Thursday, March 18, 2010

A Tragic Luncheon (In Two Acts)

"Do not divide the two parts of this luncheon. Egg whites of Act I and egg yolks of Act II must be consumed at the same meal." -Jean Nidetch

Was I ready for this? A two-part retro WW luncheon featuring 2 whole eggs split in a dramatic fashion between two separate dishes??

**Gasp**

I decided it was indeed time for a true challenge.

The 2 parts of this luncheon consist of a meringue-topped Vegetable Cheese Puff (made with the egg whites) and a Baked Cup Custard (made with the egg yolks). This recipes serves 2, but you guessed it -- the hubby turned me down once again!

The custard must be prepared first, because it is baked for an hour then chilled. It is made with 2 egg yolks, 2 cups skim milk, 3 teaspoons artificial sweetener, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and a dash of nutmeg.



The Vegetable Puff was a bit more complicated and involved 4 cups pureed, cooked broccoli, 1 cup milk, bread crumbs, and 2 oz shredded cheese. This mixture is then baked in a casserole for about 15 minutes.



What's that? You want to know where the "puff" comes from? Well be patient darlings, because we're not finished yet! Remember... we still have the 2 egg whites that are anxiously waiting to take the stage. So we are gonna whip those suckers up with some Cream of Tartar and make a MERINGUE to top off our casserole. PUFF!



Then back in the oven for one final curtain call! Bravissimo!



My review: I enjoyed eating the Puff. However I didn't really feel the meringue topping was necessary, and it deflated anyway. The Custard never really solidified, so I ended up sipping it like a curdled milkshake. Two apathetic thumbs down.

6 comments:

Lidian said...

I find custard quite daunting. So much so, that I now use canned Devon custard when I make the Christmas trifle. President's Choice is WAY better at custard than I.

Vintage Christine said...

My husband would NEVER even think about trying either of those. Although he needs to go on a diet as much as I do, he refuses to do so. I read about all these people who successfully diet while the rest of their family pigs out but that sure isn't going to happen in MY household due to my monumental lack of will power. It's funny--I've been on every diet known to womankind and I've never done WW. Hmmmmmm.

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Suzi Storm said...

Well you definitely get kudo's for trying this!! An A+ for effort for sure!!

Chickens in the Basement said...

Mimi,

That sure is a lot of work to be underwhelmed! I'll stick with my salad in a bag and my Jello pudding cup. Can't go wrong there!

Anna

Roxanne said...

My husband LOVES custard. The recipe I used is listed below.

I found two things that helped: smaller cups and keep cooking until it's done! I actually made them in a toaster oven and it took about an hour. I wonder if our ovens are somehow different from the vintage ones??

http://shapelyweightfrom1958.blogspot.com/2009/04/wednesday-recipes.html