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Chef2Chef Recipe Club - Volume 3 Issue 111 - December 2, 2002 Chef2Chef Recipe Club Member Forum: http://forums.chef2chef.net Un/Subscribe: http://chef2chef.net/news/subscribe.htm -------------------------------------------------- Hello Recipe Club, I'm glad to be back at work. I'm sure I gained at least 5 pounds over the weekend. I've been eating leftover pies and sweetbread for breakfast since Thursday! And everything else has had gravy on it! Oh well, a little winter insulation won't kill me, I suppose. Each year, right about this time, my wife begins her cookie baking ritual. For the next two weeks she'll bake an incredible selection of Christmas cookies. They go into the freezer and then get made into cookie trays for our friends and families. This year's selection looks like one of her finest. The holidays just seem to bring out the sugar, butter, chocolate and vanilla, at least in our house. I wanted to present a week of great desserts for you to have on hand for the holidays, so I went to my friend Patricia Rain the "Vanilla Queen" and she agreed to help me out. For those of you who are new to the club and are not familiar with Patricia, take a moment to visit her website. There is a wealth of information about all things vanilla and some great vanilla gift ideas and products as well. http://www.vanilla.com -------------------------------------------------- COOKBOOK WIZARD RECIPE SOFTWARE - offers a quick and easy way to organize your favorite recipes on your PC. Top Rated 5 star recipe software. Try it FREE for 30 days, download it now. Visit: http://www.mealmaster.com or Email: banyan@microblast.com -------------------------------------------------- A week of desserts is a challenging undertaking, given the enormous number of toothsome desserts already available at Chef2Chef. Some of the recipes I'm sharing with you come from my new cookbook, The Vanilla Chef, and some are my holiday favorites. I've also included a few recipes from chef friends as I always seek delight in the specialties of good cooks. As a child, my favorite foods to prepare were soup (Campbell's) and cookies. I begged to be in the kitchen and by five years of age, I was making Chicken Noodle Soup from the can and a strange, half-raw facsimile of chocolate chip cookies. My mother informed my skeptical father that he must praise me and eat what I prepared, no matter how odd it looked or tasted. Food was front and center in my family, so he obliged. He was so very proud when, years later, I wrote my first cookbook. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Dad! Patricia Rain -------------------------------------------------- Double Vanilla Poundcake with Rum-Vanilla Glaze Poundcake is an "old faithful" in my repertoire. It keeps well, makes a lovely gift, can be dressed up or down, and if it grows stale, it's perfect for Bread Pudding or Triffle. I've paired it here with Crème Anglaise. You can pour the custard over slices of cake for a triple vanilla wonder. Ingredients: 1 large vanilla bean, split or cut into pieces 1 cup milk, room temperature 4 cups flour, sifted 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt (if using salted butter, delete) 2 cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature 2-1/2 cups vanilla sugar 6 jumbo eggs, room temperature 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour milk into a saucepan, add the vanilla bean and scald the milk. Let mixture cool to room temperature. Remove vanilla bean, rinse it off, and set aside. Resift the flour with the baking powder and the salt onto a sheet of waxed paper; set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer on moderately high speed until light, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla sugar in two portions, beating thoroughly after each portion is added. Beat in eggs, one at a time, periodically scraping down the sides of the bowl to ensure an even mixture. Blend in vanilla extract. On low speed, add the sifted dry ingredients alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Pour and scrape the batter into a lightly buttered, floured 10-inch tube pan, a large square baking pan or three loaf pans. Bake the cake on the lowest rack of the oven for about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake emerges clean and dry. