FCC1: Flan de legumes
Chou romanesco
Since my camera was on the fritz the day of my first French cooking class (FCC1), most of my pictures did not come out. So instead, I have a photo of a specific type of cauliflower that we used that day (though I am not entirely sure what it is called in English).
We were cooking for about 20 people, so some of the vegetable flans were made with potiron (pumpkin) and the others were made with chou (cauliflower) et chou romanesco. Since pumpkin is harder to deal with, and I just loved the look of the cauliflower flan, I will tell you how we made that one.
Instructions
We first cooked the cauliflower in boiling water; I’d say about 15-20 minutes. In a separate pan, we boiled the romanesco as well (only the flowerettes). Next, we puried the cauliflower with a hand held masher, but you could always use a food processor or mixer, too. While letting it cool, we made the sauce that goes in with the cauliflower before baking. For the sauce you will need:
Sauce Ingredients
- 1 cup of cream (light cream is fine; we used Creme Fleurette legere)
- 2 tbsp of flour
- Dash of salt and pepper
- Dash of nutmeg
- 1 egg separated (you use both parts, but you whip the egg whites separately)
You start off heating the first four ingredients over med-low heat, stirring frequently. Then add the egg yolk. Next, whip up the egg whites, and fold them into your mixture (off of the heat). Then combine the cauliflower with the sauce and pour the mixture into a loaf pan. Next, if you have access to chou romanesco, push the cooked flowerettes into the mixture, leaving a little bit exposed for a visual appeal.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celcius (about 400 F). Put your loaf pan inside of another pan with a little bit of water in the second pan, so that the flan doesn’t burn on the bottom. Cook for 25-30 minutes.
Both flan de legumes are amazing! I am sure that you could make this dish with any vegetable that you like.
Enjoy!
Tags: broccoli, cauliflower, flan, pumpkin, romanesco