I have ramekins and au gratins, but mine are all white. I use the ramekins for dips and puddin'. They are a convenient size.
I've not done seafood in heavy sauces before. It's usually grilled or sauteed. I'm looking forward to scallops in a cream sauce. I forget what else it was I saw ramekins used for...probably something that's not very good for me. I didn't buy on style or color...I had a hard time finding the proper sizes, so it was a matter of In³ & $$$
I bought one of these for my sous vide stuff: It's for putting a sear on meats after they've been cooked in the water bath. Obviously more "scorched earth" [literally] than your brulee torch.
I've used the torch a few times. The idea is to sear one side of the meat in a hot cast iron pan while you sear the other side with the torch. I might repurpose it to remove paint...
No surprise that my new knife has caused a shakeup in the organization of my two existing knife blocks and a wooden drawer storage organizer. :firstworldproblems: So I have made the executive decision to order a big-ass knife block from Amazon or Williams-Sonoma and ditch the other two to Goodwill. I will also be culling the excess in the knife collection. Any excuse to buy something is my motto.
Here's the knife block I ordered... And I got these fridge containers for my celery and carrots... I also ordered 2 Shun Classic paring knives, from Cutlery and More. My old paring knives are looking worse for wear and I'm going to cull the collection when the knife block gets here.
94% of the ratings for that paring knife are 5 Star!!! I don't know that I've ever seen that before. I'd upgrade my knives but I bought a complete set of Japanese sharpening stones a while back that I need to break out. (I still recall the young guy at the company I bought them from...2-3 years in the profession and he was still an Apprentice Sharpener.)
I am a sucker for a good knife, and I usually prefer German (Wusthof, Henckels, etc.). These are my first Japanese knives and I'm wondering if I'll be able to keep a good edge on them. Apparently they have a different bevel and should be sent to Shun for sharpening... ain't gonna happen. So I might end up ruining them when the initial sharpness wears off.
I put mine in a small canning jar with water, just as I would cut flowers. Then I drape a plastic sandwich bag or grocery bag over the top to keep the blowing air off of it and put it in the fridge. I do the same thing with asparagus (except with asparagus you gotta leave room between the bottom of the bag and the top of the jar so the moisture does not get trapped.) This parsley is starting to droop a little, but it's over 2 weeks old. I've kept some fresher longer. It depends on the initial quality. The asparagus is weird. I've sometimes kept it for weeks, other times within a week it gets soft.
I love the old Chicago Cutlery. You can sometimes find it at rummage sales or thrift stores. The new stuff is made in China. I have one knife I use just to cut rutabagas and fight to keep anyone else from using it. I almost lost a knife to the TSA when I forgot that I had one in my pocket. I always carry a knife.