Recipe - Ninfas Flan

Three fourths cup Sugar
3 Eggs plus 3 egg yolks
2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1 cn (14ounce) sweetened
condensed milk
1 One fourth cup Milk
2 ounce Cream cheese, softened to
room temperature

Place sugar in small skillet over mediumhigh heat and stir while it
liquefies. Let sugar boil until it caramelizes to a walnut brown, stirring
occasionally. Watch carefully so that it does not burn. Pour the caramel
into the bottom of a 9inch flan pan or souffl‚ dish and, working very
quickly, spread it evenly with a rubber spatula over the bottom of the pan.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place eggs, yolks, vanilla, milks and cream
cheese in a blender or food processor and process at least 5 minutes.

Pour mixture into the flan pan and place in larger baking pan in the center
of the oven. Pour boiling water halfway up the sides of the pan. Bake 1
hour and 10 minutes or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
Watch carefully and cover the flan with foil if the top seems to be getting
too brown. Remove from oven, cool to room temperature, then cut around the
edges and invert onto a deepsided serving plate. Serve each piece with
some of the caramel syrup.

Note: Flan can be made as long as three days before serving and kept
refrigerated covered with plastic wrap. Leave in the pan until ready to
serve. "Published in Ellen Brown's Southwest Tastes cookbook (HP Books,
1987), taken from the PBS television series,Great Chefs of the West. "

LP note: Ninfa is a legend in Houston. She started with a family restaurant
over in an industrial section of town. It became very popular and she
expanded to form a popular chain. Ninfa has now retired, I believe, and the
chain has had some financial bad times and has, I think, declared
bankruptcy. Still it flourishes at many locations, and we eat at one in our
neighborhood weekly.

By Lou Parris lbparris@earthlink.net on May 13, 1997

Recipe by: Houston Chronicle, May, 1997 Posted to MCRecipe Digest V1 #620
by Lou Parris lbparris@earthlink.net on May 26, 1997