Sitting around a nice house party at Stephanie’s
last September talking about doing this 500 mile back pack/trek/walk/hike called
the Camino de Santiago over the French Pyrenees and into Northwestern Spain to
the coast at Finisterre was one thing but almost a year later donning the
beastly pack and boarding a plane in San Francisco leaving our homes and
families for 6 weeks was quite another. Arriving in Paris, we had 19 hours for
walking, sitting in cafes and window shopping, not putting anymore weight at
all in the pack, before catching a train to Bayonne and winding our way by bus
to the beautifully sweet mountain hamlet of St. Jean Pied de Port where after
an amazing communal supper and communal sleeping we would begin our 500 mile or
785 kilometer jaunt ending eventually in Santiago Spain. St Jean is literally
the foot gate over the mountains and the trail has been used for centuries by
pilgrims seeking penance and joy, war criminals and heroes stealing through the
freezing nights to save the world and sheepherders grazing their herds.
Our first few nights were spent in albergues
where bunk beds are arranged in 4 to 8 or so in a room and bathrooms are coed
and shared by many. Took these not spring chickens a minute to get used to it
donning shower shoes for sure. Dining was a family affair with all the pilgrims
staying at the albergues sharing a meal at long tables. We met more people than
carter has pills and made so many hard and fast friends that a bed or couch
awaits in most European countries should the need arise. We figured out the
back pack score pretty swiftly and sent a big box of stuff from our packs home
the morning before we started walking with no regrets at all. Our first day was
short but brutally steep climbing about 3000 feet in a few hours time. Constantly
accompanied by unending mountain vistas with sheep and goats aplenty,
breathtakingly lovely with air as sharp as a knife blade, as we trudged
anaerobic, red faced and puffing regardless of months of training to our goal
for the day. We heaved our bodies with our 23 pound packs onto the deck of our
insanely welcomed albergue in Orison for the evening being greeted with ice
cold mugs of local beer and salty peanuts. Sitting there with only the Pyrenees
in all their amazing foxglove, hydrangea and fern filled craggy but lusciously
green glory before us, fog creeping fingers slowly between valleys, all knowing
of the communal meal awaiting us, a gal met my gaze and we recognized each
other from Kelly Duarte’s Halloween party in
Martinez. Michele Matson lives in town and her hiking partner and long
time friend Jamie Kruse was born and raised in Martinez and her dad was the
mayor for several years when she was growing up. My mom was not surprised I ran
into someone I knew in the French Pyrenees in a place you can only get to by
hiking there.
We found our bunks, did our laundry, took
showers and settled into our first real night on the trail eating Basque food
and drinking local wines with 30 other pilgrims, most on their first night too,
very festive, listening to sheep and night birds as well as pilgrims snoring,
until falling gently asleep filled with the knowledge that the next day would
bring the most strenuously brutal hike of the entire trip cresting the Pyrenees
and ending up at an 11th century monastery in Roncesvalles Spain.
Flan de Cafe
1/2
cup sugar
3/4
cup whipping cream
3/4
cup low-fat milk
1/2
cup espresso coffee
1
tsp vanilla extract
3
eggs
1/4
cup sugar
20
whole coffee beans
6
individual servings in ramekins.
Set
ramekins in a large glass baking dish (9-inch x 13-inch).
Heat
4-5 cups of water in a pot for the water bath.
Put
a heavy skillet or saucepan over medium heat for 30 seconds. Add 1/2 cup sugar.
With the back of a wooden spoon, keep sugar moving constantly until sugar is
completely melted, and of a rich medium brown color (caramelized).
Carefully
spoon caramelized sugar into each of the 6 ramekins or large dish.
Pre-heat
oven to 325F (162C) degrees.
Scald
milk and cream in a saucepan. Remove immediately and stir in the coffee.
Meanwhile
in a mixing bowl, beat slightly 3 eggs. Mix in 1/4 cup sugar.
Stirring
constantly, gradually add hot cream mixture to egg yolk mixture. Stir until the
sugar is dissolved. Blend in vanilla extract. Ladle mixture into ramekins.
Pour
in hot water until there is about 1/2-inch of water in the baking dish for
boiling water bath. Fill about a third way up. Bake uncovered in water bath for
50-60 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean when inserted half way between
center and the edge of dish.
Note: To
ensure the custard does not over-cook, check doneness after 45 minutes, then
every 3-5 minutes.
Remove
ramekins from the water bath. Set on a cooling rack until lukewarm, then chill
thoroughly in refrigerator.
Un-mold
by running a knife around the inside edge of baking dish. Place a small dessert
plate on the top of the ramekin. With one hand under the ramekin and the other
on top of the place, turn over. Tap the ramekin and the flan should drop onto
the plate
Garnish
with the whole coffee beans and serve.
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