Torch Me Ike

One of my favorite movies as a kid was a made for TV classic called Poison Ivy.  It's a great story about a bunch of kids at summer camp and Michael J Fox played one of the camp counselors.  There is a scene in the movie where the camp owner's wife turns to the head counselor with a cigarette in her mouth and says "torch me Ike".  I remember running around with my sisters in the summer, candy cigarette in mouth, trying to reenact that scene.  Jason and I stopped at a candy store when we were up in Sturgeon Bay yesterday and they had candy cigarettes!  I haven't seen those in years, although now they are called candy sticks and sell for $1.19 a pack.  I remember buying them at Bramschreiber's store after school for ten cents a box, oh how the times have changed.

I have always wanted a creme brulee torch, what could be better than setting fire to something on purpose in the kitchen?  We got a shipment of torches in at work last week so I had to have one.  Today I decided to put it to use for the first time. 

I have been thinking a lot lately of our trip to Hawaii.  I'm pretty sure that this crappy Wisconsin weather is to blame.  There were many great things about the trip but one of the best was the food.  I loved all of the fresh seafood and the tropical fruit so I decided to plan tonight's meal with Hawaii in mind.  One of the things on just about every menu was a macadamia nut crusted mahi mahi, two things that are plentiful in the islands.  I could have sworn that I still had a can of macadamias at home but when I set out to start dinner they were nowhere to be found so I had to substitute pecans instead.

Pecan Crusted Mahi Mahi with Roasted Green Beans and White Wine Cream Sauce

1 large fillet of Mahi Mahi (about a pound, cut into four equal pieces)
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 eggs
1/2 cup pecans (very finely chopped)
1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 1/2 teaspoon Hawaiian salt
1 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
cracked black pepper

1 pound green bean
olive oil
salt and pepper

1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 Tbs butter
2 Tbs Philadelphia cooking cream
1 wedge Laughing Cow cheese

Preheat the oven to 350.
I started by trimming the green beans and spread them out on a baking sheet and drizzled them with oil and salt and pepper.  I have some yummy Hawaiian salt that we bought on the trip so I used that for everything tonight but regular salt would do.

I put the green beans in the oven and let them cook for about 15-20 minutes.  While those were going I started on the sauce by heating the wine in a small sauce pan and letting it reduce by about half.  When that reduced I added the cream and butter and whisked until that combined.  Then I added the rest of the ingredients and reduced the heat to low so it would stay warm while I cooked the fish.

For the fish, I removed the skin and cut it into four pretty equal portions. Then I set up my coating assembly line.  I set out three bowls, the first with cornstarch, the second with the eggs and the third with the panko and pecans.  I added a 1/2 teaspoon of salt , Old Bay and a little pepper to each bowl and started coating.

Once all of the fish is coated I heated a little coconut oil in a large pan and started pan frying the fish.  I let it go for a couple minutes per side, until the coating turned a nice golden brown.

Because the pecans get browned fairly quick, the fish isn't done cooking yet so I transferred it to a baking dish and cooked it in the oven for about five more minutes.  By that time the fish and the green beans were done so I took it all out of the oven and dinner was served!

Earlier in the afternoon I had started on the dessert as it would need time to cool before we could eat it.  I couldn't find a recipe that I really liked so I took bits and pieces of a couple different ones to make my creme brulee.

Coconut Creme Brulee with Tropical Fruit Salsa
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup coconut milk
8 egg yolks
1/8 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp rum

1 mango diced
1/2 pineapple diced
1 banana sliced
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs rum
sanding sugar

In a bowl whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and rum.

 In a sauce pan over medium heat whisk together the milk and cream until it boils.

Once it boils I removed from the heat and tempered the eggs.  I took a little of the egg mixture out into a separate bowl and whisked in a little of the cream and then whisked that back into the larger bowl of egg mixture.  This slowly raises the temperature of the eggs without cooking the eggs.  Then I added the rest of the cream and whisked until it was all combined.

I set up a cake pan with about 3/4 of an inch of water and put four ramekins in it.  I poured the creme brulee mixture through a sieve (to catch any egg bits that may have been in there) into the ramekins.  The recipes I found called for six ramekins but I only had four so they were just a little more full than they should have been.

I put them in the oven at 350 for about 40 minutes.  The top should be set but still jiggle a little.  While those were cooking I started on the salsa.  I know I could cheat and just buy my pineapple already cut up or canned, but there is something that I love about whole pineapples.  There is just something about the look of them that I love, the texture of the exterior and the spiky tops are just so cool.  That I they will forever remind me of Hawaii as they serve a wedge of pineapple on just about every plate and drink.

So I chopped up the pineapple and mango and added about a Tbs of rum and let that hang out in the fridge for a while.  Once the creme brulees were done baking I put them in the fridge too and let them chill for a few hours. 

After dinner I finished up the brulees.  In a small pan I melted the butter and sugar and added the sliced banana and the remaining Tbs of rum.  I lit the rum on fire (this is the first time I ever flambeed and I have to say it was great fun) and cooked until the bananas started to brown just a little.

I ran into a little road block when I took my new torch out of the packaging and realized that it didn't come with the fuel so I couldn't use it.  Luckily a torch is never far away in this house so I borrowed Jason's to finish off the dessert.  I put a layer of sanding sugar evenly over the creme brulees and ran the torch over it until melted. 

Then I covered it in the bananas and fruit salsa.  What a beautiful and delicious dessert!  If I closed my eyes it was almost like we were back in Hawaii.  Almost.