Welsh poltroon or pudding, ...

... the crème catalana gets our vote, another superb recipe of Bill Granger, one of Australia’s top chefs.

To serve 6

Ingredients: 

625ml cream

170ml milk

2 tsp natural vanilla extract

2 cinnamon sticks

Peel from 1 orange

Peel from 1 lemon

6 egg yolks

4 tbsp caster sugar

2½ tbsp soft brown sugar

Method
 

Preheat the oven to 140C/Gas 1. Put the cream, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, orange and lemon peel in a saucepan over a medium heat and bring just to boiling point, then remove from the heat. 

Whisk together the egg yolks and caster sugar in a large bowl. Strain the cream and pour slowly over the yolk and sugar mixture, whisking constantly. Skim off any foam that rises to the top. 

Put six 125ml ramekins or dariole moulds in a large roasting tin and spoon the mixture into the ramekins. Pour hot water into the tin to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins and cover the whole tin with foil. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until just set. Lift the ramekins out of the roasting tin and leave to cool before chilling in the fridge for 2 hours. 

Preheat the grill to its hottest temperature. Put the ramekins on a baking tray, sprinkle brown sugar over the chilled creams and then place under the grill for a couple of minutes until the sugar is melted and dark golden (if you have a chef’s blowtorch, this is the time to use it). Leave for a few minutes for the sugar to cool and harden before serving.

 

Why poltroon you might wonder, Plaid MEP Evans is calling for a mass refusal to pay the TV licence fee (backed by the Plaid machine).  Plaid politicians are encouraging people to replace the £145.50 licence fee with a fine of £1000.  Now I'm sure that an MEP earning close to a hundred thousand pounds can afford such a gesture, it is unlikely she will share a cell with a drug-addict, but the rest ...... 

... this Plaid largess, largess with the earnings of those on minimum wage, might extend to words of encouragement thrown over the jail walls ... it remains for many a choice ...

A choice between a cynical protest advocated by politicians or the antipodean pudding, Australia wins the day, it's no contest .......