Pistachio Flan and Self Reflections
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Some people asked me about my training, I can’t really get into details because it was a work related event. It was a grueling four days of Experiential Learning. If you are not familiar with the concept, check it out here.
It is a very effective method for learning; even though things may not hit you then and there, eventually you will get some insights. I’ve been getting some epiphanies over the weekend when I reflect on the course, some of these are direct concepts that they wanted you to get out of the class, but many are indirect.
One of the shocking self discoveries is the fact that I don’t believe in second chances. If I think I’ve been wronged by someone, I cut that person completely out of my life! I can count a number of people I stopped talking to, after they said or did something that annoyed me completely at the time, but on hindsight looks so silly!
After much soul searching, I figured the reason behind this behavior. It is rather simple actually! I am the center of my universe. I don’t give much importance to other people’s feelings. If someone says or does something that hurts me, I never stop to think why they did or said that.
Most of the times, if you take your own feelings out of the equation, it normally has very little to do with you, the other person is after all the center of his/her universe too. If you just think about the reason for the action from their perspective, it will put things in a new light. They might just be expressing how they feel at that moment, mostly driven by factors in their own life. Hurting you is the least on their agenda!
So, I have decided to look at things from other’s perspective from now on, and give people a second chance to redeem themselves. Obviously if someone continues to hurt me, even if I can find an excuse for the behavior, I will decide to either confront them, or stay away from them, depending on how important they are to me. I am human, after all!
I can’t find a segue to get into the recipe from the topic above. I could connect it to second chances, since the first time I tasted a flan, I hated it. It was too eggy, and had a really bad smell, so I completely avoided it for a long time, before deciding to give it another chance. It is one of my favorite desserts now. The story has nothing to do with the life lesson though, because I was just unfortunate to taste a bad flan made by someone who had no idea what they were doing! If I did cut that person out of my life, I could’ve spun the story around that!
May be I can tie the story to being unforgiving. I hated the way the flan looked in the picture, see the different deformations around the edges, so I had this in my pile of pics that would never get published. But I decided to let go of my perfectionism, and publish this recipe. Okay, that is a true story, but a lame way to connect the recipe with the post… Since there is no good way to do this, I am just going to jump into the recipe.
This creamy dessert is known by different names across the world – Flan in Spain and Mexico, Creme Caramel in France and Caramel Custard in England, Leche Flan in Philippines, Banh Dua Ra Men (Coconut flan) in Vietnam. In its basic form, it is just a mixture of egg, milk and sugar. You can always add other ingredients like fruits, nuts, spices etc to add different flavors to the basic flan. Here is how I made my pistachio flan.
Ingredients (For 6)
- Caramel
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 4 tbsp water
- Flan
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1/4 cup shelled pistachios
- 1 tsp vanilla extract/essence
- 1/2 cup sugar
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 350F.
To make the caramel sauce, heat the sugar and water in a heavy bottom saucepan over medium high heat, and cook stirring until all the sugar is dissolved. Cook without stirring till the sugar caramelizes and turns into a caramel brown color.
Remove from the heat and immediately pour into six ramekins or a large baking dish. Tilt the dishes to coat the bottom and a little bit of the sides with the caramel sauce.
Note: The caramel sauce solidifies in a matter of seconds, so if it crystallizes as soon as you pour it into the ramekins before you get a chance to tilt and spread it along the bottom of the cups, keep the cup in the microwave for 15 seconds. The caramel will melt and you can tilt the cups to coat the bottom. Be very careful with the caramel sauce, it is extremely hot and can cause severe burns.
To make the flan, process the pistachios in a spice grinder or heavy duty food processor to form a coarse powder. Break the eggs into the jar and blend again till the eggs are foamy and the mixture is smooth. Transfer to a mixing bowl.
In a saucepan, add the milk and sugar and cook on medium heat till the sugar is completely dissolved and the liquid is heated through, making sure not to boil the milk. Remove from the heat.
Stir in the hot milk into the egg-pistachio mixture, and then add the vanilla extract. Mix well to combine.
