Monday, June 16, 2008
The hottest thing in my kitchen
While cooking up a batch of Bacon Bac-o-bake I started to think about all the times I'd seen people cooking with bananas. It always seemed an exciting magical experience. This was not it. "What am I missing?" I asked myself. The answer came to me in a flash:   When using a blowtorch, you need to remember your chemistry class. First of all you need safety glasses. Second, all cooking should be done on a fire proof surface. (I placed them on baking racks on a foil lined pan, placed on top of my stove.) Third, you'll be using flames, so you should assume all metal and glass is hot since you cannot SEE temperature. (This same rule applies at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.) My torch does not have a built in igniter. This does prove to be a bit inconvenient, however it is also a BIG safety feature. There's nothing worse than walking around with a butane blow torch in your pocket that accidentally ignites when you sit down. I turn on the butane, light the flame with a lighter, and adjust the air intake until I get a sharp blue flame. The tip of that flame is the hottest part and that's what you cook with. Wave back and forth over the sugar until it melts and begins to darken. It starts slow, but you have to be careful. It goes from solid to liquid to burnt in mere seconds. It is 2400 degrees you know! With a little practice you can get the hang of it.  This is not one of those "make ahead" kind of desserts. It's probably best to do table side. If you cut the bananas early they go brown or get yucky. Adding the sugar to the bananas makes a neat science project, but an unappetizing dessert. Bananas are actually quite juicy. Sugar is amazingly hygroscopic. That means it absorbs water. This is why sugary cookies get soft when they get stale. They suck water out of the surrounding air. Here is a good science fair project that you can do at home to learn about the hygroscopic effects of sugar. (It's also a tasty experiment, which is good too!)   |
Labels: Recipe
