So I started out the New Year right with my Best Friend coming out to see me for a whole week. Seriously, I am happier than a clam!
Now, if you know me...or Lilly, then you know that food is pretty much a passion of ours. Has been, will be, etc. Especially since she is about to graduate with her BA of Culinary Management. We just are always craving new different foods and fun things to make.
So naturally, one of the nights she was here, we knew we needed to cook.
We were siting in a little cafe with a glass of wine and a cheese plate and decided...we wanted figs. So we thought we would make a gluten free pasta with a parmesan cheese and fig sauce.
Now, this was just in our minds so there isnt an exact recipe, but I will try my best
Parmesan Cheese and Fig Pasta
1 lb Gluten Free pasta [or normal people kind, if that's your thing...]
1 cup chopped figs
.4 lbs Parmesan Cheese
2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
2-3 cups fresh chopped spinach
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine
1/4 cup honey
4 cloves garlic
salt and pepper to taste
Cook the pasta. easy enough, right?
While that is happening, make the sauce. yum.
In a large saute pan, over low heat, caramelize the 4 cloves of garlic whole, being careful not to let it burn.
Add the 1 cup of chopped figs [we chopped the dried figs into quarters but agreed smaller bites would be ideal]
Add honey, red wine, and let simmer over low heat.
When the pasta is finished, add a little pasta water to the sauce and let simmer another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.
Add drained pasta to the sauce in the saute pan and stir, coating the pasta entirely with the sauce.
Add spinach to pan and cover to let wilt. about 5 minutes but it is your call how you like it.
Grate parmesan into pan, stirring to coat. We used about .3 lbs of the cheese here....
Add balsalmic vinegar; stir.
Add salt and pepper to taste. maybe 1/2 tsp of each
Plate and grate some fresh parm right on top before serving.
We also made a side salad of arugula, baby bella mushrooms, and tomatoes with a lemon olive oil and rice wine vinegar dressing. Look how healthy that looks!
While we were cooking, we also had ourselves a Goat Chevre and Sour Cherry ball with gluten free crackers, grapes, and prosciutto.
And what is dinner.....without dessert??
I recently acquired some creme brulee ramekins for christmas, and so naturally, it was the only option.
We relied on good ol' Food Network and Alton Brown for this one.
Creme Brulee
Ingredients
1 quart heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1 cup vanilla sugar, divided
6 large egg yolks
2 quarts hot water
Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Place the cream, vanilla bean and its pulp into a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean and reserve for another use.
In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks until well blended and it just starts to lighten in color. Add the cream a little at a time, stirring continually.
Pour the liquid into 6 (7 to 8-ounce) ramekins. Place the ramekins into a large cake pan or roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake just until the creme brulee is set, but still trembling in the center, approximately 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Remove the creme brulee from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to browning the sugar on top. Divide the remaining 1/2 cup vanilla sugar equally among the 6 dishes and spread evenly on top. Using a torch, melt the sugar and form a crispy top.
Allow the creme brulee to sit for at least 5 minutes before serving. Yah, right, like that happened....
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| She was a little too excited to play with fire.... |
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| yes. please. |
We had a few issues with the blow torch and the angle we were holding it at, it liked to turn itself off when it got too close to the sugar. That is when we entailed the help of men. They may not be able to make creme brulee like us, but they can certainly help us "burn" it.
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| a handy man to have around, add that to ingredients as well. |
And then, voila!
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| Cracking this little baby was just perfection. |
Delicious homemade creme brulee. It was just as good as any ones I have had and maybe better than the one we had that morning at the Buffet at the Paris hotel....
We didn't even make it out of the kitchen, all of us stood right there eating it.
We made way more custard than fit into these four small adorable ramekins so we also used some others I had that we will hopefully be enjoying tonight!
It was a more difficult dish to make, so I certainly won't try it alone, but I do think I see more of these in my future!!
