This spicy soba recipe would be great on such rainy days. The dish has a soul satisfying feeling to it without any of the fat and calories; and it is quick to boot! The real star of this dish is the shiitake mushroom. The earthiness and chewy texture of the mushroom complements the dish extremely well. And the hot pepper paste adds a subtle spiciness that won’t sting your tongue :)

While eating this, I was taken to back to my vacation in Japan, where I ate soba or udon noodle soup almost every morning. Soup was served at tiny restaurants with vending machines – you put money into the machine, press the button associated with the picture of the food you want, and it prints out a ticket. Take a seat at the bar like table and within five minutes you’ll have a bowl of hot, steaming noodle soup in front of you; usually served by a guy who is server, chef and owner all-in-one!

Soba noodles are made of buckwheat; they cook up like spagetti and have loads of flavor. For those unfamiliar with Asian cuisine, finding ingredients like Soba noodles, shiitake mushrooms and Korean hot pepper paste might seem daunting. But, these have become popular enough to be stocked at most grocery stores (you can definitely find them in the Asian aisle at HEB) or any Asian supermarket. If you live in Austin, you can find these at MT supermarket.

Enjoy!

Spicy Soba Noodles with Shiitakes and Cabbage
Gourmet, August 2007

For sauce
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 to 3 teaspoons Korean hot-pepper paste (sometimes labeled “gochujang”)
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

For noodles
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped peeled ginger
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
10 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced
1 1/4 pound Napa cabbage, thinly sliced (8 cups)
6 scallions, thinly sliced
8 to 9 ounces soba (buckwheat noodles)
1 cup frozen shelled edamame (soybeans)

Stir together all sauce ingredients until brown sugar is dissolved, then set aside.

Toast sesame seeds in a dry 12-inch heavy skillet (not nonstick) over medium heat, stirring, until pale golden, then transfer to a small bowl.

Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then sauté ginger and garlic, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add shiitakes and sauté, stirring frequently, until tender and starting to brown, about 6 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, then add cabbage and most of scallions (reserve about a tablespoon for garnish) and cook, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is crisp-tender, about 6 minutes. Add sauce and simmer 2 minutes.

While cabbage is cooking, cook soba and edamame together in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (2 tablespoons salt for 6 quarts water) until noodles are just tender, about 6 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under cool water to stop cooking and remove excess starch, then drain well again. Transfer to a large bowl and toss with sesame seeds and vegetable mixture. Serve sprinkled with reserved scallions.

Serves 4

These devilish, baked chicken thighs are delicious! It’s a relatively easy recipe but a little tedious. And the braised leeks tasted just fabulous, absorbing all the chicken flavor and acting as the perfect bed for the fowl to lay on. The pictures didn’t come out too well…because we were too busy eating and drinking to bother :) But I couldn’t wait to make this again and take better pictures before sharing this with you. So here it is….bad picture and all.

Chicken thighs are marinated overnight in vermouth, herbs and chillies. They’re then slathered with a mustard mixture and topped with fresh breadcrumbs; placed on a bed of leeks, that have been quickly browned in a saute pan, and baked off in the oven. Voila!

I made many adjustments to the original recipe, to cut on the unnecessary fat – used skinless, boneless chicken thighs (though I would suggest you use bone-in…I bought the wrong kind at the grocery store…still good though), substituted wheat bread instead of white and didn’t drench the breadcrumbs with butter. It was excellent. It was also my first time cooking with leeks…and I’ve become a fan. They have such a sophisticated oniony taste. I look forward to using them more in my recipes. Onto the recipe…

Devil’s Chicken Thighs with Braised Leeks and Dijon Mustard
Adapted from smittenkitchen

