Wednesday, January 30, 2013

#January Joy 30: Make something naughty to eat: Caramelized pineapple Crème brûlée.


Finally, I am back home. What a long exam that was (from 10h to 15h) and I've only been through half of it. The famous NT2-II  (Nederlands als tweede taal) exam is divided in 4 parts: writing, speaking, listening and reading. You can do each part separately, but if you are intense like me you do 2 parts each day. I am done with writing and speaking, and tomorrow I'll do the rest. Then I have to wait 5 weeks for the results. 

For anyone who might be interested, there have been some brand new changes to this exam. I can only assume this is part of their objective to attract only highly educated immigrants (argh). As of this month, one part of the written exam (which used to be a classic pen and paper test) is now fully digitalized. You are given a computer and you have to write directly in a word-processor kind of program. Here's the catch: not only do they evaluate that the grammar, spelling and use of language is correct. They also check if you format your text accordingly: as in they actually grade you on the use of feautures such as bold, italic, bullets and paragraph spacing. What! Not everyone is going to be a secretary in their life. Not everyone will have to write reports. I for one would be happy working mostly in a farm full of cows and goats, no fancy formatting skills needed. What irritates me the most is that many of the immigrants that are so often criticized come from countries with very difficult situations where they may not have had access to computers. Why are we been graded for computer literacy skills on a language test? It is so completely irrelevant and it strikes me as elitism. Moreover, as of January 1st 2013 the price of the exam DOUBLED. And if I understand properly (and this depends on the rules of the city where you live) the subsidies for a Dutch course that used to be given for free to any foreigner who requested them, in an effort to facilitate the "integration" process have been removed (I never got this subsidy because I was stupid enough to independently enroll myself to a course, and then they never refunded me for it). They keep making it more difficult, and the people in the worst situations, those who are the most vulnerable are the ones who will suffer it. To add to all of this, they make you pay at the public libraries (how are they public then? In Spain and Switzerland anyone can make use of public libraries for free). But they don't have any problem complaining about "the others", how they are here to take your jobs and how they do not want to be part of the society. I think I better stop ranting.


So let us change to happier subjects and focus on making sweet things. One of the first things I knew I wanted in our kitchen was a blowtorch. I would then be able to caramelize things like lemon meringue pie or yes, crème brûlées. We had had our (plasticky) torch for a while, the boy was not even sure it was safe (I got it on sale once), but we recently got some gas and gave it a try. It was magic!  These pineapple-cinammon crème brûlées are delicious and very easy to make. I made sure I found a recipe that did not require to bake them au-bain-marie as I don't have an oven pan who would fit all my ramequins. They were so good, we ate them in a day and a half. 

What you'll need
1 can pineapple, in slices.
½ cups brown sugar
1-¼ cup  cream
1 cup  milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 whole egg yolks
⅓ cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 sugar, for caramelizing. 

What to do
Heat oven to 260ºC , and position oven rack 6 inches from the broiler. Arrange your pineapple slices on a buttered oven pan. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over the pineapple. Place the baking sheet under the broiler, and broil until the pineapple turns golden brown. This will take about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

Center the oven rack and reduce temperature to 90ºC. In a medium saucepan, heat the cream, milk and cinnamon until it just begins to boil. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla until well blended but not airy. While whisking, slowly drizzle in about one quarter of the hot cream-milk-cinammon infusion. Still whisking, slowly add the remaining hot cream. Do NOT stop whisking at any moment. Doing this will prevent the eggs from curdling.

Arrange the caramelized pineapple pieces in the bottom of your baking dishes.  Tap your custard mix against the counter to get rid of air bubbles, and pour it in your ramequins, over the pineapple slices.
Bake the crème brûlées for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the centers are set.  To tell if they are done, tap the sides of the dish, and the custards should hold firm. Now place the custards on a cooling rack until they reach room temperature. Cover each dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 3 hours. We were so impatient that we just put them in the balcony for about half an hour until they were cold (see the cold European weather has its advantages). 

When ready to serve, sprinkle the top of each custard evenly with about 1 tablespoon of sugar. Using a blowtorch, brown the sugar until it bubbles and colors. Repeat for each custard. If you do not own a blowtorch, no worries, you could also caramelize the sugar using your oven.
 Sprinkle the custards with the sugar topping.  Place the pan under the broiler. Watch the custards carefully. Depending on your oven, it can take a few seconds or a few minutes to caramelize the sugar. When the sugar bubbles and browns, remove the custards from the oven. Let them sit a few minutes before serving.

21 comments:

  1. wow, wow, wowwww...
    Se nota que vienes del examen! jajajaja

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    1. Jajaja a que sí. Llevo ya 4 horas "descansando" y me sigo sintiendo algo agotada. Más nervios que otra cosa...

