Espresso Crème Brûlée

Gear:
4 small oven-safe custard dishes
1 large casserole dish
Medium-sized sauce pan


Ingredients:
1 pint of cream
1 shot espresso
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
3 yolks

Ingredients

1. Bring cream and cinnamon to a boil and stir in espresso and sugar. Let cool for 1/2 an hour.

2. Whisk together 3 yolks and 1 egg and gradually combine with cream (minus the cinnamon stick).

3. Put custard dishes into the casserole dish and fill with water until they reach about halfway up the bowls. Pour the custard mixture into the bowls and bake in oven for about 55 minutes or until the centers are think and custardy.

4. Cool in refrigerator for a few hours.

5. Spread a thin layer of sugar (about a teaspoon per dish) and flame with a torch until it forms a hard, candy shell.

Peppercorn Steak with a Honey-Dijon Cream Sauce

This is my variant on a popular French steak dish called steak au-poivre, which is a peppercorn encrusted steak often pan-cooked with butter. The sauce is a simple cream and butter sauce with some other stuff mixed in to thicken it and make it delicious.

Hands-on Time: 15-25 minutes.
Hands-off Time: none
Serves: two

Gear:
12-inch frying pan
oven/toaster

Ingredients:
1-2 12oz steaks (precooked weight)
6 tbsp butter (3/4 a stick)
-- cream
1 tsp honey
1-2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4 cup pepper

1. Either roughly grind or (if you have a mortar and pestle) crush the pepper. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, you can grind the stuff between two strong, well fitting bowls, or put the peppercorns on a plate and crush them with the bottom of a bowl.

2. Toss two tablespoons of butter into a pan on medium heat.

3. While the butter is melting in the pan, press the desired amount of pepper into each side of the steak.

4. Put the steaks into the pan with the melted butter and turn to medium-low heat. Cook to desired rareness, but check step 5 so that you’re in sync Depending on the cut of the meat, 5 minutes on each side for rare, 7 minutes for medium, and 10 minutes for well done.

5. When you flip the steak over, toss a tablespoon of butter into a small frying pan on medium heat.

6. When it melts and begins to brown, add 1/4 cup of cream, and mix that up well.

7. Add a tablespoon or two of Dijon mustard (depending how much you like Dijon mustard), and the teaspoon of honey and turn to low heat.

8. When the steak is ready, put it on a plate and pour off the fat from the pan, but save the drippings.

9. Stir the drippings from the cooked steak into the sauce pan.

10. Pour the sauce over the steaks.

I wish that I had learned this recipe earlier because it’s so easy to make and involves so few ingredients and dishes for clean-up. Everybody whose eaten my version of this traditional dish loves it.

Dried Cranberry/White Chocolate/Almond Scones

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups of white, all-purpose flower (and more for dusting)
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/8 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of honey
2 handfuls of white chocolate chips
4 handfuls of dried cranberries
3 handfuls slivered almonds
1 1/2 cups cream (beaten)
1 1/2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of honey (for wash)


1. Grease a baking sheet (the spray stuff works well) and preheat oven to 375.°

2. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and honey, together in a bowl, then throw in the chips, cranberries, and almonds.

3. Stir in the whipped cream until the dough reaches an uniform consistency.

4. Dump the mess out onto a lightly floured surface and work it with you hands for a bit.

5. Tear off handfuls and shape the dough into chunks about the size of small hamburger patty and between 1 1/4 to 2 inches thick. Space a few inches apart on the baking sheet.

6. Melt the 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter with the honey (a microwave and coffee mug works great), then brush the top of the scones with the wash.

7. Bake at 375° for about 20-25 minutes (until the tops reach a uniform golden brown with a slightly darker brown at the edges of the cracks in the surface.

8. If the scones are too moist for you taste, crank the oven down to 325° and leave them in for another 10 minutes or so.