Usually, we go out to dinner for Valentine's Day but this year is different. It was an adjustment to go back as a two person household when my in-laws were here for about three months (so I didn't know if we would celebrate the holiday). But everything is semi-normal and I decided to cook dinner. I'm pretty excited about it, too. The menu is lemon chicken stuffed with garlic, mashed potatoes, and grilled asparagus. For dessert, I've made crème brûlée. Something that should be made in advance, I started it tonight. It's a relatively easy dessert to make. The most complicated part is getting it in the oven.
The first time I made crème brûlée, I used Ina Garten's recipe from Barefoot in Paris and it's the only recipe I'll ever need. It's simple and yummy so what more could I ask for?
You need 1 extra large egg, 4 extra large egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, 3 cups of heavy cream, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon of Grand Marnier.
Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. Mix the egg, egg yolks, and sugar.
Heat the cream until hot but not boiling (I turned off the burner just in time but as you can see, letting it sit there a second for a picture shows otherwise). Then add and mix to the egg mixture. Next, add the vanilla and Grand Marnier.
Pour the mixture into ramekins. For some reason, I like the more shallow ramekins. Place the ramekins in a bath of boiling water in a baking dish. It'll go in the oven for about 40 minutes. Be careful not to get the water into the ramekins (it doesn't hurt but it isn't a happy experience).
When it's done, the custard should be set.
Remove it from the water bath so it can cool and then go into the fridge. Why did I make six? Well, I don't know how to half an egg (going down a size in eggs doesn't really help) so we'll just have dessert for a couple additional nights.
Right before you're ready to have dessert, evenly sugar the top with 1 teaspoon of sugar.
With a torch, caramelize the sugar.
Once cool, I like to add fruit to the top.
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