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  2. That exam sounds ridiculously hard. Also, paying in a public library??? What?!?

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    1. The exam itself is not that hard, at least, the exercices we did at class were harder, which is good. But, you get very nervous because you have a time pressure for every exercice and you don't really have time to go back and double check your work. And for the speaking part you are being recorded with big headphones and a mic... you have to be able to come up with perfectly articulated sentences in a matter of 20 seconds. Then you hear a beep and it's over, the test moves to the next question.

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  3. Creme Brulee is my all time favourite dessert but I have yet to try making it myself. I recall being given one of those blowtorches when we got married but now I have no idea where it might be.

    And AMEN to the whole of your rant. Preach it, lady. :)

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    1. You should absolutely try, it is not difficult at all (just keep whipping :) ) Hmmmm time to find where that blowtorch is.
      And yeah... I really get all irritated with xenophobic comments and attitudes. And they just seem to be more and more prevalent. So sad.

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  4. All time fave here too. Yum yum yum! A good friend of mine moved to Holland last year but as she had married a native I am not sure she will have to do this test. Her son has already acclimatized totally to his new school and is amazing with the language. Kids are amazing though, aren't they!

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    1. Kids are like little sponges, they just absorb everything. My husband is also native (100%) Dutch and I have a European passport so technically I did NOT have to do this test at all.
      I just want to be able to have it on the CV, to demonstrate my language skills in a tangible way.
      Crème Brûlée is just the best.

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  5. Es uno de los postres que más me gustan y además era un misterio saber cómo se hace. Nunca la he probado con fruta, está bueísima la idea.
    Y qué molesto lo del examen!, que sea tan caro y además complicado, y que cobren los cursos, cómo se va a adaptar la gente así? Yo en Canadá me enojaba por razones totalmente opuestas, que un montón de gente intenta obtener estatus de refugiados con cualquier excusa para vivir mantenidos por el gobierno aunque no lo necesiten, encima les dan clases de inglés gratis y permiso de trabajo y no aprovechan nada, familias que viven gratis, mientras que a la gente más preparada y que quiere ir a Canadá a hacer cosas productivas para la sociedad se la ponen dificilísimo y pueden tardarse años en darles respuesta. Pero bueno, así es la vida.

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    1. Intentalo, es fácil (mientras no dejes de batir al agregar la crema caliente). Y sí, me dan ganas de agregarle otras frutas. Pero también natural, con un poco de ralladura de naranja o limón queda deliciosa.
      Y sí, sus políticas de inmigración digamos que no son las mejores, podrían resumirlas en "show me the money and you can stay".
      Había escuchado esa historia sobre Canada, que mucha gente abusa y que por ello se estaban viendo obligados a reevaluar las políticas de inmigración. Pero que bueno que lo faciliten, mientras se regule / demuestre que la gente de verdad lo necesita. Es un tema complicado...

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    2. sí, es muy complicado! Hay muchas historias de gente que de verdad necesita inmigrar y aprovechan las oportunidades que les da el país para adaptarse y salir adelante, esas historias dan mucho gusto. Y al mismo tiempo hay muchos que se aprovechan y lo ven como el país donde se puede vivir sin trabajar; afortunadamente éstos últimos parece que están disminuyendo porque se están poniendo mucho más estrictos con las visas. Lo malo es que por unos cuantos abusivos, la pagan todos. Sí, les falta mejroar muchas cosas, pero por los cambios que noté justo cuando yo estaba sacando mi residencia, parece que van por buen camino :)

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  6. Me voy a saltar tooooda la parte de inmigración, ya que me la he pasado todo el día con ello, para decir: ¡¡¡Quiero Crème Brûlée!!! ¡Se ven deliciosas!
    PD Bibliotecas P-Ú-B-L-I-C-A-S

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    1. Inténtalo. Y sí, bibliotecas públicas. Necesarias, debería ser un derecho humano. El primer paso para que la gente sea susceptible de caer en gobiernos autoritarios es cuando no dejas que la gente se cuestione, esté en contacto con otras ideas. Y en eso los libros juegan un rol fundamental...

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  7. Home made creme brulee is amazing. It's been ages since I've given it a go, but nothing quite beats the flavour and texture. The blow torch must make it so much easier than just broiling! Your pineapple version sounds like a fun twist.

    I've heard the Netherlands are a really hard place to immigrate to. If this test is any indication it certainly sounds true.

