Carrot Ginger Pots de Creme

This week's box contains:

• San Marzano Tomatoes
• Red Beets
• Yellow Carrots
• Rugosa Squash
  
• Romaine and Red Butter Lettuce
• Leeks
• Apples
• Mystery (baby zucchini)

San Marzano Tomatoes:  No question these will go into another batch of oven roasted tomatoes for snacking.  They are a fantastic condiment; my favorite is adding them on top of pita and hummus.

Red Beets:  Roasted and tossed with balsamic vinegar.

Yellow Carrots:  As I've mentioned over the past few weeks, the carrots are stacking up.  We now have three and a half pounds waiting...  We will certainly make baked carrot fries and some form of carrot soup, my absolute favorite recipe can be found here.  We also decided to try a carrot custard, to warm-up (pun intended) our pots de creme muscles for the winter season.

Carrot Ginger Pots de Creme

Serves 8

1 pound carrots
1x2" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
3 cups milk, half and half, or heavy cream (or a mixture)
1t salt
6 egg yolks

Bring milk/cream mixture to a simmer, add ginger slices, cover and remove from heat.  Let sit for 1 hour. 

Meanwhile, clean and trim carrots (peel if desired) and slice.  Boil until tender in a small amount of salted water; drain and mash, then set aside.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, mix yolks and salt until integrated but not foamy.  Add mashed carrots and mix well.  Strain milk/cream mixture to remove sliced ginger; slowly whisk into the carrot mixture.

Divide the custard among eight pots de creme cups and cover with lids. Set the cups in a baking dish and add hot water to the baking dish to reach halfway up the sides of the cups.  Bake in the center of the oven for 40 minutes, but watch carefully.  Ovens vary and you may need to cook for more or less time; you want the edges set, but the custard should still be trembling in the center.

Remove from oven and allow the custard to fully set before serving, about 15 minutes.  These can be made ahead of time and served warm or at room temperature.

A lighter, yet similar, recipe for carrot custard can be found here.

Rugosa Squash: this is one homely piece of fruit.  It looks like a large, withered butternut squash.  I'll likely halve, seed, bake and peel it, freezing the roasted flesh for future use.


Romaine and Butter Lettuce: I'm still not a lettuce fan.  Hoping to pass the romaine onto my friend Teresa and to use the butter lettuce in an apple/walnut salad.

Leeks: We used the leeks from last week in a Pasta e Fagioli, so still waiting to try the NYT Braised Leeks recipe.

Apples: We'll either eat these out of hand or attempt this Apple Walnut Gorgonzola Tart.


Zucchini: I see a Pasta Primavera in our future...