Fallen Souffle

One of my favorite chefs/cooks/entertainers is Ina Garten, she does the Barefoot Contessa show on Food Network. I want to be Ina, but much slimer. She lives in the Hamptons in her beautiful house with her white picket fence and massive garden and she cooks and entertains while her husband, who she only sees on the weekend, slaves away at work. Ok well I could do without the husband being away, I adore Evan way too much for that But in general she has a great life and I think why I like her so much is that her recipes are pretty simple but they have amazing ingredients in them. She had turned me on the cooking with what’s fresh.

One of her taglines is to use “really good vanilla” when she bakes. When Evan and I were on our honeymoon we stopped in Grenada, “The Spice Island” and I insisted on getting a bottle of vanilla. It is the best stuff every and it was like $3 a bottle. When I can home I visited the Spice Lady at the NCState fairgrounds and she told me how simple is was to make. Simple AND cheap, my two favorite things! My Mom started brewing some about a month ago and I just started a batch for Christmas gifts recently and I wanted to pass the “secret” on to everyone so they can get their bottle ready in time for Christmas baking.

Pure Vanilla Extract

1 bottle (375 ml) of cheap vodka
4 whole vanilla beans

I like to soak the label off the bottle before I start, because who wants to give their Aunt Sue a bottle of brown Aristocrap? You can also add a pretty label after you are done!

Split the vanilla beans in half and drop them into the bottle of vodka. Seal the cap tightly and store in a dark place for atleast 2 months. That’s it! Who knew it could be so easy!

Vanilla beans are becoming more widely available, if you are in Raleigh, I would suggest going to the fairgrounds to buy from the Spice Lady. I also think they are available in a Whole Foods/Fresh Market type place, and they usually run about a buck a piece. So for a total of $8 you have a substantial amount of vanilla that could easily cost you twice as much in the store.

The good news is that when you use about half the bottle just refill it with plain bottle to create more extract!

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I love bread. I could never do the Atkins diet, I would be miserable without my carbs. My husband is the same way. Bless his heart he did the low carb thing for 2 months before our wedding, yep he lost weight but he was one cranky bastard. I have never seen him so happy as I did when we were leaving to drive to Virginia for the wedding and we stopped and had french fries and chicken fingers for dinner.

I wish I could remember what possessed me to try and bake bread. My Mom baked a lot but I never remember her making yeast breads form scratch. I guess I have that “try anything once” mentality. I think I was in college when I try to make baguettes, they must have turned out ok, cause I have been addicted to baking bread ever since.

I have been making this recipe for a while now, it is from one of my favorite cookbooks, The All New Good Housekeeping Cookbook and yet is must not be all that new because it has been discontinued (was published in 2001) You can still find it online, used probably but I love it anyways. This is a pretty fail proof focaccia recipe, without reading the directions (what! me not follow directions!) I dumped all of the olive oil in at once not realizing over half was to be saved for the topping. Nonetheless it turned out great. It rises well, is soft on the inside and has a perfect crunchy crust. I love putting kosher salt on top. It makes great sandwiches and paninis, just slice horizontally and stuff with your favorite goodies, I like mine simple with mozzarella and tomatoes.

Rosemary Focaccia
1 1/2 cups warm water (105 -115 degrees)(or run the hot water and just when it is too hot to keep your fingers there, that’s about right)
1 pack of active dry yeast or 2 1/4 teaspoons
1 teaspoon of sugar
5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt (I prefer kosher)
3 1/2 cups bread flour of 3 3/4 cups of all purpose
1 teaspoon of kosher salt for topping
about 1 tablespoon of fresh chopped rosemary

1. In a large bowl, combine the yeast, 1/2 cup of warm water and sugar. Allow the yeast to begin to foam a bit. If after about 5 mins there is no foam you may have killed the yeast or the yeast was old, throw it out and start again. Once you see foam add the remaining 1 cup of warm water, 2 tablespoons of oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, and flour. I like to out in about half the flour and mix it to make it smooth then add the rest.

2. Flour your counter and your hands. Turn out the dough and begin to knead. Add a little flour as needed to keep it from sticking too bad to your counter. This is a soft dough so don’t add too much. I prefer to be gentle with this dough unlike some others that I can take my aggression out on. At this point I added in about a heaping tablespoon of chopped fresh rosemary. You can also save it for the topping but I love how the scent and flavor of rosemary permeated the bread.