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Prick holes all over the top of the cake with a thin knife or toothpick and slowly spoon glaze over the cake, allowing the syrup to absorb into the cake. Rum-Vanilla Glaze Ingredients: 1 cup sugar 1 cup water 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract 1/4 cup rum or brandy (optional) Instructions: Place sugar and water in a small saucepan, add in the reserved vanilla bean, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until syrup begins to thicken. Allow to cool slightly before adding extract and rum. -------------------------------------------------- WWKitchens.com Christmas is coming up! Is YOUR Kitchen ready? World Wide Kitchens (wwkitchens.com) -- featuring holiday specials, promos & more in cooperation with cooking.com. If it's not in your kitchen, try ours! Huge selection of cooking tools, bake-ware, table service & small appliances. Gourmet, specialty and international foods. Even an online butcher shop! NEW contests, cooking forums, our HUGE food glossary, tips & techniques. Did we mention over 5000 recipes?? VISIT us this holiday season at: http://html.chef2chef.net/goto.php?id=232 -------------------------------------------------- Crème Anglaise -- Vanilla Pouring Custard This is one of my favorite vanilla custards. The reason I like it so much is that you can pour it over fresh berries or cakes, substitute orange juice for some of the cream and pour it over sliced oranges, or use it as a base under a rich chocolate dessert. You can even turn a simple bowl of fruit into an elegant dessert. Ingredients: 2 cups milk or 1 cup milk and 1 cup light cream 1 vanilla bean, split down center 6 egg yolks 1/3 cup sugar 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract Instructions: Combine egg yolks, sugar and a pinch of salt in a large bowl and beat until thick and pale lemon colored, 1 to 2 minutes. Scald milk with the vanilla bean and set aside, allowing to cool to 100 degrees or so. Add the milk and vanilla bean, to the egg mixture. Stir, then pour the milk/egg mixture back into saucepan. Cook over moderate heat stirring mixture until it thickens, but don't allow mixture to come to a boil. Mixture will be ready when it coats the back of a spoon. Strain custard, then scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into mixture. Stir in the vanilla extract. Cool mixture, stirring occasionally, then chill, covered. Makes 2-1/2 cups. Note: Sometimes, no matter how careful we are, custard mixtures will separate or have small clumps in the mixture. Don't despair. You can run the mixture through a blender or food processor, or strain it through the sieve again. It will be a little thinner but quite useable. -------------------------------------------------- Recipe Club, We have Tree Trimming Party Recipes, Caroling Party Recipes and a great Cookie Exchange. Plus you'll find all the holiday recipes you need for a Christmas Morning Buffet, Hanukkah, and New Years Eve. Visit our new Holiday Recipes Feature by clicking here and go ahead and bookmark or forward it to a friend if you like: http://recipes.chef2chef.net/holiday-recipe-collection/index.htm -------------------------------------------------- Pear-Vanilla Ice This is a lovely "palate cleanser" or intermezzo course when serving a sumptuous feast. It's also perfect as a light dessert. Ingredients: 1 cup sugar 2 ripe pears, peeled and cored 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise Pear slices and fresh mint for garnish Instructions: In a small saucepan, combine sugar, 1 cup water and vanilla bean. Cook over high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Pour the syrup into a bowl and let cool. In a food processor, combine the pears and lemon juice. Purée until smooth, about 2 minutes. With the machine on, pour in syrup (with the vanilla bean removed). Pour into an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's instructions. If you don't have an ice cream maker, pour into a shallow pan and place in freezer until frozen. When frozen, run mixture through the food processor until smooth and serve. Garnish with pear slices and mint. Makes about 3 cups. -------------------------------------------------- Shopping Lists: 1 large vanilla bean 1 cup milk Flour Baking powder Salt Unsalted butter Vanilla sugar 6 jumbo eggs Sugar Pure vanilla extract Rum or brandy (optional) 2 cups milk or 1 cup milk and 1 cup light cream 1 vanilla bean Yolks Sugar Pure vanilla extract 1 cup sugar 2 ripe pears Lemon juice 1 vanilla bean Pear slices and fresh mint for garnish -------------------------------------------------- QUESTIONS, Comments, Technical Support: http://forums.chef2chef.net -------------------------------------------------- ARCHIVE: All Club e-mails are archived each Friday at: http://chef2chef.net/news/club/ -------------------------------------------------- |