Creme Brulee

Ruth's Chris Steak House has the potential to offer a perfect dining experience -- wonderful, cozy ambience, excellent service and great food.However, our recent visit was egregiously flawed. In an establishment with the word "steak" in its name, half of my filet mignon was too well-done.And at a restaurant with prices like those of Ruth's Chris, perfection is not just something you hope for. You demand it.My boyfriend and I called the restaurant at 8 p.m. on a Friday and were told that the earliest we could be seated was 9.The restaurant is partitioned into cozy dining alcoves, and we were seated in one, but unfortunately for us, it was in a busy spot next to a door.

Here's a simple recipe that makes good eating (in six weeks) and great gifts to save for the holidays. Use as a topping over ice cream, pound cake, flan and bread pudding. Add to chocolate cake or brownie batter. Or combine with other fruit in season.Brandied CherriesMakes 1 1/2 quarts2 pounds fresh sweet cherries, pitted2 cups sugar1 quart brandyCombine and mix well. Store in tightly covered jar in cool place for 6 or more weeks. Portion into canning jars for gifts and store in a cool, dark place.

NEW YORK -- It's 2 o'clock on a nippy winter afternoon, and lingering diners at New York's ultra-haute Le Cirque 2000 restaurant are all ordering dessert. In his pastry kitchen, behind the main kitchen, chef Jacques Torres is making sabayon, one of those classic, deceptively simple sauces that are liquid heaven on the palate. He's using a small blowtorch to heat the mixer bowl holding egg yolks and sugar.While other pastry staffers chop butter, prepare creme brulee (a custard), assemble orders for the wait staff, sift flour and position petit fours on paper doilies, Torres watches the sabayon and explains the blowtorch: "A cold process would make it a little more liquid.

Lifestyle deluxeThe harbingers are everywhere - creme brulee on dessert trays, high-thread-count sheets in department stores, espresso machines in home kitchens. Living in the lap of luxury is back in style. Rich colors, rich textures and rich finishes abound in the pages of the so-called "shelter" magazines. The September issue of House & Garden is devoted to "a time for luxury.""People are spending a lot of money on their homes, and they're spending a lot more time in them," says Brooke Stoddard, senior editor of House & Garden.

Sweet potatoes from the SouthThis unusual and delicious recipe for sweet potatoes is adapted from "The New Southern Cook" by John Martin Taylor (Bantam, $16.95). Serve with roast lamb or chicken:Sweet potatoes4 small sweet potatoes3 tablespoons fresh, grated horseradish1 cup heavy creamSlice peeled sweet potatoes 1/4 -inch thick. Toss with other ingredients and bake, covered with foil, at 400 degrees for 30-45 minutes until just tender.Must havesWilliams-Sonoma has outdone itself with food-related gadgetry in its current catalog.

Responding to demand from health-conscious repeat passengers, and trying to attract a new clientele among younger vacationers, most cruise lines -- especially those plying the youthful Caribbean and Mexico markets -- have lightened up their menus while beefing up athletic activities.Salad bars have become standard luncheon fare on the buffet deck, vegetarian entrees and simply broiled chicken and fish dishes have joined the mix of red meats in the main dining room, and menus proliferate with asterisks denoting low-cal appetizers, entrees and desserts.

Blowtorch cooking? I don't think so. Turning sizzling bacon with a dinner fork is as much danger as I want in the kitchen.That's why I make creme caramel, rather than its torchy sister, creme brulee. Both desserts are luscious, creamy custards made with generous amounts of milk, cream, eggs and vanilla. Both refresh the palate with a cooling, smooth embrace. Silky and sensual.But creme brulee has a crunchy, caramelized upper crust. And )) to create that brown sugar bonnet, the cook has to sift a layer of brown sugar on the cooked custard and fire it with flames just before serving.

When a request for burnt cream dessert arrived from Marie Sisson of Longview, Wash., the responses and notes, all singing the praises of this dessert, surely did ring the "have-to-try-it-for-dinner" bell.Ms. Sisson wrote that she had been to the Skagit Valley Tulip and Daffodil Festival in Mount Vernon, Wash., and "had lunch at the Farmhouse Inn. I ordered burnt cream for dessert and it is absolutely wonderful. I have never tasted anything like it and would love to have the recipe. I asked about it and the lady told me they spent 6 years finding it."

When creme brulee is made to perfection, eating it is a little like falling into clouds -- a satin luxury. The twice-cooked and chilled custard is completed with a caramelized ("brulee" means burnt) sugar topping that cracks like glass when you tap it with a spoon. The contrast of cold custard and hot sugar, of silken vs. hard texture, of delicate vs. strong flavor, and of dark vs. light color sets the unpretentious dessert among the classiest, richest, and most delicious.So delicious, in fact, that a well-made creme brulee can make a French pastry chef's reputation.

Whoever heard of restaurants opening ahead of schedule? It's surprising but true for two eagerly awaited spots in town.Celebrated chef Michel Richard's Citronelle and the historic Eager House made their quiet debuts in the past week or so, despite earlier reports that they wouldn't open until March.Michel Richard will be at the Latham Hotel restaurant for the next few days, and insiders are expected to clamor for tables 17 and 18, the best in the house for watching him work in the exhibition kitchen.

