Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Jihva for Ingredients #5

Vineela from Vineela's Cusine is hosting this month's Jihva for Ingredient and the theme is Milk & Milk Products.

With so many products to choose from I decided to stay with the source and focus on milk and use it in the traditional Spanish dessert of Leche Frita.

Leche Frita, or "Fried Milk" is basically made from milk, flour and sugar - this forms a thick custard which is then spread out on a tray to harden. It's cut into rectangles, crumbed and shallow fried. The result is a delicious bite sized treat of warm custard encased in a crisp shell. This recipe has been adapted from "A little taste of Spain" by Vicky Harris.

Leche Frita by Haalo


Leche Frita (Fried Milk)

500ml milk
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla bean, split
1 teaspoon cardamom seeds
140 grams unsalted butter
250 grams plain flour
145 grams caster sugar
4 eggs, separated
125 grams dry breadcrumbs
vegetable oil, for shallow frying

Line the base of a shallow rectangular tin with baking paper.

Place the milk in a small saucepan with the split vanilla bean, cinnamon stick and cardamom seeds. Cook until it almost boils, stirring occasionally before turning off the heat.

Place the butter into a non-stick saucepan and melt before adding 185 grams of the plain flour. Stir this well - the mixture will form a loose clump around the spoon. Continue cooking for 30 seconds before adding the caster sugar. Strain the milk and then gradually begin to add it to the pan stirring constantly to ensure that no lumps will form. Once all the milk has been adding keep stirring until a smooth mass forms and it leaves the side of the saucepan.

Take it from the heat and add the egg yolks, one at a time. Making sure each egg is completely absorbed before adding the next. This takes a bit of vigourous stirring - the custard should have slackened and become quite glossy.

Spread this out onto the prepared tray and smooth the top. Place it to one side for at least an hour to cool and set.

custard

Very lightly whisk the egg whites with a fork. Sift the remaining flour into a flat plate and place the dry breadcrumbs into a bowl.

Using the baking paper, remove the custard from the tray.

You can use a ruler to help you cut straight lines - cut a slice about 4cm/1½ inch wide. Then cut the slice into squares or rectangles or a bit of both. Only do one row at a time.

Lightly dust these squares into the flour, then dip in the eggwhite before placing them into the breadcrumbs. Place to one side will prepare the rest.

crumbed

You can store them at this stage in the fridge in a sealed container.

Pour vegetable oil into a small saucepan to a depth of 2 inches deep. Heat until it reaches about 140°C/290°F. Cook a few at a time for about 1 minute or until browned on all sides. Drain on paper towels and if you like you can dust them with cinnamon sugar while still hot.

leche frita

The are best served hot or warm which shouldn't be a problem as they seem to disappear quite quickly!

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9 comments

  1. They look delicious! And thanks for reminding me about the Jihva, I had forgot! I'm back in Italy and full of energy for cooking!

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  2. hi haloo, congrats with winning the DMBLGIT! =)
    linked in to your blog and I think it looks absolutely great! will definitely come back for new delicious posts and stunning pictures...

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  3. Hi Haalo,
    You did it !!!.Photos are gorgeous.
    Thanks for your participation in jfi#5
    Wonderful entry .I will try this after this event.
    Thanks for sharing this recipe.
    Vineela

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  4. i was thinking of making this the other day when a dulce de leche recipe went slightly awry.

    i just love the idea of this recipe. fried milk. mmmmm.

    and yes, beautiful photos as always!

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  5. Thanks Ilva - bella Italia, I wouldn't mind being back there myself

    Thanks so much Julia - DMBLGIT was quite a surprise - hope to see you around again!

    Thanks Vineela, I look forward to seeing all the other great entries for JFI - do let me know if you try this out!

    Thanks Anna - there's something a bit wicked about this, makes it even more tasty ;)

    Hi Paz - thank you for the recommendation that's so lovely of you!

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  6. Hi Haloo!

    You have an amazing blog! First time here and I will keep coming back again and again...

    Your fried milk recipe sounds yum! Thanks for sharing1

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  7. Thank you Chandrika for those lovely comments :)

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  8. Interesting recipe, Haalo! I'd only heard of fried custard till now, didn't actually see it. 'Fried Milk' reminds me of 'Fried Ice-cream', another unusual dessert I've eaten only rarely.

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  9. Hi Sra - fried custard would be a better name for it, fried milk is it's translated name. I've made fried ice-cream a couple of times, there's a lot more preparation in that and stress, hoping that you've done it correctly and that it won't melt!

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