Coconut Custard with Fresh Peaches

Since I cannot sleep I shall cook! A custard... At 4 in the morning.... Oh gawd...

But anyhoo, here's the recipe:

Coconut Custard with Fresh Peaches

Ingredients:
1 pre-made 9 inch pie crust
1 eggwhite (the yolk can be added to the rest of the eggs)
5 medium eggs/4 large eggs
1 can coconut milk

3/4 cups sugar (I used brown sugar, but granulated is good too)
1 capfull of vanilla extract
3 good shakes of nutmeg
2 pinches of salt
2 peaches, sliced

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F.
2. Roll out the pie crust into the pie pan. Crimp the edges if you'd like. I like to because its fun. It's also 3. in the morning and I'm bored.... take a fork and prick the bottom of the pie crust with it, this will keep it from puffing up. The egg whites will prevent the custard from making the crust too soggy.

4. Cover the edges with foil to prevent them from over cooking. Bake for about 10-15 mins, until firm and lightly browned. Remove from the oven and them let cool for about 8 mins.
5. Combine eggs, coconut milk, sugar, vanilla, nutmeg and salt. Whisk together till smooth and pour into the pie crust. Keep the foil over the edges to prevent burning. Bake at 375 for about 30-40 mins. Test it when the top gets nicely browned and when you insert a chopstick or tooth pick it comes out clean. It'll be a little jiggly, but it's okay. It'll firm up later.
6. Let the pie cool for.... however long it takes to cool... When warmish and firm, cut the peaches and arrange pleasingly on the pie. It'll be pretty and tasty. Yum!

Consume with friends.

Tomato Sauce with Fettuccine

Mmmmm, I love pasta!

I've been making this sauce since high school. After watching a lot of cooking shows, I took what I liked from each recipe and created this:

Tomato Sauce

We grow herbs at our house :) They grow pretty well and are great to have on hand when you're cooking. Plus, they smell really good.

Ingredients:
3-5 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 onions, diced
1 spoonful of crushed red pepper (less, or omit if you don't like it spicy)
2-3 cans of stewed tomatoes, unsalted
2 bay leaves
6-8 leaves fresh basil, chopped or a few good shakes of the dried stuff
4-5 leaves of fresh oregano, chopped or (again) a few good shakes of the dried stuff
salt to taste
add a little sugar if you'd like
1 tablespoon of butter at the end, or a drizzle of olive oil

1. Take a large pot and pour in some olive oil. Heat it up for a minute and add in the garlic and onions so they crackle. Also add in the red pepper.

2. Cook the garlic, onions and red pepper until the onions are semi-transparent. The oil should be taking on a reddish tinge due to the pepper.

3. Put the tomatoes in a blender and pulse 4-6 times. You want to chop down the tomatoes, but not puree them. I like some texture to the sauce.

4. Add the tomatoes to the pot and add the rest of the spices. Let stew for about 10 mins on medium heat.

5. At the end, add in the butter or drizzle of olive oil.
6. We also had some frozen shrimp that I added later.

Serve over pasta! I am partial to fettuccine or shells.

^_^ Enjoy!