6 skinless chicken thighs
1/2 cup thinly sliced onion
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon thyme leaves
1 serrano, thinly sliced
2 fresh bay leaves, thinly sliced, or 2 dried leaves, crumbled
1/2 cup dry vermouth
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup finely diced shallots
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1 egg
1 teaspoon chopped tarragon
Braised leeks (recipe below)
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the chicken thighs in a large bowl with the sliced onion, 1 tablespoons thyme, chiles, bay leaves, and 1/4 cup vermouth. Using your hands, toss to coat the chicken well. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

Mix breadcrumbs, 1 tablespoon oil, 1 tablespoon thyme and parsley together in a bowl.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Add shallots and remaining 1 teaspoon thyme to 1 tablespoon oil in a satue pan. Saute about 2 minutes, until the shallots are translucent. Add the remaining 1/4 cup vermouth and reduce by half. Transfer to a bowl and let cool a few minutes. Whisk in the mustard, egg, chopped tarragon, and a pinch of black pepper.

Remove the chicken from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking, to bring it to room temperature. Discard the seasonings, and pat the chicken dry with paper towels. After 15 minutes, season the thighs well on both sides with salt and pepper.

Toss the chicken thighs in the bowl with the mustard mixture, slathering them completely, and then arrange them over the braised leeks. Spoon any remaining mustard mixture over the chicken thighs. Top each thigh with breadcrumbs, patting with your hands to make sure they get nicely coated. (You want lots of mustard mixture and lots of breadcrumbs.) Bake about 40 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked through. To check for doneness, piece the meat near the bone with a paring knife; when ready, the juices from the chicken will run clear.

Turn the oven up to 475°F and cook the chicken thighs another 10 minutes, until the breadcrumbs are golden brown.

Serve in the baking dish, or transfer to a large warm platter.

Braised Leeks

3 large leeks
About 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (though I always skimp and use less)
1/2 cup sliced shallots
1/2  tablespoon thyme leaves
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 to 1 cups chicken or vegetable stock or water
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Remove any bruised outer layers from the leeks. Trim off to the roots, leaving the root end intact. Trim the tops of the leeks on the diagonal, leaving 2 inches of the green part attached. Cut the leeks in half lengthwise, and submerge in a large bowl of cold water to clean them. Shake the leeks well to dislodge the dirt stuck inside. Let them sit a few minutes, to allow any grit inside the layers to fall to the bottom of the bowl. Repeat the process until the water is clean. Place the leeks, cut side down, on a towel and pat dry completely.

Turn the leeks over so their cut sides are facing up, and season with 2 teaspoons salt and a few grindings of black pepper.

Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Pour in 1/8 cup olive oil, and wait 1 minute. Place the leeks in the pan, cut side down, being careful not to crowd them. (you will probably need to saute them in batches or in two pans. Add more olive oil to the pan as needed, for each batch.) Sear them 4 to 5 minutes, until they are golden brown. Season the backs of the leeks with salt and pepper, and turn them over to cook another 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer them to a large gratin dish, lining them up, cut sides facing up. (Choose a baking dish or gratin dish that can go from oven to table and that will accommodate all the leeks and chick thighs, or use two smaller dishes.)

Pour 1/8 cup olive oil into the pan and heat over medium heat. Add the shallots, thyme, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of pepper. Cook about 5 minutes, until the shallots are just beginning to color. Add the white wine and reduce by half. Add stock, and bring to a boil over high heat.

Pour the liquid over the leeks. The stock should not quite cover them; add more stock if necessary.

Braise in the oven 30 minutes, until the leeks are tender when pierced. (Don’t need to worried about this if you’re going to top them with the chicken, in which case they’ll have plenty of additional baking time.)

The spinach fatayer recipe below is a classic and uses a Middle Eastern spice called sumac. Instead of giving you the scientific description (you can find that on wikipedia), I’ll attempt to describe its flavor. Its extremely tart, kind of lemony, a little savory and a beautiful dark red colour. It gives Arabic food like stuffed grape leaves (dolmas) and roast chicken its distinct lemony flavor. You can even use it as a garnish for dips like hummus and baba ghanoush. If you live in Austin, you can find it any Middle Eastern grocery store like Phoenicia or even at some HEBs.

