Jessie: In New Hampshire, eagerly awaiting school to let out allowing her return to the coast of Maine.

As a thrifty New Englander I keep a weather eye on prices at the grocer. I have a bunch of kids and have spent a lot of years keeping them fed on a budget that would do my Mainer grandmothers proud. One easy and nutrious trick up my mitten has always been a reliance on recipes featuring eggs. No one looks at a spinach souffle and thinks you’ve offered them a cheap dinner. They are more inclined to ohh and ahh over the delightful smell and the cloud-like texture.

But in the last few months, those staples of my refrigerator have been much more expensive. Those of you who don’t do the shopping in your household may not be aware that the price of eggs has spent time in the scandalous range. At my local grocer a dozen of them reached the high price of $3.00. It was like a sign of the end times!

But this week, when I conducted the shopping, it was with a light heart I noticed a sale sign hanging over the egg display. In celebration of the price returning to 89 cents per dozen I thought I would share one of my favorite egg-based recipes. It is dairy free, gluten freen and delicious. It’s easy to make and perfect for warm weather. I use the leftover egg whites to make meringues.

Pineapple Nutmeg Flan

3 cups pineapple juice

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

18 large egg yolks 

In a saucepan bring pineapple juice adn 1/4 cup of brown sugar to a boil, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves. Lower heat to medium and simmer until reduced to about 2 cups. Stir occassionally. This will take about half and hour. Cool to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a clean saucepan combine 3/4 brown sugar and 3 tablespoons of water. Stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Raise heat to high and cook, without stirring, until the sauce reaches a deep caramel color, approximately 10 minutes. You may swirl the pan gently if it looks like it is darkening more in one spot than another.  Remove from heat immediately and pour sauce into the botoom of a large pie dish, tilting to cover the surface.

Set pie dish in a larger, oven proof pan like the bottom of a broiler pan.

In a large bowl beat egg yolks until smooth,. Add cooled pineapple juice mixture and nutmeg. Whisk together thoroughly. Pour into pie dish. Place pie dish/ larger pan ensemble on a rack in center of the oven. Add hot water to the larger pan until it reaches halfway up the outside of the pie dish. Bake for approximately 1- 1 1/2 hours or until center jiggles but doesn’t slosh as though still liquid. Cool completely.

Run a knife around the outside edge of the flan and invert onto a serving plate. Allow sauce to spill over the edges and decorate with freshly grated lime zest if desired.