Vanilla Extract and Vanilla Sugar - Easy How To

There is no easier recipe, if you can find reasonably priced vanilla beans.  I found mine on a trip to Bali, popped them in a ziplock bag in the freezer and have never used artificial vanilla again. The flavor cannot be matched by artificial vanilla extract.  This genuine vanilla extract or essence also makes a great gift for a baker you love!

Ingredients
1 liter bottle of inexpensive vodka
Several (7-8 or more) vanilla bean pods
Time

Method
Split the vanilla beans with a sharp knife but leave them in one piece.

Pour off just enough vodka to leave room for the vanilla beans. Stuff the split beans in the bottle.

Let the vanilla beans soak for at least a month. Your extract is now ready to use to give away. My bottle is several months old so it is lovely and dark isn't filled to the top as it was when I first made it.

You can top up the vodka as needed.  I will be topping mine up as soon as I remember to buy some more cheap vodka! As you can see, I have been using it regularly these the last few months.

While you are at it, split one or two more vanilla beans and pop them in a sealable jar filled with sugar. This makes lovely vanilla-flavored sugar that is great sprinkled on breakfast crepes or in coffee or on French toast.  I use it in baking as well.  It adds a vanilla flavor to muffins like these Nutella-filled Raspberry Muffins. 

Tarragon Chicken

Tarragon Chicken is lovely dish of chicken, cream and tarragon - a classic in France. Serve it over rice or pasta.

I read cookbooks like novels. Every recipe evokes an emotion and hints at a story, the person who invented the dish, the culture that nurtured the tradition or the landscape that grows the local produce used. Jamie magazine’s 22nd issue is all about France and French cooking.

The whole issue was like snuggling into a warm bed in the dead of winter, while cold rain falls outside. We lived in Paris for three years and, while it wasn’t all a bed of roses and I can acknowledge the highs and lows of Paris, all in all it was a happy three years full of family, friends and fun and fresh food.

When I read this recipe, I knew I had to make it. Just the word tarragon brings me back. (Does anyone use tarragon but the French?)

Tarragon Chicken

Call it Tarragon Chicken or Petite Blanquette De Poulet a L’estragon, if you are feeling fancy. This recipe is adapted from one in the cookbook Boundary by way of Jamie magazine, Issue 22. 

Ingredients
3-4 tbsp olive oil
1 x 3 lb or 1.4kg chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 large carrot, roughly chopped
1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
5 1/4 oz or 150g button mushrooms, quartered
3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon or 50ml white wine
1 bunch of thyme, tied with string
5 bay leaves
2 cups + 1 tablespoon or 500ml chicken stock
1/3 cup or 40g flour
1/8 cup or 40g butter, softened
Juice of 1 lemon
Scant cup or 220ml whipping cream
2 egg yolks, beaten
3–4 tbsp chopped tarragon

Method
Heat two tablespoons of the olive oil in a large pan over a high heat. Add the chicken, in batches if necessary, and cook until browned on all sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Wipe out the pan then heat the remaining oil. (I skipped this step because I couldn’t bear to wipe away all the beautiful caramels of the pan. I don’t know why on earth you would want to get rid of all that flavor!) Add the carrot, celery and onion and cook over a medium heat for five minutes, until the onion is translucent.

Add the mushrooms and cook for a further five minutes. Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half. 


Return the chicken to the pan with the thyme, bay and stock. Simmer, covered, for 40–50 minutes or till the chicken is falling off the bone.

Spoon the chicken and vegetables into a serving dish and keep warm. Strain the cooking liquid into a saucepan. 
(I simply used a slotted spoon.)

Whisk together the flour and butter, (which we all remember is called beurre manie, right?) add to the cooking liquid, whisking continuously, and place over a medium heat.

Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for five minutes. (I don’t know if my simmer is hotter than the Jamie test kitchens, but I didn’t have a whole lot of juice let after the chicken and the vegetables were scooped out so I had to add about 3/4 cup of water to make the sauce easier to stir.)

Add the lemon juice and season to taste.

Combine the cream and egg yolks in a jug and whisk into the sauce.

Stir in the tarragon, pour the sauce over the chicken and serve. 



I served this over some lovely linguine. It was indeed delicious! Enjoy! 

Dutch Sandwiches

Toasted artisan bread spread with garlic mayonnaise then topped with grilled chicken and tomatoes makes a lovely lunch. 

Long ago, in an era we call BC (Before Children) we lived in Abu Dhabi and I worked at the InterContinental Hotel. My boss was head of marketing and I was in charge of Public Relations, which meant I entertained the journalists who came to see a performance at the hotel, or attend a restaurant opening, and I produced our in-house brochures and newsletter, among other tasks. I got along well with my boss and his wife, a Dutch couple of enormous height with an equally large sense of humor. Aside from me, all the executive staff lived in the hotel. (As I already had accommodation through my husband's company, I opted for a transportation allowance instead.)

One day they invited me to their hotel apartment for sandwiches. Much to my surprise, they brought out bread with ham and cheese on top. Apparently, in the Netherlands, all sandwiches were open-faced. And there I was thinking that a sandwich was a sandwich all over the world. From them, I also learned that the Dutch kiss three times upon meeting. Left cheek, right cheek, left cheek or the other way around. It doesn’t matter as long as it’s three times. Both lessons have stood me in good stead in the years since.

Here, then, I offer you, my Dutch sandwiches:

Ingredients
1 very small clove of garlic, minced finely
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
1 grilled chicken breast (Those of you who read Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken might have been wondering what happened to the third breast. Here it is.)
1 tomato
6 slices of artisan wholegrain bread

Method
Add the lemon juice to the minced garlic in a small bowl. The lemon juice will reduce the sharpness and pungency of the fresh garlic so leave it to steep for at least five minutes before adding the mayonnaise and mixing thoroughly.

Meanwhile toast your wholegrain bread slices, slice your chicken breast and your tomato.








Add a nice spread of the garlic mayo to each golden slice. Top with chicken and then tomato. Finish it off with a good grind of fresh black pepper and a sprinkle of sea salt, if desired.

1. Garlic mayo 2. Grilled chicken 3. Tomato slices

Best served with a glass of crisp white wine and eaten while watching England trounce poor Romania in the Rugby World Cup. I wonder how many times the Romanians kiss upon meeting. They could sure use some love right now.



Enjoy!