Back to the fatayer. I found this awesome 10 minute bread dough recipe on Arabic Bites. This is definitely the easiest and quickest bread dough I have ever made…I wasn’t sure if it would work. Have you ever heard of making bread in 10 minutes? Even dough for naans takes 2 hours. But I was proved wrong. The fatayers came out perfect…nice and browned on the outside, slightly sweet and fluffy and soft on the inside. In fact, this dough would be perfect for mini-pizzas (which is what it’s used for in Kuwait). Even if you aren’t a baker, I say go and try it. People will think you slaved in the kitchen for hours!

Spinach Fatayer
Adapted from Arabic Bites

For dough:
1 cup warm water.
1 Tablespoons yeast.
2 Tablespoons Sugar.
2 1/2 cups flour, unbleached, whole wheat, or a mixture of the two.
2 Tablespoons oil.
1 teaspoons salt.

For filling:
2 teaspoons olive oil.
1/2 large onion, finely chopped.
10 oz package of frozen spinach, thawed.
2 teaspoons salt.
2 Tablespoons sumac.
1/2 teaspoon black pepper.
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder.
1/2 tsp cumin powder.
1/2 tsp ground black pepper.
1/2 tsp cayenne powder.
 Juice from 1/2 lemon.

Make dough:
Mix the yeast, Sugar, and water. Mix in 1 cup flour. Cover the bowl and let rise for 10 minutes in a warm place.
Mix the remaining ingredients with the mixture above and knead for 10 minutes. The dough is ready.

Make Fatayers:
Heat oil in pan. Add onion, cook, stirring until is soft. Than add spices, and spinach, stirring. Add lemon juice, cook about 5 minutes. Let filling cool.
Take a golf ball size piece of dough and roll out into a 9 cm circle. Fill with 1 heaping tablespoon of filling.
To make into triangles as above, take two opposites ends of circle and press together at a point. There will one end open. Bring that end to the point and press. Now press all the sides together.  You can make any shape you like.
Bake at 375 F about 15 minutes or until browned.

Makes about 20 fatayer.

A few weeks ago I bookmarked a recipe I saw on smittenkitchen for a Blood Orange Tart. It was more of a “if I ever move to a bigger city with a farmers market that might sell blood oranges, I’ll definitely make this!” bookmark and didn’t think I would be making this any time soon. Somehow all the stars and planets decided to align just right, and on my next trip to the grocery store, I saw huge bin full of blood oranges. I couldn’t believe it! Had it always been there at this time of the year, and I had just never noticed it (as you’ll find out, I’m not very observant)?? Maybe I registered it because I had just seen a recipe using this amazing citrus fruit? Whatever it is…I am glad…because the blood oranges gave way to a gorgeous, caramelized, burnt red, flaky, rustic tart! Is your mouth watering yet? :)

Blood oranges are (for those of us not in the know..I had to wikipedia this) variations of the orange with bright red or crimson flesh. They are in season December through March….so you still have time to run out and get some!

Before I start raving how yummy this tart was and how the citrus perfectly counter-balanced the buttery crust, let me tell you that this was pretty time intensive. It requires multiple stages of chilling, during which, if you’re anything like me, you’re sitting around, impatiently waiting to get this over with. This is the first crostata-like recipe I’ve tried. I’ll let you know if they all require this amount of chilling time once I’ve tried some more. In the meantime, I hope some of you try this and let me know what you think!

Flaky Blood Orange Tart
Adapted from Zoe Nathan, via Food and Wine

1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, the stick cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
3 tablespoons ice water
8 to 10 blood oranges (about 5 ounces each) [I only needed 7]
1 large egg yolk mixed with 2 tablespoons of water

1. In a food processor, pulse the 1 cup of flour with 2 tablespoons of the sugar and the baking powder and salt. Add the stick of cold butter and pulse several times, just until it is the size of peas. Sprinkle the dough with the ice water and pulse just until moistened crumbs form. Turn the crumbs out onto a work surface, knead once or twice and pat the pastry into a disk. Wrap the pastry in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

2. On a floured work surface, roll out the pastry to an 11-inch round, about 1/4 inch thick. Transfer the pastry to a parchment paper–lined flat cookie sheet and refrigerate for 15 minutes, or until chilled.

