Cooking Utensils/Cast Iron

This seemingly minor issue has some serious ramifications. I have a lot of crock pots and glass serving dishes, and have always used metal utensils with them. Being on several cooking/recipe mailing lists, I have realized that using metal utensils with the appliances, bowls, etc. is a no-no. The reason is simple. Metal utensils are too abrasive. I have noticed some wearing down on the insides of my glass bowls and crock-pots because of this. What is recommended to use is plastic.
   One other thing you really want to be careful of as well, is to never wash your cast iron skillet with soap and water. You can use water and a plastic scrubby thing (no Brillo, unless plastic) when cleaning it out. I use the sprayer to make the water come out forcefully on the pan. Also, cast iron can rust if water is left on it too long.

Creme Brule from New York Times

Here is the recipe for the Creme Brule. I tried to save it in Word, but it won't let me save anything anymore.

Crème Brule

When baking the custard, a water bath is worthwhile. It makes the cooking more gentle and even. And, though it is hard to convince a novice cook of this, the custards are done in the oven when still quite jiggly in the center. Once you move the custard to the broiler, keep the door ajar so the compartment stays relatively cool, and keep a close watch.

2 cups heavy or light cream, or half-and-half

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar, more for topping

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a saucepan, combine cream and vanilla bean and cook over low heat just until hot. Let sit for a few minutes, then discard vanilla bean. (If using vanilla extract, add it now.)

2. In a bowl, beat yolks and sugar together until light. Stir about a quarter of the cream into this mixture, then pour sugar-egg mixture into cream and stir. Pour into four 6-ounce ramekins and place ramekins in a baking dish; fill dish with boiling water halfway up the sides of the dishes. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until centers are barely set. Cool. Ramekins can be wrapped tightly and refrigerated for a couple of days.

3. When ready to serve, top each custard with about a teaspoon of sugar in a thin layer. Place ramekins in a broiler 2 to 3 inches from heat source. Turn on broiler. Cook until sugar melts and browns or even blackens a bit, about 5 minutes. Serve within two hours.

Source: The New York Times

Note: I used stevia instead of sugar.

Safer Creme Brule

I am creating this blog with the hope that I can find or create nourishing recipes and food items that taste good and are healthful. I would like to find recipes that we cherish and adapt them to a nourishing standard. With that concept in mind, I will explain what I did tonight with Creme Brule!
  I found a recipe on the internet, from the New York Times for Creme Brule. I used only 4 ingredients and experimented with it. It turned out great! And I didn't use sugar either! I used a cup of milk and a cup of heavy cream. I put those in a pot with part of a vanilla bean and heated it until it was hot (not boiling). I mixed 5 egg yolks with 1/2 cup stevia in the mixer bowl. Slowly, I added the milk mixture and mixed it all together, then poured the mixture into 5 pyrex glass dessert dishes. I filled 2 pans halfway up with water and placed the dessert dishes inside of them. I put them in the oven and baked for about 40 minutes at 325. Then I sprinkled about a spoonful of stevia onto the top of each pudding and placed them back into the oven. Instead of broiling, I turned the heat to 450 and left them in the oven about 5 minutes. The tops actually got darker and looks like real Creme Brule! A word of caution with glass dishes. Years ago, Pyrex and Corningware made a strong, fireproof product, but now Pyrex and Corningware are owned by a company in China (I want to think the name is something like, New World Kitchen). The glass products that are put out by these companies are not fire proof anymore. You can't put them under a broiler, or they could break. It is very sad that even our dishes and utensils have come to this! If you make this recipe, enjoy it! It is pretty rich on it's own.
  I also made homemade whipped cream. I took some raw heavy cream and whipped it up and added stevia (I sound like a salesman for stevia!). So now there is whipped cream for the top of the pudding dishes!