Playing with Fire

New in our arsenal: a kitchen torch arrived Friday. We started with steak.
Flaming the steak (after broiling) brought out the flavor of black pepper.

We charred the skins of bell peppers, which then were easy to remove.
The peppers had a slightly charred taste but remained crisp.

Friday dinner: pepper steak and bell pepper salad: quite delicious!

Saturday breakfast: butter and cinnamon-sugar melted onto grapefruit halves.
Good, but next time we'll brush melted butter onto the fruit first, to keep the grapefruit juice out of the sugar.

Vegetable soup topped with cheese and one pearl tomato: the torch
was great for melting the cheese and blackening the tomato.

A good lunch.

The ultimate torch experiment: creme brulèe for dinner dessert.

The sugar melted and then turned into a kind of caramel candy. Just what we hoped for.
Yes, some of these dishes could be prepared in other ways, but it wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

Soon, if all goes as planned we will: 

• Eat oatmeal with sugar torched on the top for breakfast. 
• Buy marshmallows. Torch them. We have graham crackers and chocolate bars. You know where this is going.
• Buy better custard cups (we're afraid the Pyrex will explode from heat shock).
• Think about torching some fish.
• Work on our techniques! Len does the torch part. I do the prep.