3. Meanwhile, peel the blood oranges, removing all of the bitter white pith. Thinly slice 2 of the oranges crosswise; remove the pits. Transfer the orange slices to a plate. Working over a sieve set over a bowl, cut in between the membranes of the remaining oranges, releasing the sections into the sieve. Remove the pits and gently shake out as much juice as possible without mashing the sections; you will need 1 cup of sections. Reserve the orange juice for another use.

4. Arrange the orange sections on the pastry, leaving a 2-inch border all around. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the sugar over the oranges. Using a paring knife, thinly slice the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter over the oranges. Fold up the pastry over the oranges, leaving most of the oranges uncovered. Brush the pastry with the egg wash and sprinkle lightly with 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Arrange the orange slices on top, leaving a 1-inch border of pastry all around. Sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar on top. Freeze the tart until solid, at least 4 hours or preferably overnight.

5. Preheat the oven to 375° and position a rack in the center. Place a baking sheet on the rack below to catch any drips. Bake the tart directly from the freezer for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling and the pastry is deeply browned. Transfer the cookie sheet to a rack and let the tart cool for 30 minutes. Carefully slide the parchment paper onto the rack and let the tart cool completely.

This recipe included three firsts for me – the first time making a risotto, the first time cooking with fresh fennel and the first time cooking with oranges instead of just eating them raw. I’ve usually shied away from risottos because they tend to be too creamy and often fattening. But the citrus in this risotto really helps lighten the dish and the fennel gives it a subtle anise flavor which elevates the dish to a whole new level. Once the orange has been supremed (segmented), this dish comes together pretty quickly.  And in between stirring the risotto, you sear the scallops, which takes no more than 2-3 minutes. All in all, this dish was a great success, and I can’t wait to try other variations…..you can try this with any citrus (blood oranges, grapefruit, tangerines).

I made the risotto with a half cup of rice, which made enough for 2 servings. But my servings tend to be smaller, so please scale accordingly.

Fennel & Citrus Risotto with Seared Scallops
Inspired from the Amateur Gourmet

1 large orange
1/2 bulb fennel, thinly sliced; fronds reserved
1/2 cup onion, thinly sliced
3 tsp oil
1/2 cup arborio rice
2 1/2 – 3 cups chicken stock
Zest of 1 lemon
2 large scallops
Salt & pepper to taste

Zest about half the orange and keep aside. Using a sharp knife, peel off all the skin and pith of the orange. You do that by cutting off the top and bottom of the fruit, putting it on a cutting board and dragging the knife from the top of the orange to the bottom along the circumference–cutting off the skin and the white. You should be left with a glistening orb of citrus. Now, take a paring knife and cut in between the membranes. Just put your knife in on either side of the white line and little segments will fall out. Catch them all in a bowl along with the juice.
Heat chicken stock in a pot, and keep on low heat.
Heat 2 tsp of oil in a separate pan on medium high heat. Add onion and fennel and saute until translucent. Season with salt. Add rice and continue to stir until all the grains are coated with oil.
Add 2 ladlefuls of stock. Stir until the rice absorbs all the liquid. Continue to add ladlefuls and stir for the next 20 mins or so.
While stirring risotto, pat scallops dry, and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tsp of oil in skillet until very hot. Place scallops in pan, and they should sizzle. Let them sear for a couple of mins, and then flip them to sear the other side for another min. Take off heat.
Once the rice is just cooked through (there’ll be a tiny bite to them), add orange segments and orange and lemon zest. Add salt and pepper to season, and stir around until the fruit breaks up.
Ladle risotto in a shallow bowl and top with seared scallops. Garnish with fennel fronds.

