Homemade Vanilla Bean Paste

Homemade Vanilla Bean Paste

When I first moved to California, one of the things I had a hard time finding, was vanilla beans. In Denmark I never used vanilla extract, only real vanilla beans or vanilla sugar. So I always got vanilla beans sent to me in Care Packages. Eventually I discovered vanilla bean paste, and used that for most things, except for vanilla wreaths and our Christmas dessert Risalamande. Here I wanted the truer delicate vanilla flavors from the beans. Around the month of December you can find ok vanilla beans, but they aren’t as thick and plump, as the onc’s I got from Denmark. Somehow I got dragged into a vanilla cult, and now i buy the most beautiful thick and plump vanilla beans to a reasonable price online. Access to great vanilla beans, made me want to try making my own vanilla bean paste without any extract, and this recipe from Karas Couture Cakes is the most clean recipe i have found.

Makes about 250-300 ml (8½-10 fl oz)

Ingredients:

• 16 whole vanilla beans

• 250 g water

• 300 g sugar

• 50 g glucose

Directions:

Cut off the ends of the beans, you can save these, dry them and use them for vanilla sugar.

Chop the beans into a 1/2-inch (~1cm) long pieces. Using a food processor, spice grinder or Vitamix blender, grind the beans with about half the sugar. Work in batches, so you don’t overheat machinery or the vanilla and sugar mixture. You are looking for a grey/brown sandy looking mixture.

In a medium saucepan mix the rest of the sugar, water and glucose, and heat it to a boil, let it boil for a few minutes. Add the vanilla sugar mixture to the saucepan, and let it boil for another 2 minutes, before removing from the heat.

Strain the vanilla through a fine meshed sieve, and use a flexible spatula to massage as much of the paste through the sieve. You can save this pulp and use it to make extract or vanilla sugar. I didn’t do that as I allready had some extract brewing and didn’t need more.

Pour the vanilla bean paste into clean scolded glass containers, and close the lids tightly when completely cooled. Store the vanilla bean paste in a dark place like a pantry.

DO NOT REFRIGERATE

Use vanilla bean paste in cakes, custard, ice cream, and where you would use vanilla sugar or extract.

Enjoy!

Spinach and Feta Pie a la Spanakopita

Spinach and Feta Pie a la Spanakopita

This is a simplification of the traditional Greek Spanakopita, a spinach feta pie or hand pie. It’s perfect for a lunch or light dinner. The crispness of the filo dough with the soft creamy filling is a great combination. An absolute favorite in my house.

Serves 4,

Ingredients:

• 100 g pine nuts, dry roasted

• 400 g baby spinach

• olive oil for sautéing the spinach

• 5 eggs

• 275 g feta cheese, crumbled

• 1 lemon, the zest of

• 1 pinch of cayenne pepper

• 9-10 sheets of filo dough (Store bought) defrosted according to instruction on packaging

• ~50 g melted butter for brushing the filo dough

Directions:

Preheat the oven for the 400℉ (200℃).

Take out a 10-inch skillet, and sauté the spinach over medium heat until it is all wilted, take off the heat.

Mix eggs, feta cheese, pine nuts, lemon zest, and cayenne. When the spinach is cooled a bit, add it to the egg mixture. Dry off the pan you used for the spinach, set aside.

Place the filo dough under a damp tea towel, this will help to keep the filo dough soft and workable.

Place a large piece of parchment paper on the kitchen counter. I crumble the parchment paper first, and straighten it out again, this way it’s easier for the parchment paper to fit in the skillet. Brush some melted butter on the parchment paper. Place 4 sheets of the filo dough on top of the parchment paper in a rectangle, you want them to overlap a bit. Gently brush with melted butter, and repeat with 3-4 more layers of filo dough. Carefully transfer the parchment paper with the filo dough into the skillet, so the dough is hanging out over the edges of the skillet. Pour in the egg mixture in an even layer. Gently fold the filo doughs edges in over the filling. Brush the edges with a little more butter, and bake the pie for 18-20 minutes until the dough is golden and crisp, and the filling is set.

Serve the pie warm with a simple salad on the side.

Enjoy!

No-Cook Tomato Sauce

Spaghetti with no-cook tomato sauce.

Some of my neighbors gifted me some beautiful tomatoes from their yard. Right away I knew that I had to try making the no-cook tomato sauce, I had found on the Bon Appetite website a while ago. Next to eating a warm tomato straight from the plant, this sauce might be one of the best ways to eat tomatoes. And boy were I right. This sauce is honoring the flavors of the tomato, by complementing them without overpowering therm.

