Two weeks ago, before the madness of the ice storm, I promised you my favorite recipe for using homemade seafood stock.  Today, I deliver!  While my sister is definitely the risotto champion in the family, I love to make it on days like today when the weather is cold and dreary.  The rich, creamy texture of this one pot meal brings comfort, while the tender asparagus and bright lemon zest carry promises of spring. Read more

(photo cc license by L2F1)

Happy New Year!  No I’m not a few weeks late, I’m talking Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival as they call it in China.  This is the Year of the Dragon and it makes our boys laugh every time they say it in Chinese because it is a bit of a tongue twister.  After we tried saying it a few times, we got them to say “She sells seashells by the seashore” a few times.  Such fun!  I’m doing a round up of Chinese New Year Recipe round ups from some of my favorite bloggers.  But first, let me tell you about how we’ve been celebrating with our Chinese sons (college exchange students who live with us). Read more

This month, Eric and I have cut our food budget in half to try and save more of the rent we get from our exchange students.  I have to admit that I’ve been slacking a bit in the food budgeting due to the excuse of needing more to feed the boys.  But this month, I’m back on track, meal planning and everything.  One of my favorite tricks for saving money on food is making my own homemade stock.  So today, I’m super excited to share my method of using seafood shells to make a rich and flavorful seafood stock recipe. Read more

Last week I promised to share the recipe for my favorite way to use pumpkin pie flavored sugar, which makes a great edible gift. I love creme brulee because it’s rich and creamy with a crisp top crust that shatters into lovely bits of caramelized sugary goodness. When I want a decadent dessert, it’s the first thing that comes to mind. Around the holidays, I get pumpkin pie at all sorts of gatherings, so at home I love to do a twist and make pumpkin pie creme brulee. It’s less work than an actual pie but just as satisfying.

Creme brulee is a contrast in textures that has two key components.  The first is a custard, made with egg yolks, creme and sugar, with the option of additional ingredients.  The second component is the top crust, sugar that’s melted and then allowed to harden.  This crust appears to be a barrier between you and the silky custard below, but one satisfying whack with your spoon is all it takes to open up a world of velvety indulgence.

Professional chefs us a special torch to make the top crust, but those of us at home can get equally satisfying results with the use of the broiler setting on our oven.  It just takes a watchful eye to make sure you don’t burn your crust (yes, voice of experience speaking!).  The good news is, if you accidentally let it burn then once it hardens you can break it up, scoop it off and try again!

For the custard portion of the creme brulee, I have plenty of egg yolks in my fridge from making about 10 batches of frosting for this year’s gingerbread competition (voting open until December 26!).  The yolks are gently tempered with the hot cream to ensure that they don’t curdle, a really depressing reaction that can’t be reversed.  I walk you through the process in the recipe, but if you’re nervous, you can check out my post on how to temper eggs.

The recipe may look long, but don’t be scared away!  I made another batch last night and had it in the oven in 5 minutes.  Then another five minutes for the top crust after they’d cooled.  My husband and one of our Chinese boys saw how easy it was and asked me to teach them next time!

Have you made creme brulee before?  Any additional tips to share with readers who haven’t?

I’m sure someone somewhere in the world has made pumpkin pie flavored sugar, but I haven’t seen it so I claim it as my own!  The sugar is mixed with ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and allspice to give that signature holiday flavor.  You can use it in your holiday baking, or stir it into hot wine for a delicious holiday cocktail.  My absolute favorite way to use it though is in my pumpkin pie creme brulee.  You can see it peeking out of the top corner of the photo.  That recipe’s coming next, I promise! Read more