What's a nice semi-boneless quail with couscous and roasted shallots doing in a place like this? From what I understand, the new Reserve is a serious upgrade from what was there before. But the upgrade consists of two bars, more flat-screen TVs than you can shake a stick at, some high-top tables, exposed brick walls, really loud music and no fabric to speak of. All that adds up to a typical South Baltimore bar, nicer than some, but not exactly where you expect to find duck confit salad and creme brulee.

My mouth waters for traditional Baltimore summer cooking, a commodity that seems to grow more elusive. Then, on a recent trip to Rehoboth Beach, Del., came a revelation: remarkable coleslaw. It was served at a grand Baltimore institution that has moved - Jake's Seafood House, run by the Klemkowski family, who for years seemed to have a corner on good food in Locust Point in South Baltimore. I'm not a seafood eater, so why do I go to Jake's? Because the owners are old-time South Baltimoreans who know how to make coleslaw.

In England, I was served from a huge dish of creme brulee that was covered with a glassy-smooth, see-through sheet of caramelized sugar. It was smooth as ice. How do you get caramelized sugar to look like a golden ice-skating rink? The smooth caramelized sugar topping you describe is made by using a small kitchen torch. They're sold at most cooking or baking supply stores for $30 to $40. The process for creating a slick, shiny surface with the torch is described in Essentials of Baking, from Williams-Sonoma.

The more things change, the more things stay the same. And in 2004, Baltimore's restaurant scene didn't even change that much. For every hip new Blue Sea Grill or Taste that opened this year, it felt like there were three new bars or pubs serving the usual fried calamari, crab dip and quesadillas. You still had to wait two or three weeks to get a prime-time Saturday night reservation at Baltimore's favorite Spanish restaurant, Tio Pepe. This is a quintessential mid-century special-occasion establishment, with rich food in huge portions.

Restaurateur Qayum Karzai has had the Midas touch when it comes to Baltimore restaurants. First, there was the Helmand, the North Charles Street restaurant that features the cuisine of his native Afghanistan. Then came Tapas Teatro, which specializes in Spanish "little plates" and has given new life to the area around the Charles Theatre. Both eateries have been wildly successful. So, will the magic continue at Karzai's restaurant No. 3? You can see for yourself, starting next week, when b opens at 1501 Bolton St. If everything goes as planned, Karzai and wife Patricia will open the doors Tuesday to what they describe as a "neighborhood bistro."

Tim "Tank" Holland and Tom Szewczyk were just a couple of regular Joes from Dundalk until forced to deal with the awesome burden of celebrity. Now friends and neighbors stop and ask when the two will get their own cooking show on TV. Now when they walk into the bar at the Battle Grove Democratic Club, where they're long-time members, a cry goes up from the regulars like the one that greeted Norm when he strolled into Cheers. All of this stems from their coming appearance on the Food Network, on a new show called Food Fight that pits two-person teams in cook-offs against one another.

I RAN INTO my cousin, Katie O'Hare, the granddaughter of my great-Aunt Cora, at the corner of 32nd and Barclay streets bright and early one Saturday not long ago. She was buying her half-gallon of South Mountain Creamery milk imported to Baltimore from Middletown in Frederick County. We then launched into a discussion of our family's mania for cream-rich dairy products - and the lengths we would go to satisfy our tastes for butterfat. Katie recalled the early morning hours with her father, my cousin Billy-O, drinking their cream and munching on a fresh-baked cruller.

I've sampled creme brulee in every flavor imaginable. I've tried it scented with lemon grass and also with ginger. I've enjoyed dark chocolate as well as orange perfumed creations and admired pumpkin and also maple syrup versions. And, even though I've savored every bite of these "burnt custards" (as the name is translated), I can't remember one I liked better than the white chocolate creme brulee served at The Square, a well-known London restaurant. Several months ago my husband and I and good friends dined in this French restaurant located in the Mayfair area of England's capital.

Like Cher and '70s disco music, custards and their close kissing cousins, puddings, have made a cool comeback. They've left behind their roadside-diner status and now they're on dessert menus at the toniest restaurants. You'll recognize home-style favorites such as vanilla custard, bread pudding and rice pudding, and fancy restaurant classics, like creme brulee and creme caramel. But there's a distinctly new taste twist. These days, his top-selling chipotle flan has pastry chef Fabrice Mallet scrambling to fill orders at JBar, a Mexican-inspired restaurant in Tucson, Ariz.

Ruth's Chris Steak House has the potential to offer a perfect dining experience -- wonderful, cozy ambience, excellent service and great food.However, our recent visit was egregiously flawed. In an establishment with the word "steak" in its name, half of my filet mignon was too well-done.And at a restaurant with prices like those of Ruth's Chris, perfection is not just something you hope for. You demand it.My boyfriend and I called the restaurant at 8 p.m. on a Friday and were told that the earliest we could be seated was 9.The restaurant is partitioned into cozy dining alcoves, and we were seated in one, but unfortunately for us, it was in a busy spot next to a door.