porterhouse steak, bacon-wrapped scallops, parmesan and summer vegetable orzo, vanilla bean creme brulee

***in which i learn that no-stress meals are the best kind of meals, and that my custard-making skills need some work***


So after the debacle that was the 4th of July, Scott and I decided to go out to dinner on Saturday. Then, we thought about it and realized we could have a better meal at home for probably half the price of a restaurant. So we went for some of our standby favorites and boy, did I redeem myself or what?! I think I wanted so badly to make a fabulous holiday meal that I imploded and crumbled into myself, much like Richard Blaise on the Top Chef finale. Well, kind of like him. Not really.

Anyway, we picked up a lovely porterhouse big enough for the two of us, as well as some plump sea scallops wrapped in thick-cut bacon. And while we were at the patisserie counter about to order some creme brulee, the following conversation occurred:

Scott: "Why don't you ever make creme brulee?"
Me: "Erm, because it's hard."
Scott: "How do you know?"
Me: "I don't, really. I think it's just a lot of egg yolks and some cream."
Scott: "Don't we have a little torch at home?"

This began a Dessert Adventure which included a trip to Lowe's for some butane and (of course) propane. What's up with the E's and all the "anes"?

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I marinated the steak in my Go-To Asian Style Marinade:

1/2 cup Kikkoman Low-Sodium Soy Sauce
1/4 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely minced
3 garlic cloves, finely minced (or two spoonfuls of minced garlic in olive oil)
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp brown sugar
3 drops sesame oil
1/4 cup mirin (sweet sake)
Dash sriracha (or other hot sauce, if desired)

I've also added a squeeze of lime juice, some chili-garlic sauce and a tablespoon of chopped cilantro to this in the past. (which I did)

And I topped it with my Standby Saute of baby bella mushrooms and red onions. Perfection!

Standby Spicy Saute Base

1 tsp butter
1 Tbsp minced garlic (I buy the minced garlic packed in olive oil from Wegmans and love it. Saves the hand-stench and the need to scrub your garlic crusher)
1 heaping Tbsp Vietnamese chili garlic sauce (you can also use sambal oelek if you prefer)
1/4 cup soy sauce
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And since we thought risotto would be a bit too heavy, especially with creme brulee for dessert, I devised a quick orzo dish.


Parmesan Orzo with Summer Vegetables

2 cups cooked orzo
1/2 cup zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
1/4 cup baby peas
1 scallion, sliced (separate white parts from green end parts)
2 Tbsp butter, divided
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. Saute the zucchini, peas and white part of scallion in 1 Tbsp of the butter until browned and sweet.
2. Stir the veggies into the orzo and add the other tablespoon of butter and the parmesan. Stir to combine.
3. Serve topped with additional grated parmesan.

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Quick note on the scallops: we cheated and bought these already wrapped and packaged from Wegmans, but they are simple enough to make on your own - just wrap a slice of bacon around a sea scallop and secure with a toothpick.

The cooking directions on these said to bake for 12 minutes and then broil for 12 minutes, but since my creme brulee was hogging the oven, I just did it in a saute pan, browning and crisping the bacon on all sides, and using my meat thermometer to check the temperature of the scallops. Much easier and it didn't nearly set the oven on fire, like last time.

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So, dessert:

I used the simplest recipe I could find, and since I only had 1 cup of heavy cream, I cut it in half.

Creme Brulee

Full Recipe:

4 egg yolks
3 Tbsp sugar
Pinch salt
2 cups heavy cream (two little cartons)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Superfine sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, beat yolks until thickened slightly. Add sugar and salt slowly, and stir to combine.
2. In a saucepan, heat the heavy cream until just before it boils, then remove from heat.
3. Slowly add the cream to the yolk mixture. You'll want to temper it, meaning add a spoonful or two of the cream first, and stir, then add another spoonful and stir, etc. Adding the hot milk too quickly will give you scrambled eggs and a ruined dinner party. Add the vanilla at the end (I used my Madagascar Vanilla Bean Paste).
4. Divide mixture into four ramekins, and place in baking dish. Fill the baking dish with water, about halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
5. Bake for 45-60 minutes, until the custard firms.
6. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Sprinkle superfine sugar on top, and caramelize with a small kitchen torch (alternatively, you can stick 'em under the broiler).

So, okay. Here they are before we caramelized:


And during caramelization:


and check out the video below - it was so cool the way the sugar bubbled after you hit it with the kitchen torch (bonus: if you listen closely you can hear my inspired commentary - "it looks like a swamp!" - and Scott and I discussing how else we can use our little friend the torch):




The topping came out perfectly hardened and made that little "clink" when you tapped it with a spoon. Unfortunately, the inside wasn't so great. It was way too liquidy and had a sort of lumpy consistency. Bummer! But it tasted delish! So my question to you, webbies, is what did I do wrong? Do I need to cook it longer? Let it cool longer? Refrigerate for a day? Did my halving the recipe do me in? Pray tell.