Feeling Like Flan

For the next few weeks the theme of my food blog will be all about "soft foods". Think puddings, soups, tofu...you get the idea. Maybe you're wondering why. Well, just last week I endured two hours in the dental chair to have two new crowns placed. Right now, I've got a couple temporary crowns which are not the most comfortable things to have in one's mouth. Those of you with crowns can relate to this, I'm sure. Yet, I'm determined to make the "best" of this situation and more than that, determined to not have these temporaries fall out until my next dental visit during the first week of August. This of course means the less chewing and chomping I do, the better, and hence, the "soft food" diet is upon me. So, today I made flan. I have never been a big flan fan until a coworker brought some in for our last Cinco De Mayo potluck. It was light, creamy and not overly sweet. In fact, that was the recipe I was hoping to make today but I discovered I left the notes at work. I opted for this Vanilla Flan recipe from Epicurious instead. It's a little lighter than other flans in the fat department--you can actually use skim milk if you'd like but I chose low fat. It was deliciously smooth and yummy and the best part was, my teeth didn't have to do a lot of work to enjoy it.

Ina's Lamb Kebobs

We enjoy a good lamb dish every once in awhile and this particular recipe is so quick and easy, I just had to share it. It comes from one of Ina Garten's recipes so you know it must be good, right? All you need is a large mixing bowl, salt, pepper, and a few other ingredients that you probably have in your kitchen and you're good to go. You do need to marinate the lamb for at least an hour though so make sure you plan on that when you make this dish. After that, the cooking is a cinch--only 10 minutes under the broiler and you have juicy, tasty lamb that is perfect for a summer meal. Enjoy!

Lamb Kebabs (adapted from Ina Garten)
1.5 lbs boneless lamb sirloin
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red win vinegar
1 teaspoonful dried basil
1/2 teaspoonful thyme
2 garlic cloves (minced)
Coarse salt, pepper
Metal or wooden skewers

Cut the lamb meat into large chunks and place in a large bowl. Add salt and pepper, olive oil, vinegar, basil, thyme, and garlic. Mix using your hands. Cover with plastic wrap and set in the fridge from 1 to 3 hours to marinate.

Preheat oven broiler; place the lamb meat onto skewers.
Broil the lamb for a total of 10 minutes, flipping the meat half-way through.

BYOB

It feels so good to be baking and blogging again. These last several weeks, I have been a bit under the weather and had to take a little break from the kitchen. The good news is, I am on the mend and thought I'd "celebrate" my first post for July with a beautifully rich and moist Beer Cake from today's Los Angeles Times Food section. This cake made my whole house smell so good while it was baking and I really couldn't wait to take a bite of it as soon as it was done. Since I didn't want to burn my tongue though, I managed to wait for the cake to cool before giving it a taste this evening. Wow, this cake is delicious! It reminded me of a luscious spice cake but with a lot more rich flavor to it. The beer truly adds to this flavor but believe me, there's definitely no "beer-taste" anywhere to be found. Hope you will give it a try. Happy baking! (click here for the recipe)