This weekend brought on the Chocolate festival in Austin….interesting with its timing, a week before Valentine’s day. Most gourmet markets like Central Market had chocolate tastings. And when I saw that the Texas Culinary Academy had a “Heart of Darkness” dark chocolate and red wine tasting, I just had to go. So I dragged along a couple of my friends at noon on Saturday (yes….drinking at noon!) and attended one of the most fun wine and food tastings I have been to!

The host was the TCA sommelier, Miss Jane, and she was so much fun. I’m definitely going to keep a look out for other classes from her. She walked through each wine, showed us how to swirl, smell, taste and identify the different flavors and how these same flavors were reflected in the respective dark chocolate dessert to bridge the flavor profiles between the wine and chocolate. (Don’t I sound smart? :)). The biggest takeaway from this tasting for me was that the easiest way to pair wine with food is to showcase the flavors of the wine in the dish it’s going to be served with. It was quite the “Aha!” moment.

 And I got some great ideas for desserts to boot! Hopefully I can post my own variations of these soon.
Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cinnamon Truffles
Black Pepper Spiked Chocolate Cherry Thumbprint Cookies
Chocolate Chipotle Cake
Dark Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
Heart of Darkness Walnut Brownies

On a last note, I will try to post a couple more dessert recipes this week for all those who are celebrating Valentine’s day with your significant others (sigh…I’m jealous!).

Also, I finally made the fennel and citrus risotto with seared scallops, and it was absolutely delish! Can’t wait to share that recipe with all of you. In the meantime, here is recipe for a chocolate cake so moist you’ll probably melt away with it! (I need to work on my analogies :)) And it’ll definitely satisfy the lush in all of us! Even though most of the alcohol cooks away in the baking process, the alcohol laden glaze adds that special tinge. I found this recipe at allrecipes, the first place I check for excellent and easy desserts. The original recipe calls for yellow cake mix (I can almost hear some of you gasp…”cake mix?? Isn’t it almost a sin to not make a cake from scratch”. If this is you, I say try this cake and you’ll want to be sinful!), but I use a devil’s food cake mix. It tastes so chocolatey and works better with the Kahlua.

Black Russian Cake I
Adapted from Allrecipes

1 (18.25 ounce) package devil’s food cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup vodka
1/4 cup coffee flavored liqueur (Kahlua or the like)
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup coffee flavored liqueur
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan.
In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, white sugar, oil, vodka, 1/4 cup liqueur, and water. Beat for four minutes. Pour batter into prepared Bundt pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool on a rack.
Make a glaze by combining 1/4 cup coffee liqueur and 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar. Turn cake over on a cake plate. Poke cake several times with a fork. Cover with glaze, and dust with remaining 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar.

Before I get to the recipe, I want to thank everyone for their amazing support and unbelievably kind words. I hope this blog will encourage some to start cooking (coz I make it look so easy :)) and others to attempt new flavors. Please send me all your feeback – good or bad (umm….mostly good, please!)

The story of this dish started when I went to the store to buy scallops for this seared scallop and risotto dish I was dying to try out, but they were out. So instead I bought some fresh salmon. I came home and started scanning my recipes to find one with ingrdients I already had at home. I came upon this one for steamed fish which seemed so easy I couldn’t believe I haven’t tried it before. The original recipe calls for 2 whole fish. Since I only cook myself :), I adapted the recipe for one. This recipe is a great go to recipe – its healthy, its fast…I was done cooking this and 2 side dishes in 15 mins, it uses ingredients that you probably already have at home, clean up is a cinch because everything is done in a piece of foil and its so yummy! The salmon came out perfect…melt in your mouth consistency. I paired the steamed salmon with stir fried boychoy and carrots and plain rice.

