It really is counter-intuitive of me to be doing this at the height of summer ... when there's an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables, but this week I decided we are going to eat out of the fridge and the pantry and the freezer until they are all lean and I can scrub them all clean. Today I made a great start with an unexpectedly successful sour cherry custard tart made almost completely out of pantry items ... and 3 fresh HennyPenny eggs.
The pantry items:
An Arrowhead Mills Graham Cracker Crust
A can of pitted sour cherries and a can of sweetened condensed milk
HennyPenny are still pullets and their eggs are about 1 1/2 oz. each
2 regular eggs would be fine.
Set the oven to 350
Open both cans.
Strain the cherries carefully ... shake them to get as much of the juice out as possible but don't squeeze or press them ... and leave them in the sieve over the bowl to drain a little more.
Crack the eggs into a bowl and add half the can of sweetened condensed milk.
Whisk like crazy then add the cherry juice and whisk again.
It seemed very liquidy and I panicked momentarily - all for naught since it thickened nicely without any additional agents.
Sprinkle the cherries into the pie crust and pour over the cherry custard.
Cook for 40-50 minutes.
Test it by pressing with your finger - it should be soft and springy ... if there are any wet cracks leave it a little longer.
The custard was silky smooth, the crust still intact (not soggy) and the sour cherries deliciously bright in every bite.
2 comments:
Reminds me of a clafouti--something that's so perfect in the summer if you happen to forage out a branch or two of sweet dark cherries. I've never known canned cherries to be disappointing in one, and usually keep a can on hand to make one when the craving hits in, like, January.
I just recently cleaned out a freezer full of items I froze years ago, and then forgot--turkey and chicken stocks, lasagna in quantity (!), unfortunately freezer burned meats. I found someone happy to use them to make "real food" pet foods, she took them away for me and was thrilled to do so. I'm going to be a lot more careful about what I buy and how I use it in my nice, empty freezer now (which is housing some fresh summer produce that I've decided to store for the winter, at the moment).
I know it's only December 21st but as I type this I'm making my first 2011 resolution... Miranda, you've inspired me to take a close look at my pantry and freezers (note the S on freezers). I feel lighter already.
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