour. Cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes and whisk in milk in a stream and salt and pepper to taste. Bring sauce to boil, whisking constantly, and simmer, whisking, 2 minutes. Stir in Parmesan and remove pan from heat. In a heatproof bowl whisk yolks together and whisk in about one fourth of sauce. Whisk yolk mixture into remaining sauce.
• Spoon custard over ratatouille. Ratatouille may be prepared up to this point 4 hours ahead and chilled, covered.
• Bake ratatouille in middle of oven 45 minutes, or until custard is lightly browned. Cool ratatouille 10 minutes before serving.

Steps:

• Grate the cheese finely.
• Beat the eggs, mix with two-thirds of the cheese and season with salt and pepper.
• Heat the milk and stir into the cheese mixture.
• Put into a 1.5 qt greased baking dish and cover with thin slices of bread and butter. Bake gently at 300 degrees until set, about 20-30 minutes.
• Cool slightly and sprinkle with the remainder of the cheese. Brown under the grill.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit/240 degrees Celsius (nonfan).
• Cut the butternut squash crosswise into 3/4-inch/1 1/2- to 2-centimeter-thick half moons. Transfer to a wide, large cast-iron skillet, skin side up, keeping the slices together in the shape of the butternut squash half. You might have to angle the pieces slightly so that they all fit. Place the shallots on either side of the squash.
• In a small bowl, combine oil, five-spice powder, cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon salt and a good grind of pepper. Pour this all over the vegetables in the skillet, and use your hands to coat everything nicely, rearranging the squash pieces if necessary.
• Bake squash for 25 minutes, or until the squash is soft but not falling apart. Spoon out half the cooked shallots from the pan and set them aside, keeping them intact. Set squash aside to cool for 15 minutes, and turn the oven temperature down to 325 degrees Fahrenheit/170 degrees Celsius (nonfan).
• As the squash cools, prepare the custard: Add the stock and cream to a medium saucepan, and heat through on medium until steaming. In a separate large heatproof bowl, whisk together half the cheese, the yolks, garlic, cornstarch (cornflour), miso, 1/4 teaspoon salt and a good grind of pepper. Slowly pour the scalding cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly, until incorporated and smooth.
• When ready, pour the warm custard into the butternut squash skillet, letting it pool all around the squash (avoid pouring it directly onto the squash). Sprinkle the remaining half of the cheese all over the custard, avoiding the top of the squash. Lastly, gently place the reserved shallots, cut-side up, on top of the custard and cheese. Carefully transfer to the oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until the custard is set with a very slight wobble.
• As custard cooks, prepare the topping: Add the sesame seeds to a small frying pan set over medium-high heat. Toast for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring often, until lightly browned. Add the Aleppo pepper, paprika, five-spice powder and a tiny pinch of salt, and turn the heat down to medium-low. Add the oil and leave to cook gently for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes before stirring in the chives and lime juice.
• When ready to serve, spoon the sesame topping all over the custard and serve warm.