Recipe

Feta-Blood Orange Pots de Creme with Mint

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Photo by drbabs

This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Dish with Blood Oranges, Feta and Mint
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drbabs's Notes: Whenever I've watched a cooking show where they give the contestants ("cheftestants?!") a bunch of ingredients and say, go make something, I've always been amazed at the things people come...
Whenever I've watched a cooking show where they give the contestants ("cheftestants?!") a bunch of ingredients and say, go make something, I've always been amazed at the things people come up with. So I thought it would be really fun to play this game. There was no way my husband would eat anything I produced for this (He hates feta cheese.), but that actually gave me some freedom--I could play around with the ingredients and not have to worry about whether he would actually like what I made. So with the challenge of the three ingredients, I thought...dessert. (Which is what I think generally, so that wasn't a stretch.) I was inspired by David Lebovitz's Goat Cheese Custard. For this recipe, I used a fairly creamy sheep's milk feta, and while it was sitting out to get to room temperature, I let it soak in milk to cut the saltiness a little. (It also made it creamier and easier to blend. Which I found out by not doing that the first time I made these.) I think the cooking time can vary a lot based on the size of your ramekins--mine are on the big side; if you have small ones, it could take less time so check frequently. Chop the mint as fine as you can. (Mine would have looked better had I chopped the mint a little finer. Actually, if I were doing it again, I probably wouldn't sprinkle mint on the top--I would just blend it through, but there you go.) You can use milk or half and half in place of the heavy cream, but it's 1/2 cup of cream for 4 servings, so I say live a little. If you try this, I hope you have as much fun as I did creating it. (Amanda and Merrill, can we please have next week's challenge be Your Best Use of Leftover Egg Whites?)

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Serves 4

2 ounces feta cheese, room temperature. (Wash off the brine and let it sit in a dish of milk while it's coming to room temperature. Drain the milk before using.) Ask a question about this ingredient

3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature Ask a question about this ingredient

1/2 cup sugar Ask a question about this ingredient

2 large eggs Ask a question about this ingredient

2 egg yolks Ask a question about this ingredient

1/2 cup heavy cream Ask a question about this ingredient

1/2 cup juice of blood oranges, strained (2-3 oranges, depending on size) Ask a question about this ingredient

1 teaspoon blood orange zest (I just zested the oranges before I cut and juiced them; measurement is guesstimate) Ask a question about this ingredient

1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped fine Ask a question about this ingredient

Preheat oven to 350. Place 4 ramekins in a deep baking dish.
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In a stand mixer (if possible), blend together the feta and cream cheeses till whipped and creamy. Beat in sugar, till thoroughly incorporated (about a minute).
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Add eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition.
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Add cream, juice and zest, and beat to blend completely. Stir in some of the chopped mint. Mixture should be very smooth.
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Divide the mixture into the custard cups. Sprinkle a little fresh mint over the top of each custard (or not--it would probably look better if you didn't, but I did).
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Add warm tap water to the baking pan, to make a water bath for baking the custards. The water should reach to about halfway up the side of each custard cup.
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Cover pan with foil, and bake for about 20 minutes until firm.
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Remove custards from water bath and cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator. Can be served cold or at room temperature.
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5 Comments on Feta-Blood Orange Pots de Creme with Mint

gluttonforlife added over 2 years ago

Sounds divine...how about a souffle with those egg whites?

drbabs added over 2 years ago

Thanks--I was actually thinking of trying to make macarons!

aargersi added over 2 years ago

These are lovely! I bet even our husbands would like them (bless their feta hating hearts :-)

drbabs added over 2 years ago

Ah, your husband hates feta, too? Mine LOVES pots de creme (especially chocolate), but he won't go near these. (More for me....)

AntoniaJames added over 2 years ago

Haha, this is so funny . . . . Mr. T. has no problem with feta, but doesn't care at all for pots de creme, saying that the yolks make them too "eggy." I've even made them using whole eggs instead of just yolks, but he still doesn't like it! Oh well . . . all the more for me and the boys . . . . ;o)