vanilla: a primer

Who's got 2 thumbs and is super giddy that she received her order of vanilla today? This girl! I've mentioned before that vanilla is by far my favorite ingredient. Chocolate? Bah. In fact, most chocolate goodies taste better with vanilla in it, so there! Vanilla is king... and I may or may not have done a happy dance when I opened my box of extracts. Three vanilla extracts, to be exact. I'm guessing the average bear doesn't even know there are 3 types. Well there are: Bourbon-Madagascar, Mexican, and Tahitian.Where does vanilla come from? The short answer is: a flower. It starts with the vanilla orchid vanilla planifolia. Of the thousands of varieties of orchids out there, it is the only one that produces something edible. It's native to Mexico, but thanks to some world traveling Frenchmen, sometime in the 19th century, it made its way to the Isle of Bourbon in Madagascar. Those French folks found a way to hand pollinate the orchids, and now Madagascar is one of the biggest producers of vanilla in the world, which is why the vast majority of the vanilla you'll find in your standard grocery is Bourbon Madagscar vanilla.

Bourbon-Madagascar vanilla comes from the original Mexican vanilla v. planifolia, but since it's pollinated differently, it doesn't taste quite the same as the Mexican type. Bourbon Madagascar vanilla is Old Reliable. It has a sweet, creamy and strong flavor. It's the generic vanilla that never lets you down.

Mexican vanilla is the original V. planafolia. It grows naturally there, and is naturally pollinated by the native bees. It's produced in smaller amounts and goes by the name Mexican vanilla. This is a more mellow sweetness, smooth and strong, and then has this slight woody note to it. It's complex, more interesting than the Bourbon-Madagascar type, and thus, in my opinion, is the best (thus the extra big bottle I ordered!)

One side note about Mexican vanilla - if you do see it in Mexico, make sure it says "Pure Mexican Vanilla" and try to get it from a reputable source. I've read that some of the vanillas they sell in Mexico are mixed with the extract of the tonka bean, which can cause liver or kidney damage. The specific offender is coumarin, and it's banned by the FDA.

So that third kind... Tahitian vanilla. To be honest, I've never smelled it until today. I've read about it, which is how I know it's not the same plant as the Mexican or Bourbon vanillas. Tahitian vanilla comes from v. tahitiensis, a different strain of vanilla. It may have been a mutation, or a hybrid. Either way, it's different. Tahitian vanilla is a favorite of pastry chefs and perfume makers because, while it's not as strong in flavor as the others, it's more aromatic and floral.

So now that I've got my new extracts, guess who's going to be doing more baking! I'm so excited to experiment with the flavors and to develop my nose for them. Next time I'm going to have to get all 3 types of beans to compare!

Oh, and to be fair, there are actually more than 3 types of vanilla. These are just the 3 most popular. :-)

baked garlic croutons

Remember how I said I'd post all my Easter recipes, and how I was working backwards, and yet somehow I stopped with the main course? I didn't forget the rest of my meal! Our salad course was a caesar topped with these big, crunchy, garlicy croutons. They are so good I'm featuring them by themselves.

Croutons are my favorite part of any salad, and I can happily eat a salad sans dresssing as long as there are good croutons involved. Snacks(salty+crunchy)=happy Caroline. (This is also why I love popcorn, potato chips, shoestring fries, pretzel crisps, etc.) I can eat croutons by themselves, which is exactly why I made an entire loaf's worth instead of enough for one meal. Good thing is that they keep well in a zip top bag for many days of future munching.

Garlic Croutons

1 loaf day old italian bread, cubed into big 1+" chunks (the loaf I got was so big, it made almost 100 huge cubes , thus the amount of oil listed next)
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 375.

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium-low to low heat. Smash the garlic cloves with your knife and discard the skin. Put the cloves into the oil and heat until the oil is infused with the garlicy goodness -- I let it simmer while I cut the bread - took about 10 minutes. Don't let the garlic brown.

Dump the bread cubes into a really big bowl. Drizzle the garlic infused oil over the bread, tossing regularly to ensure even coating. Season with salt, garlic powder, and a few grinds of pepper. Taste one and adjust seasoning to your liking. Spread out evenly in a single on a sheet pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Toss the croutons. Bake for 8 more minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool.

You an also season it however you like, too - get crazy with herbs, cheeses, ranch powder, etc. Eat with your favorite salad, or on soup, or as a snack :)

asparagus soup

Asparagus is one of the foods I didn't like growing up, but totally love now. I remember the first time I tasted it and went, mmmmm. I was in Austria with my mom and her cousin out at some rest stop restaurant (random, right). It was cold and rainy, and my Tito got cream of asparagus soup. He asked if I wanted some, and I peered at that green stuff and wrinkled my nose. He insisted, and I didn't want to be rude(r), so I had a sip. And it was delicious! It was creamy, surprisingly sweet, and very fresh tasting. I wanted to eat the whole thing. And that was it: I was turned on to asparagus.
Joy of joys, it's in season (thus those other posts with asparagus recently.) I couldn't find my old recipe for this, so I Googled and mashed together a bunch of different recipes to come up with this. This is a light soup, reminscent of the one I had way back when. A heavy cream would make it richer and slightly sweeter, but the evap milk has fewer calories. You can also substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth if you want a full out vegetarian soup.

