creme brulee

Healthy eating is all about moderating what you eat without denying yourself of your favorite foods. I've said this in all my previous posts and I will continue reiterating this statement as long as the blog exists. However, to maintain a healthy body and shed some of that extra body fat, eating healthy alone will not do. Exercise is a critical component of a healthy lifestyle.

1) Walking 30 minutes a day will do wonders for your cardiovascular health in the long run. Go out for a walk on a beautiful summer night or if you're fortunate to live in a city like New York, skip the cab and walk.

2) Weight lifting at least 3 times a week will boost metabolism and help replace fat with muscle. As your body repairs damaged muscle fibers, the body's metabolism naturally increases and stays boosted for about 32 hours. Muscle also helps inhibits fat storage and helps give you that nice toned look.

3) Change up your routine if you're plateauing in results. Your body will try to "cheat" eventually by adapting to the exercises and cardio routines you perform. Switching up your exercise will keep challenging your body and help you get to the fitness level of your desire.

4) If the passion starts to fade, motivate yourself by working out with a friend or playing a sport for cardio. Exercising should be something you look forward to not a chore. If you're getting bored of your old jog/run, try this out: Set your mp3 playlist to random and adjust your running speed based on the music's tempo. Now I know this requires some amount of musical knowledge but it's a great way to challenge yourself while having fun.

5) If you're under 14/12 as a boy/girl respectively, you shouldn't be weight lifting. This will result vertical growth being stunned.

6) When lifting weights remember: form is more important than the # of weights. Proper form will ensure your safety as well as the maximum benefit from your workout.

My favorite dessert of all time has to be Creme Brulee. Let's face it, creme brulee isn't exactly the healthiest thing for you on the planet but it is pretty darn delicious. The soft, smooth creaminess of the custard topped off with a hard, carmelized, sugar layer. It is amazing. This is my adapted version of Gordon Ramsay's creme brulee. I don't care what you think of the man, he is a genius when it comes to cooking (he's also pretty entertaining) and is without a doubt my favorite chef.

Creme Brulee
By Gordon Ramsay, Serves 4

Ingredients:
- 300 mL double cream
- 130 mL whole milk or regular milk (sorry fat free, take a hike)
- half of a vanilla pod
- 40 g vanilla sugar
- 4 egg yolks
- extra vanilla sugar for caramelizing the top

1) Combine the double cream, milk and vanilla pod in a sauce pan. Scald the mixture and stir in a teaspoon of vanilla sugar. Remove from heat and let cool.
2) Whisk the egg yolks and 40g of sugar until well combined.
3) Remove the vanilla pod from the cream and temper the egg/sugar mix by adding a little bit of the cream. Whisk. If the cream is too hot, the egg yolks will curdle and you'll get this horrible, grainy texture.
4) Once tempered, add the rest of the cream and whisk.
5) Strain the mixture into another bowl. If you have additional bubbles at the top at this point, you can do one of two things. You can either get a ladle and skim off the top of the custard or get a blow torch and lightly go over the top of the custard until the bubbles disappear.
6) Pour the strained mixture into ramekins and place the ramekins in a roasting pan. Add boiling water until it comes up half way to the ramekins.
7) Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 - 15 minutes until the custard is just set. They should still wobble a bit when the roasting pan is shaken.
8) Remove from the oven and cool in the fridge for at least 3 hours until needed.
9) Right before serving, dust the top of the custard with more vanilla sugar and carmelize the sugar with either a blow torch or broiling/salamander. Serve immediately.