Homemade Vanilla Extract

Let me start by saying, if the vanilla beans aren't on sale, this do-it-yourself-and-save type recipe has a high up-front cost. I was fortunate enough to stumble upon 10 vanilla beans for about $7 at Costco a while ago, but I noticed that they recently jumped in price a bit to $12.

Expensive little buggers.

Anyway, this is (theoretically) a renewable recipe. Vanilla extract is essentially made by immersing vanilla beans (split or whole, depending on the strength of extract you are looking for) in alcohol for a period of time in order to extract the organic molecules that make up the "vanilla" flavor that we've come to love. The recipe is renewable because once the vanilla beans have been immersed in the alcohol (vodka and rum are the most popular choices) you can decant (pour off) the liquid, fill 'er up again, add a bean or two, and you're making a whole new batch of extract. I think this would be a pretty neat gift to give a Christmas, provided you had cute bottles to put the extract in. Moreover, you can wow all your friends by saying you know something about food chemistry. Just say "aldehyde" "enzyme" "ester" and "nummers." It'll definitely get the point across.

I read a paper from the early 1900s about vanillin (one of the major organic molecules associated with vanilla extract and flavorings) a few weekends ago, but I can't find it now. Story of my life. I was going to sound all smart and cool, and then the plans fell through.

Y'all still love me though, right? Mom?? You still there?

So if you have some extra booze and some vanilla beans lying around, you might as well make this extract. 

The amounts listed below are based on a back-calculation from the FDA standards, assuming that 13.35 oz of beans is equal to about 7.5 whole beans (I gleaned this figure off of a message board somewhere...), with a few calculations and a little dimensional analysis...

hang on....carry the 4...

Well, I'll spare y'all the math, but rest assured that there are about 6 beans per cup of extract (which should be about 35% alcohol). 

Sooo...that's what I did! I used an old Starbucks bottle as the storage vessel, and initially sterilized the bottle with boiling water before killing all the other nasties by pouring vodka in it :). Then I just shoved the beans in (unsplit for this go around), and pushed them below the solvent line with a sterile knife.

  

I'll try to update every once in a while to show y'all the coloring change of the solution, and what happens when you shake the bottle up every week. (Ahem, obviously those won't be black and white photos...)

I hope my randomness has at least been slightly entertaining, if not educational. More information about vanillin and the vanilla bean drying process (which is actually pretty cool--did you know that the vanilla bean is actually the fruit of a particular type of orchid??), consult wikipedia :).

Mashed Potato Pancakes

What does one do with leftover mashed potatoes?

TATER CAKES!

Leftover mashed potatoes are actually one of the few leftovers that I think taste relatively like the freshly cooked dish. If you don't have a handy leftover main dish, however, you may find yourself at a loss as to how to serve them. Well, this quick recipe may be your answer!

I served these with scrambled eggs and sausage as a "breakfast-for-dinner" type meal. I'll definitely make this recipe again!

Mashed Potato Pancakes

Ingredients:

2 cups leftover mashed potatoes

1 egg, beaten

salt and pepper to taste

about 1 tsp butter

Procedure:

1. Melt butter in skillet on medium-high heat.

2. Mix together egg, mashed potatoes and spices.

3. Drop heaping spoonfuls of the mixture on to the hot skillet, press down until you make a 1/2" thick cake.

4. Be patient! Don't flip these over until the bottom is golden brown--they'll just fall apart on you. Yes, I found this out the hard way.

5. Cook until golden brown on both sides, and steaming hot in the middle.

I served these with Louisiana hot sauce for an extra kick. Yee haw.

The Meal o' Love Part 3: Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry shortcake is definitely what I would define as a summer dessert, but it's featured on many Valentine's day menus because of the dessert's colors (strawberries are definitely what I would call a staple food of Valentine's day), and because of it's appeal as a heart-felt, comfort food.

When I was growing up we'd have strawberry shortcake all the time, but the cake portion was generally a store bought commodity, which, let's face it, is just easier.

Since this was a meal made to show my affection to Tony, however, I decided that I wanted to make just about everything from scratch, including the cake and the whipped cream.

Here's how the story goes....

Strawberry Short Cake
Part One: Homemade Yellow Cake
(adapted from an AllRecipes page: David's Yellow Cake)

So, perhaps I'm just a dummy, but I really didn't know why yellow cake was, well...yellow. I had always assumed that the store bought boxes just contained some sort of coloring to make the cake look that way, which is most likely true.

