Food & Drink On several occasions, I’ve watched social media influencers make the famous Dutch Baby Pancake. This dish creates a large, sweet Yorkshire pudding pancake baked in an iron skillet. Like savoury Yorkshire pudding, you add significant butter to the skillet and heat it in the oven until the butter almost smokes. Then you pour the batter into the hot butter. As it bakes, it puffs up and then deflates when pulled from the oven. I decided to create my version of a hearthealthy Dutch Baby Pancake. I eliminated the butter (saturated fat) altogether. Instead, I used a non-stick oven-proof skillet with avocado oil and heated the pan for five minutes, so that the batter wouldn’t stick to the sides and bottom of the skillet. Then I poured the batter into the hot, non-stick, oven-proof pan. The use of avocado spray instead of butter, and the use of the non-stick pan versus the iron skillet transformed the recipe altogether. My new heart-healthy recipe definitely doesn’t qualify as a Dutch Baby Pancake. However, the recipe succeeded. I created a delicious, heart-healthy Baked Fresh Blueberry and Lemon Custard. This new recipe becomes a completely different dish and, in my opinion, is better. Why? Because it’s delicious, healthy and inexpensive! Baked Fresh Blueberry and Lemon Custard offers a light and delicate experience with a custard-like, creamy interior that bursts with sweet-tart, juicy blueberry flavour and refreshing lemon tanginess for balance. It serves as a fast, easy and delicious summer custard that you can enjoy for breakfast, brunch, lunch and after dinner. Baked custards appear in culinary traditions across virtually every continent. From France’s fruit-studded clafoutis to Spain’s silky flan and Portugal’s iconic pastéis de nata, Europe offers countless variations. Mexico, Argentina and Brazil each adds its own cultural touches to baked custard. Asian cuisines contribute Japanese purin, Chinese dan ta egg tarts, Filipino leche flan and Vietnamese bánh flan. The list goes on. The Middle East, India, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and North America have all developed their own custard specialties. And let’s not forget Quebec’s sugar pie (tarte au sucre)! It is probably the most famous Canadian baked custard dessert. This traditional Québécois dessert is essentially a baked custard made with brown sugar, cream, eggs and sometimes maple syrup, but with an added pastry crust. Maybe one day I’ll tackle a heart-healthy version. My Baked Fresh Blueberry and Lemon Custard joins the distinguished international family and delivers super-high protein, maintains low glycemic properties (which benefits those watching blood-sugar balance) and contains low cholesterol. New research shows us that eggs do not create cholesterol in the body. Blueberries pack nutritional power with antioxidants, particularly anthocyanins, which give them their deep blue colour. This fruit helps reduce inflammation and supports brain health. Blueberries also provide vitamin C, vitamin K and manganese, while containing relatively low natural sugars. If you’re not a fan of blueberries, you can make this recipe with fresh raspberries or blackberries. by Shari McIntyre For more information on wine and food, go to Ketopaleosharimac.com Baked Fresh Blueberry and Lemon Custard 48 | www.snowbirds.org
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