3. Shape dough in a ball and put in greased bowl (I just spray Pam in my bowl). I like to cover my bowl with a towel that has been rinsed with hot water and squeezed out. I like to think it helps the rising process, so far it has worked for me. Put in a warm place, my favorite is in the laundry area while drying clothes (just remember to cover the dough!) or by a window. Leave for about an hour until it has doubled in size.

4. Lightly oil (or Pam) a jelly roll pan or baking sheet with edges. Punch the dough down (literally… just punch it down) and turn it out onto the pan. Pat is into the pan, no need to make it perfect it will fill out the pan more with rising. Cover with a dish towel or plastic wrap for about 45 minutes. With your fingertips, make deep indentations, about 1 inch apart over the entire surface. This allows room for the oil and toppings to stick to. Drizzle with remaining 3 tablespoons of oil and kosher salt. You can also add more herbs at this step. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for another 45 mins. (I know it’s a lot but it is so worth it!)

5. Preheat over to 450 degrees. Bake focaccia on lowest rack until bottom is crusty and top is lightly browned, about 18 mins.

6. Transfer to wire rack to cool. I can barely get this bread out of the pan before Evan has devoured half of it.

I really need to make it more often, it is such an easy and versatile bread that is a great canvas for so many extra flavorings.

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So in the spirit of community I thought it would be cool to have a different “theme” each week in which we can all share our latest and greatest creations, whether is be crafty, cooking, baking, or just coming up with a cool cleaning trick. This way we can all be inspired and add new projects to our ever growing to-do list. You can thanks me later

This week is Recipe Week. I am always on the lookout for new tried and true recipes, or even brand spanking new ones that seem semi edible. I, like many people, can easily get in a rut and make the same dishes for lunch and dinner each week and it gets pretty darn boring, atleast to me.

So post your favorite recipes, I will try and makes some of them and share the results including reaction from my Chief Taste Tester, my dear husband Evan.

Happy Cooking!

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Such a simple dish, reminiscent of Sunday mornings growing up. Whether it is from Mom’s kitchen or IHOP, I love french toast. But who doesn’t love a slice of carbs covered in a rich and sweet custard that you can cover in butter and gooey syrup. Yum, what better way to start the day.

French toast was re-invented for me when I started working for a bakery on the weekends, they sell Cinnamon Swirl bread. When you cut into a loaf the cinnamon sugar goodness just oozes out, it makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

So I snuck away with a loaf this past Saturday so I could experiment with this timeless recipe. As with most things, I don’t measure unless I really have to, but it’s hard to mess up french toast. So try and follow along and if you have questions, well I might just have to make another batch this weekend.

Cinnamon Swirl French Toast
1 loaf Cinnamon Swirl Bread (I got my from Great Harvest Bakery)
4 eggs
about 1 cup half and half (I use the fat free stuff)
about 1 teaspoon cinnamon
about 1 tablespoon of vanilla

I mix all of the wet ingredients in a pie plate which helps when coating the bread easier. I sliced the bread into about 1 inch slices, you could definitely do thinner slices but I wanted it to seem “rustic”.

Here is a view of the goo:

I dip each slice in the custard and let it soak for just a minute before plopping it on my griddle. I was so excited to pull out my griddle. You will find I have a bit of an obsession with kitchen gadgets and appliances (blame my mother, she is the same way- and don’t even get us started on shoes) so I am always thrilled to pull out Christmas gifts and wedding presents that at the time were deemed essential but alas they sit in my laundry closet supporting the detergent and dryer sheets.

I set my griddle at 325 degrees, which was determined to be too hot after my first piece fried up quicker than an egg on a sidewalk in the South in the dead of summer. So I lowered it to 300 degrees which was perfect. French toast is not like pancakes which has a built in “flipper-signal” (the bubbles), you kinda have to sneak a peak and check for the desired golden brown color. I just kinda keep flipping the toast around until it is nice and golden and warm. You will also find that some of my cooking techniques are not what you would call conventional, but it works for me and maybe it will work for you.

I plated up my golden, sugary treat and held my breath as the real critic, my loving husband, gave me the thumbs up. Though he probably knew that he had to agree or no more Sunday breakfast for him.

These delights can be eaten plain as they are sweet enough but I like a dash of syrup mostly for nostalgia, but a nice peach jam on these are divine as well. The final product:

And yes, sadly, I could have probably eaten the entire plate.

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