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    1. It was truly delicious with the pineapple.
      And well, as I commented below in answer to Taniabeth, it really depends where you are from. If you are from the US, Europe or Switzerland (and I guess some other countries) it is relatively easy. But if you come from a certain group of countries then they make the process hard, complicated and expensive.
      The test itself is not that hard (getting to understand the logic of Dutch grammar can be a challenge, but it is doable), it's just that you are under time pressure and you get very nervous. Also talking to a computer when the thing is beeping to you and you know you only have 20 seconds to produce perfectly articulated sentences is hard. You have to be very calm and concentrated. And keep it short ans simple...

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  8. The exam formalities remind me of the TOEFL IBT. It's about learning a technique, but if it is graded correctly, the results can be very precise.
    As for xenophobia it is getting worse and worse. People are even talking about refugees taking jobs from them...I would very gladly force all those who complain about refugees to read testimonies of asylum seekers and cases from the European Court of Human Rights to learn about the ordeals those people go through, and HOW HARD it is to obtain refugee status. Sometimes I think it's just not worth it because they are looking for a scapegoat to their hate...
    When Angela Merkel declared that "Integration had failed", I took it as a warning of the xenophobia that was to come...

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    1. Hmmm, I took the TOEFL and it was different. Here the exam itself is not that super hard (sure you have to study), but you are allowed to use dictionaries in the reading and writing part. It's just that they manage to make you nervous, with the time pressure and all the strict rules (they check your passport 2 times for every exam, they go around looking at your dictionary, your pens, your paper...).
      The rise of xenophobia makes me so so sad. I wish people would be more curious about those people whom they are so scared of and realize that we are all more alike than we're not... all human beings strive for the same pretty basic things (food, home, a family, friends....). And yes the whole "taking jobs away" argument, which does not make any sense. Often immigrants do jobs that the local people do not want to do at all. Even in farms it's a problem because young people do not want to do the work. And you are so right about everything. Scary stuff...

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  9. Wow, a while ago I started looking into what someone has to do in order to move to the Netherlands. I thought maybe I was the one making mountains out of molehills and that immigration wasn't as complicated and almost impossible as I was finding it. I guess I wasn't that far off! This is rather discouraging =/

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    1. Well it depends where you are from. If you are from the US it is not nearly as hard as there is this treaty (DAFT, Dutch American Friendship Treaty) that somehow makes the proces easier. If you have a European or Swiss passport you can just come freely.
      Otherwise, yes, they kind of want to scare you away with this kind of exam (and another one called inburgering, which is supposed to be about the Dutch culture and they ask really silly questions like: if your purse gets stolen what should you do? The answer being go to the police station and make a plaint). What is bothersome is that these questions kind of assume that pretty much everyone from another country is pseudo-illiterate.
      However, you can choose to skip this inburgering all together and take the language exam directly(which is more useful, in terms of studying or job searching) .
      I do not think the exam itself is that hard (yes you have to study, and yes, getting the hang of the logic in Dutch grammar might take a few months of hard work), it is just that they make you very nervous about it because there is a constant TIME pressure.
      You are for instance allowed to have 3 different dictionaries in the written and reading part, which makes it a lot easier.
      So don't be discouraged. Ypu can find more information in this blog:

      http://inburgeringadventure.blogspot.nl/2013/01/inburgering-big-fat-changes.html

      I did not technically have to DO this test (as I have a European passport, it is not a requisite, I can just live and work here freely). But I want to have it on my CV to kind of prove my Dutch skills.

      Another thing is that depending on your field it can be difficult to find a job. But for marketing / business administration / financial / editing / engineers / IT there are tons of vacancies within international companies (in my case it must have to do with the fact that there are too many vets already and it is a very specific field).

      So don't be discouraged... I was also mostly talking about how it is hard for immigrants who come here as refugees, from war-ridden countries, etc.

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  10. Oh, thank goodness for the DAFT then! This is why I like talking to people already there, you guys uncomplicate my thinking! I didn't even know people had the choice to skip the Inburgering and just go straight for the Dutch exam. Test is what had me nervous most of all. Luckily since one of my best friends is Dutch I'm constantly updated about Dutch culture. I also started learning Dutch last year (for not reason whatsoever, haha)and although it's going slow I'm not really planning on moving to there any time soon, I'm hoping that when and if I ever do decide to move I'm proficient enough that the Dutch test wont be too hard. You're absolutely right though, Dutch grammar is a nightmare! =D

    Thanks for the encouraging words you left on my blog, I really appreciate it :)

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    1. :) If you ever need to talk, have any questions, or move here (!!!) let me know, I will be happy to welcome you.
      And good luck with learning Dutch, you just have to force yourself at the beginning when it seems so unsormountable, and then it starts going by itself. It's like it requires an absorbing phase where you feel that you are stuck, not progressing, and then, suddenly you do.

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