Place the prepared ramekins in a large roasting pan, and add hot water to fill the pan half way. Divide the custard mixture equally between the ramekins.
Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 45 minutes. Test by inserting a thin knife into the middle of the custard. If the knife comes out clean, the custard is set. If not bake for a few more minutes.
Remove the cups from the water and let those cool to room temperature. Cover the dishes and chill in the refrigerator for at least three hours or overnight.
To serve, run a thin knife along the edges of the cup to separate the custard. Cover the cup with the serving plate and invert the cup, and give it a nice tap on the back to get the custard out.
Check out other similar recipes from the blogosphere:
- Mallugirl’s Caramel Custard
- Gini’s Flan
Don’t you worry about this pistachio flan not looking prefect… am sure it tasted pretty darn good! That’s what matters most
For a moment there I thought ‘that’s me’!!!
Awesome post. U rock babe!
Loved the flan! i want to try it… but never had the nerve, time i did!!
First time to your blog – wind dragged me here from some other place.
Yes):
Second chances? Well I don’t sometime even give first ones – and Flan sadly is one such recipe.
I have always held back from eating it or cooking it – like you said, I had smelled a bad one , didn’t even eat it.
However your recipe does inspire me to give it a try.
Foie gras eating Indian gal – you sure are my kind and enforce my decision to try flan
Dear Sig, Lovely dessert I must say .. its my first time here.. surely not the last time..
I absolutely love flan ! Looooks so yummy !! :drool:
Re: I am human after all. Damn, I always imagined you to be a Superwoman, what with the daily gourmet cooking, work, training and everything.
Oh Sig, You will do well. Don’t be hard on yrself.
Sig, you’re right about second chances… and rather brave to admit it! The flan looks fantastic, what edges are you talking about?
Sig,it’s been the other way round for me… I used to give others 5th and 6th chances as well
, perhaps even more than that…but gradually,I’ve realised that it was probably a bit too much…people tended to take it for granted and don’t realise it 
…I now stick to the second or third …life’s lessons learnt.
And that happens to be one of my favourite desserts…my mom was so good at making this…I’ve one in my blog as well…and btw, I don’t seem to see any imperfections in yours…looks delish to me :drool:
You know what?? I dont think theres anything wrong in cutting unwanted people out of our lives…. We only end up getting reminded of unpleasant situations often, if we remain in touch w/ them.. what say? and btw, lovely dessert!!!
Sig…u looking too much into the mirror nowadays???..whats with these sudden feelings etall..we are all humans, after all!!…not to forget, the custard is class!!
Very true that training helps us to understand ourself! It takes lot of experience to come to terms with realities of life! If you can accept your self as you are, you can accept others too!:)) Everyone needs to improve ourself for our own peace and happiness!
Peach flan is looking delicious!:))
I can see where you’re coming from, I’ve contemplated the whole “cut someone out if I can’t deal with them” thing often, sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t, but learning why we react the way we do seems to go a long way in making things easier.
Re: flan – I love the imperfections in the picture! And I’m the same – hated flan on first taste, but am growing to really savor the flavors now. And this looks deeeelish!
That was brilliant how you tied your training with deciding to post this picture and recipe! I’ve never made flan myself but yours reminds me of my dad’s famous (in our family) leche flan. Dad loves pistachios, maybe if I send him some he’ll make me flan when he visits next time!
Hi Sig, catching up late as usual
Agreed I only know you thru your blogs and email, but, you seem like a difficult person to aggravate – you seem so cordial and what’s the word… ummm… NICE! yes, nice. So, I can see why it would bother you when people don’t reciprocate in kind… also, in my experience, i have taken things literally and been over-sensitive and it seems like a waste of my energy…
anyway, gawd, i wish i had your energy and creativity to make desserts! they look lovely!
Hey Sig! the lesson about giving second chances is alwasy a hard one to learn:), but glad you benefited from your training!
the pistachio flan looks really really nice..and I’ve tasted it and felt it to be “too eggy” myself…so maybe now it’s my time to give it a second chance!
Have some leftover?? then send it over!
[...] Also, check out my pistachio flan recipe. [...]