Asparagus Soup

1 lb asparagus
3 tbsp butter
1/2 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can reduced sodium chicken broth (or 2 cups)
3/4 C evaporated milk (or heavy cream)
salt and pepper to taste
Special equipment: immersion blender or food processor

Snap the tough ends from the asparagus. Cut them into 2" pieces. If you want to decorate with the tips, save 4 tips.

In a medium sized pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Sautee the onions about 3-4 minutes until it's getting soft. Add the asparagus and garlic and sautee another 5 minutes. Add the stock. Bring to a simmer, turn down the heat to med-low, cover and cook for about 20 minutes or until the asparagus is very tender. Take off the heat.

Use the immersion blender to puree the soup, or food process until pureed. Stir in the evaporated milk. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Heat back up to temperature you like. Serve with croutons. Or if you want to use the reserved tips, sautee them for a minute until tender and top the soup.

spaghetti casserole

I have a go-to baked pasta recipe that is affectionately called Death by Cheesy Goodness - one serving nearly puts me in a coma. A delicious coma. It's awesome, but let me say it again - coma. So the other night I had a craving for it but didn't want to pass out, so I came up with this "lighter" recipe. Basically it's spaghetti layered with mozzarella so the cheese gets all melty in the middle, but it's not so much that I go catatonic. The good thing about this is that it can easily be adapted - use ground turkey, italian sausage, or no meat at all. Not that I'd ever got that last route since I'm a carnivore, but I suppose chopped up portabellas could work as a meaty veggie substitute. This makes a full 9x13 dish - so easily 12 servings. Enjoy!

Spaghetti Casserole

olive oil

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb ground beef (I used 90/10)

salt, pepper, dried basil, dried oregano

1 jar/can spaghetti sauce (I used Hunt's meat flavor)

1 can diced tomatoes (with basil and oregano if you like)

16 oz part skim mozzarella, grated

grated parmesan cheese

1 box thin spaghetti

Bring a big pot of water to a boil and toss in about 2 tsp or a tbsp of salt. Drizzle oil into bottom of a large pan put over medium heat and sautee onions until soft. Add garlic and ground beef. Season with salt, pepper, basil, and oregano. Cook, breaking up the meat into small pieces, until done - taste and add seasoning as necessary. Add the spaghetti sauce and diced tomatoes to the meat, and stir to combine and allow to simmer to heat through.

Preheat oven to 350 and take out a 9x13 baking dish. When the water comes to a full rolling boil, add the spaghetti. Cook for 7-8 minutes - most boxes say 9-11 min so you want to undercook it so it comes out of the oven al dente. Turn off heat and strain the pasta then put back into pot. Add about 3/4 the sauce to the spaghetti and mix.

To assemble: Spoon a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the baking dish. Spread half the pasta into the dish. Layer half the shredded mozzarella and enough parmesan to cover it. Add the rest of the pasta, the rest of the mozzarella, and the rest of the sauce. Grate some more paremsan on top. Bake for 30 minutes or until the edges are bubbly and cheese is melted.

fish en papillote

Sounds fancy. Looks fancy. Tastes fancy. So obviously it must be... super easy to make! If you google "fish en papillote recipe," you'll find tons of recipes, some more complex than others. I opted for something less complicated: halibut seasoned with lemon, garlic and thyme, over asparagus. It took me all of 5 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to bake. Simplicity at its finest.

Fish en papillote (in parchment) was on my Hit List of foods to make in 2010, and I can call this one a success. It's a really light meal, a quick weeknight meal. Added bonuses: asparagus is in season, fish is good for you, and this used hardly any oil. The moisture from the fish, which is sealed in the parchment while baking, will steam and cook everything else which is why you don't need much oil. Healthy too! Heart.

Fish en Papillote

1 6oz fillet of halibut

1 clove garlic, minced

1 lemon

asparagus, cut down to the same size as the halibut

olive oil

fresh thyme (I used dried, fresh will be better)

salt and pepper to taste

Special equipment: parchment paper

Preheat oven to 400. Cut 1 large piece of parchment -- enough where you can fold it in half and there's plenty of room that the fish would fit. Cut out a big heart. (I actually cut mine a little small - another 2" would have been just right.)

Slice 1/2 of the lemon into thin slices and set aside. Zest the other half. Arrange the asparagus in the middle of one half of the parchment heart. Squeeze some of the lemon juice over it, sprinkle the zest, and salt it. Lay the fish on top of the asparagus, then generously season with salt, pepper, thyme, a half the garlic clove. Or a whole one if you love garlic. Drizzle a little olive oil over it. Arrange the lemon slices on top of the fish.

Fold the other half of the parchment heart over. Fold the edges of the heart over so it seals it in. (The beginning of this video shows you.) Place on a baking sheet, and bake for about 10 minutes.
Open. Eat. (Or if you want to be fancy, transfer to a plate and eat!)