I had a little chef’s torch for years at home and never used it. Frankly other than crème brulee, which may have been worth it in itself, I still never used it. It was in the far cabinet making time with the fondue set, pressure cooker and breadmaker. They were a lonely dusty bunch side by side at the final garage sale.

Well, luckily Steve thought that he might renew my interest if he bought me one. Again, it sadly collected dust in the bilge while we were in the crème brulle mecca. So sad. However, as you may have read, we recently found something more tempting than crème brulee – caramelized goat cheese. And so the torch came out…and with it some of my hidden desires to burn things (just food things!).

So tonight, along with our Sautee of Pork Loin with a Sherry, Dijon cream sauce and the CREAMIEST mashed potatoes (seriously don’t know why these were the best ever, but not looking a gift horse in the mouth), we had…wait for it…wait for it…bruleed apple slices (i.e., tossed sugar all over them and torched the crap out of ‘um). Oh, and a side salad (yawn…).

So, I’m picturing this salty, yummy thin (but moist) pork loin chop with this tangy but sweet (from the Sherry) cream sauce and these rich and velvety mashed potatoes, thinking…oh, I should really make some applesauce. It’s so easy, but really for two people it’s pretty silly. Especially when one, unnamed person, doesn’t even care if he has it with pork (silly silly man). However, I have at least four varieties of apples sitting here and…it hits me. I also have a blow torch! Time for some experimentation.

The first batch is too soft. Thinking not enough sugar and the apples are too moist. The next batch I add a lot more sugar and get a little wild with my flame. Ah ha! I have crunchy/chewy apple slices. (Next time I’d try to dry the apples out more, then torch them and use them ASAP. But, it just gives me an excuse to perfect my techniques).

All in all a delicious meal. And…I’m working on my plating. My aunt has always stressed color and I have decided that chopped parsley is not only beautiful but freshens everything up. So, I pile a bit of mashed potatoes and then set my pork loin chop next to it with some height. Place my caramelized apple slice vertically in the potatoes, perpendicular to the pork loin chop, then drizzle my cream sauce in a line across the pork/potato mountain range. Sprinkle with a dusting of finely chopped parsley and…well, it might have been a good challenge for Amateur Top Chef, which doesn’t yet exist but I can keep hoping.

Oh, and FYI…I have a round of queso de cabra in the mini-bar (a.k.a., our refrigerator) awaiting its turn at the torch. HA! Your time will soon be up my little goat cheese friend.

Sea ya.