Living It With Lisa

I am truly a Crème Brûlée Connoisseur!  I have sampled Crème Brûlée around the world. From Sydney Australia to Washington DC and many places in between.  I could tell you stories, but suffice it to say I have a definite opinion on how it should be served.  No more than an inch thick, in a shallow dish so that there is lots of crunch from the burnt sugar!

For those who aren’t quite sure what this dessert is here is the definition: 

French for “burnt cream”; pronounced /ˌkrɛm bruːˈleɪ/ is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a layer of hard caramel, created by burning sugar under a grill, or with a blowtorch or other intense heat source. It is usually served cold in individual ramekins.  The custard base is normally flavoured with just vanilla, but it can be enhanced with chocolate, a liqueur or fruit.  

Now for the NOLA story.  NOLA is one of Emeril Legasse’s restaurant. The day after Thanksgiving, Vic and I flew into New Orleans to rent a car and drive to Biloxi to see Austin our #5 grandchild who was 7 days old. We decided to grab a bite to eat and since we have eaten at several of Emeril’s restaurants, I determined it was time for NOLA.  So off we went to the French Quarter. 

Lunch did not disappoint.  Even though we were stuffed I decided to look at the dessert menu.  Well I couldn’t resist because there it was Chicory Coffee Crème Brûlée with Brown Sugar Shortbread.  I have never had coffee Crème Brûlée.  So we decided to taste it. 

Horrors of Horrors out it came in a 50 style coffee cup!  Perfect presentation, but this was going to be a tough sell when you don’t have a bite of topping with each bite of custard.  Well Emeril, you won me over.  It was perfectly flavored and the custard consistancy was perfect as well.  I ate almost the whole thing!  As I sat savoring each bite, I told Vic that it had to be that my favorite flavor of ice cream is coffee and this reminded me of that except it wasn’t brrrrr cold and every other element of this dessert was perfect! 

Emeril, you are the exception!  A must try for anyone who loves Crème Brûlée.

Last night after our meeting with THE 28 here in Toronto…we all went to dinner at Canyon Creek Chophouse.  Vic wanted a cheese plate for dessert to go with the Inniskillin Ice Wine.  Our waiter Ian, cheerfully put one together for us even though it was not on the menu.  One of the cheeses was a Vodka Currant.  It was a semi-hard cheese and tasted like a cross between Cheddar and Parmasan.  YUMMY!  Turns out the cheese is from Sweden and marinated in Absolut Vodka. 

Vic and I discovered Ice Wine 2 years ago when we visited the Inniskillin Winery in Niagra at the Lake.  No one at the table besides us had heard of it let alone tasted it.  What is Ice Wine?  The grapes are picked at night when they are frozen which is at the peak of sweetness.  The Ice Wine is a sweet, light, yet crisp dessert wine.  Most dessert wines that I have tried are heavy and syrupy.  

Everyone at the table was in agreement…the Vodka Currant Cheese and the Inniskillin Ice Wine were keepers!