When I was a girl, a special treat was going to the drug store to drink malts at the soda fountain. After the soda jerk took our order, we saw him assemble the ingredients in a stainless steel jar, and whirl them in the electric malt maker. Then we saw him pour most of the contents into a glass and present it to us, along with the can, which still contained some malt, and a can of ground nutmeg to sprinkle on.
Nutmeg was not to be found in our kitchen at home, but it was the traditional addition to malts at Baumgartner’s Drug Store. For me, nutmeg was love at first taste and when I married, at twenty, I included a can of nutmeg in my rather limited spice collection.
Nutmeg, I now know, is best when freshly grated, so I have replaced cans of ground nutmeg with whole nutmegs and a nutmeg grater or microplane.
The spice has numerous, but not extensive, uses. First of all, nutmeg is essential to grate over egg custard before baking. Making a tender egg custard is easy and it tastes marvelous served with berries such as fresh red raspberries .
Egg Custard
In a 1½ quart baking dish beat (in this order):
2 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups milk
Set the baking dish in a pan of hot water and bake at 350ยบ for 50 minutes. Only the edges need be set when you remove it from the oven. The custard will continue to set as it cools.
Second, this spice complements certain dishes made with members of the brassica family, cauliflower, spinach, and broccoli. Nutmeg is delicious in creamed spinach. It’s also delicious in my favorite broccoli soup* and can similarly be added to cauliflower dishes.
Oddly, I don’t like nutmeg in apple pie, although most apple pies I’ve encountered use it. Romance, as we all learn, can be a bit fickle.
*Published on this blog on April, 23, 2013, titled “Back to Soup.”
Copyright 2019 by Shirley Domer
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