Real, homemade yellow cake, however, is yellow because of all the dang egg yolks you put into it! I was amazed how they were able to turn the white mixture of the creamed butter and sugar into a deep, rich yellow color. Beautiful!


Ingredients:

1 cup butter
1.5 cups granulated sugar
8 egg yolks (use the white for a tasty omelet!)
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 c milk
2 cups cake flour (I used Softasilk)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour two 8" cake pans.

2. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg yolks one at a time (or, if your like me and accidentally break a yolk or two, guesstimate :)...), and then mix in the vanilla extract.

3. Alternately add flour and milk, mixing only until things are all incorporated (i.e. don't overmix).

4. Pour the batter into the pans and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

5. Transfer to cooling rack after about 15 minutes.

This yellow cake is absolutely delicious! It's soft and moist, and definitely the perfect accompaniment to strawberries and whipped cream!

Part Two: The Strawberries

Gage how many strawberries you need to how many servings your making. It took the two of us about 3 days to get through a 1 lb box of strawberries.

Cut the strawberries into bite size pieces and sprinkle them with a little bit of sugar. Allow them to mellow in the fridge for a few hours.

Part Three: The Whipped Cream

I had no idea that whipped cream that wasn't either Cool or Redi existed until about a year ago. I've never made whipped cream before, but that sure wasn't going to stop me from trying to impress Tony with my cooking skills...

Ingredients:

1/2 pint heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4-1/3 cup of sugar (or Splenda)

1. Mix all the ingredients together.

2. Using an electric mixer (I tried doing this by hand, and I got tired REALLY fast. Embrace technology, people.), whip the cream until peaks form.

Part 4: Assembly

Layer the cake in chunks on the bottom of a bowl. Top with the chopped strawberries, and finish off with the whipped cream. 

Enjoy with a glass (or seven)  of your favorite dessert wine!

Meal o' Love 2: Eggplant Parmesan

If someone would have told me two years ago that Tony's favorite home-cooked meal (of mine, at least), was eggplant parmesan, I would have scoffed, snorted and downright laughed. Tony is a "red meat and 'taters" kind of guy, although he doesn't complain whenever I try and sneak in a vegetarian meal here and there. The only exception to this rule occurs when the vegetarian meal contains tofu, at which point Tony graciously eats everything except the tofu, and then goes to Subway.

Anyway, for the birthday/Valentine's day dinner I cooked for the hubatron, I pulled out the stops and made this recipe of eggplant parmesan. It's gooey, delicious, and smothered with nummy calories. And, boy, was it worth it. We were about 4 glasses of wine into the evening by the time we ate this dinner, and it tasted better than ever :).

I hope y'all like it as much as we do!

Eggplant Parmesan

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant
salt and pepper
2 eggs, yolks broken and incorporated
1-2 cups Italian bread crumbs
1/4-1/2 cup of canola oil
1 bottle of favorite marinara sauce
1/3 lb mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided
1/4 lb parmesan cheese, grated and divided
1/2 Tbs basil, divided


Procedure:

1. Peel the eggplant and cut into 1/2" thick slices. Make a mixture of salt and pepper and dip each slice into the mixture. Stack the slices on a plate, cover with another plate and weight down the top plate with a full can of whatever you have in your pantry. You need to apply pressure on the eggplant for about 30 minutes in order for a bitter, purple liquid to come out. Place the weighted stack in the fridge for 30 minutes. Drain and discard the dark liquid on the bottom of the plate.

2. Heat about half of the canola oil in the iron skillet (use as much as you need depending on the size of the skillet--remember, you're frying here!) on medium-high heat. Preheat the oven to 350F.

3. Coat the eggplant slices in egg and then in the breadcrumbs. Warning: this is a bit messy. Wait until the oil is hot (you can test this by sprinkling a few breadcrumbs in the oil to see if they sizzle), and then place the coated eggplant slices in the skillet. Wait until the bottom is a light brown, then carefully flip using tongs or a fork. Both sides should be a light (or dark, if you're like me and you like it crispy!) brown.

4. Coat a 9"x13" glass pan with cooking spray. Coat the bottom of the dish first with a thin layer of marinara sauce.

5. Layer the eggplant, thin slices of mozzarella, grated parmesan and a light sprinkling of basil. Coat the top with another layer of pasta sauce. Repeat until all the eggplant is used. Finish by layering on mozzarella and a healthy amount of parmesan.

6. Bake uncovered for about 25-30 minutes, or until cheese is gooey and the sauce is bubbling.

7. Enjoy all that hard work!