Serves 3-4.

Ingredients:

• 750 g ripe tomatoes

• 1 garlic clove, grated

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 4 teaspoons champagne vinegar

• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 60 ml olive oil

• 113 g Parmesan cheese

• salt to taste

• 1 handful basil, chopped

Directions:

Remove the seeds from the tomatoes, this is easily done by cutting the tomatoes in half through the equator, instead of through the core. Then gently squeeze the tomatoes like you would squeeze a lemon to discard the seeds.

Roughly chop the tomatoes and transfer them to a large wide bowl. Mash the tomatoes with a fork or a potato masher, to release the juices. Add half the cheese, butter, vinegar, pepper, garlic, oil, combine and season with salt. Let the sauce sit covered on the kitchen counter for at least 30 minutes (not more than 3 hours) allowing the favors to blend.

Boil pasta according to instructions on packaging. Save some of the pasta water to stretch the sauce.

Add basil to the sauce and season it again. Mix in the hot pasta, and serve immediately with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

Piccalilli - Pickles

Piccalilli.

Pickles, Piccalilli or chow chow, this delicious condiment is called different thing, in different places. Growing up it was a weird sour mustardy thing my dad loved, but as an adult I realized it was a delicious, sweet & sour, curry, mustard sauce with lovely crunchy vegetables. It’s pairs very well with meats, especially with a pariserbøf. But I also like piccalilli as a condiment with grilled sausages.

Previously I’d bought piccalilli, but after trying the homemade version, I won’t go back. The flavors are great, and the part of knowing what’s in it, is really nice.

Makes 8-10 small jars.

Ingredients:

1000 g vegetables, diced small

• 300 g cauliflower

• 100 g summer squash

• 100 g carrots

• 100 g fennel

• 100 g shallots

• 120 g green beans

• 130 g red bell pepper

• 50 g celery

• 50 g salt

Pickling juice:

• 320 ml vinegar

• 200 ml water

• 150 g sugar

• 40 g honey

Spice Paste:

• 50 g corn starch

• 3 teaspoons curry

• 1 teaspoon turmeric

• 4 teaspoons Colman’s mustard powder

• 1 teaspoon ground coriander

• 1 teaspoon cumin

• 1 teaspoon ground ginger

• 100 ml vinegar

Makes 8-10 small jars.

Directions:

Depending on how coarse you like your piccalilli, you can dice the vegetables in about ⅕-⅖ -inch (½-1 cm) pieces, or blitz them in a food processor. I like to be able to se what kind of vegetables I’m eating, so I do a coarser chop.

Wash and peel the vegetables, before chopping them. Mix the chopped vegetables with salt, and place them covered in refrigerator over night.

Prepare the jars and lids by cleaning them and scolding them in boiling water. Rinse them in a conserving agent, (I used a Danish conserving agent called Atamon, sodium benzoate) or rinse them in a 100 proof vodka.

Rinse the vegetables thoroughly in lots of water, drain them well. You can dry the vegetables on kitchen towels.

Make the paste in a bowl or a mini food chopper, making sure to get a homogeneous mixture. Set aside.

Heat the vinegar, water, and sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Mix in some tablespoons of the warm vinegar in the spice paste, two times, before adding all of the paste to the warm vinegar. Bring the vinegar to a boil while whisking. The vinegar will now thicken to a sauce, and let it boil for about 5 minutes. Add the vegetables to the sauce and let them get about 1-2 minutes of heat, before jarring.

Keep the piccalilli in the refrigerator for about 6 weeks before serving, giving the flavors time to mellow out and blend.

The Piccalilli will keep 6 months in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Caramelized Root Vegetables

Caramelized Root Vegetables

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 3 large carrots

• 4 parsnips

• 3 sun chokes (Israeli artichokes)

• 1 small root celery

• 3 small beets

• salt

• a splash of oil for the baking

• sugar and butter for the caramelizing

Direction:

Preheat the oven for 400℉ (200℃). Peel the root vegetables and cut them into bite-sized pieces. Keep the beets separate even during baking, to prevent all the vegetables from turning red. Dress the vegetables in oil and season with salt. Bake the vegetables in ovenproof dishes for about 30 minutes until tender, but not soft. Cool the vegetables. Just before you are ready to serve, heat a large skillet over high heat, pour in the sugar and melt it. When the sugar has turned the color of light amber, add the butter and stir with a wooden spoon. Carefully pour the vegetables into the hot caramel. Lower the heat and make sure the vegetables get covered in the caramel and get heated through. Serve immediately, otherwise the vegetables looses the shine.

Enjoy!