Steamed Fish with Scallions and Ginger
Adapted from SELF, July 2008

1 6-8 oz fillet of salmon
1/4 cup sliced scallions
1 tablespoon fresh julienned ginger 
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon sugar

Heat oven to 425°. Place salmon on a long piece of foil, on a shallow baking sheet. Whisk remaining ingredients in a bowl; spoon over fish. Seal foil loosely around fish to create a somewhat roomy pocket. Bake 12 – 15 mins. Remove foil and serve with juices.

Stir-fried Bokchoy and Carrot

1 baby bokchoy, rinsed thoroughly and thinly sliced
1 medium carrot, shredded
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp siracha sauce (Vietnamese chili sauce that can be found in most grocery stores)
Salt to taste

Heat oil in wok until very hot. Add garlic, bokchoy and carrot. Stir for a min (veggies should still be crisp). Add siracha and salt, and serve.

At Weight Watchers’ meetings, I was often asked how I managed to lose the weight. Many found it hard to eat the same boring food…boiled veggies with seasoning on top or trying to make leaner versions of american classics. Luckily I never had this problem. Indian food is so much fun to experiment with because of the myriad of spices and flavor combinations they offer. You can use the same ingredients multiple times and change around the spices, and get a different dish everytime. Nowadays most Indian spices like tumeric, coriander (seeds of cilantro plant) powder and chilli powder can be found easily in most grocery stores. But if you live in Austin and can’t find any, you can go to Gandhi Bazar, Taj Grocers or any other Indian grocery store.

Below is one such recipe, a favorite of mine. We start with the classic Indian food base of onion, garlic, ginger and chilli sauteed in oil. Add spices, potatoes, tomatoes and green pepper and let cook. Voila! It’s so quick and easy, it seems unreal. But most Indian home cooking is done this way. I hope you try it out and let me know what you think :)

Green Pepper and Potato Curry

2 tsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 cup chopped onion (1/4 of a huge yellow/white/red onion)
2 small cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
1/2 serrano chilli, finely chopped
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp tumeric powder
1 big green pepper, chopped into bite sized pieces
1 medium sized potato, chopped into bite sized pieces
1/4 cup crushed tomatoes or chopped tomatoes
Salt to taste
Chopped cilantro for garnish

Heat oil in a skillet or pot on medium-high heat. When hot, add cumin seeds and let sizzle. Add onion, garlic, ginger and serrano and saute for a min. Add chilli, coriander and tumeric powders and saute for a couple of mins. Add potato, stir and cover to caramelize for 3-4 mins. Add salt and tomatoes and cover to cook for 3-4 mins. Finally, add the green pepper. Cover and cook for 5 mins until the green pepper pieces are just tender. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

Coffee Flan
Gourmet, February 2006

3/4 cup sugar
1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk (1 1/4 cups)
3 3/4 cups whole milk
5 large eggs
4 1/2 teaspoons instant-coffee granules dissolved in 4 teaspoons hot water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.

Cook sugar in a dry small heavy saucepan over moderate heat, undisturbed, until it begins to melt. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally with a fork, until sugar melts into a deep golden caramel. Immediately pour into a 9-inch round ceramic or glass baking dish or metal cake pan (2 inches deep) and tilt dish to coat bottom (use caution, dish will be hot). Cool until hardened, 10 to 15 minutes.

Blend remaining ingredients in a blender, in 2 batches if your blender is small, until smooth. Pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve over caramel in dish, then transfer dish to a 17- by 11-inch roasting pan lined with a kitchen towel. Cover dish loosely with a piece of foil, then pour enough boiling-hot water into roasting pan to reach 1 inch up side of dish. Bake until custard is set but still wobbly in center when gently shaken and a knife inserted in center comes out clean, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Transfer dish to a rack to cool completely, about 40 minutes. Chill flan, covered, until cold, at least 8 hours.

To unmold flan, run a thin knife around edge of dish to loosen flan. Invert a large platter with a lip over dish. Holding dish and platter securely together, quickly invert and turn out flan onto platter. Caramel will pour out over and around flan.