Vox’s posts tagged cooking

Maybe it's something simple

nobody@vox.com(Simon Wistow) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:15:01 +0000

On a whim I picked up some Pork Tenderloin on the way home yesterday because, let's face it, isn't life essentially meaningless without chunks of raw swine. The phrase "existential void" is lurking, sullenly on my frontal lobes. Full ahead I thought, cheerfully, and DAMN the trichinosis.

Not that I had any idea what to do with it of course, but I determinedly poured myself a glass of vino and perused my oddly lopsided spice rack (15 different types of salt, no chilli powder. You get the picture).

The pork came in two loins and so I whipped up a marinade of garlic, cayenne, orange juice, coffee and cocoa powder and let both slabs luxuriate in them for 15 minutes whilst I set the oven and made sure that bottle knew who's boss. It's not for nothing that I studied at the Keith Floyd School of cooking.

I took one of the loins and pan roasted it then stuck the pan in the oven with some chunks of onions for about 20 minutes. And it came out looking like this

Sliced Pork Tenderloin

After resting for 15 minutes (during which time I gave the bottle another stern talking to) I plated it up with a avocado and spring green salad and some rice

Plated Pork Tenderloin

If you can make it out in this incredible dark photo then the black morass at the top left is the caramelised onions which turned out even better than I'd expected - they'd really picked up the spices and the smokiness from the coffee and chocolate.

And damn tasty it was too - moist but with a crispy crust. The marinade turned out really well too considering it was largely a random collection of whatever I had in my cupboard ("Hmm, mincemeat, maybe that will work").

And what happened to the other tenderloin you might be asking? Or might not to be honest. You might also be sitting in front of your computer asking the world at large loudly who this bloke is and why he keeps taking bad photos of food. Or more philisophical questions like "If omnipotence is defined as the ability to do anything then surely that must include the ability to create something that can't be done?" or "Is that nagging in my soul a reaction to the vapid consumerism of everyday life or just that I've got the munchies?". Either way, I recommend having more wine. Not my wine of course, get your own you stingy bastard, and, oh, I seemed to have finished mine anyway. Can I have some of yours?

Anyway, the other loin. I chopped it up into knuckle sized chunks which, having marinaded in the same sauce, I placed lovingly but firmly in a roasting pan with more roughly chopped onion and then covered with foil. When the first loin (do keep up) came out of the oven I turned the temperature right down and then stuck the second loin in for, oooh, a couple of hours. The nice thing about dishes like this is that you could even do it for longer - things just keep getting more tender. or burn eventually but the margin of error is quite large.

It ended up looking like this

Slow roasted Pork Tenderloin

It was so tender that even transferring it to the bowl caused it to fall apart. It's currently sitting in my fridge until I figure out what to do with it - possibly tacos or over more rice tonight.

Or I could make a meatshake out of it. Mmm.

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Stirring and Whirring: Cleaning Up Shop

nobody@vox.com(Clare) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:04:48 +0000

Stirring and Whirring: Cleaning Up Shop

http://stirringandwhirring.blogspot.c...

Preparation for my move from Chicago to NYC.

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#10 Make my mom's kimchi bap

nobody@vox.com(shinwha) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 05:03:51 +0000

I made my mom's kimchi bap, one of my favorite meals growing up. It is one of those one-pot deals. You cook it all in your rice cooker, by alternately layering just kimchi, washed rice, and ground pork. (Kimchi and pork are a classic combo in Korean cooking - it just wouldn't be the same with beef.) My mom also serves it with a little sauce of soy sauce, green onions, sesame oil, and sesame seeds, which each person spoons and mixes with his/her rice to taste. So I made that too. My kimchi bap turned out well, and Leon liked it too, but it was not quite like my mom's - it never is.

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[classic macaroni salad]

nobody@vox.com(kurishi_chan) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:43:55 +0000

makes about 8 servings

4 cups cooked macaroni, drained, rinsed and cooled
4 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup mayonnaise (or Miracle Crap, as I like to call it)
4 tsp white sugar
4 tsp white distilled vinegar
1 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tsp yellow prepared mustard
3/4 tsp celery seed
pepper to taste

Cook macaroni according to the box instructions, adding salt to taste. Drain and rinse with cold water until completely cooled. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sugar, vinegar, salt, mustard, celery seed and pepper until it is a creamy yellow dressing. Add onion and celery and mix well. Finally, add the 4 cups of macaroni and mix thoroughly. Cover and chill for several hours before serving.

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Cucumbers coming out of our ears...

nobody@vox.com(EMM) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:49:57 +0000

Bumper crop...

Holy crap! All of a sudden we had a dozen huge cucumbers ready to pick in the garden.

Anyone have any idea what to do with this many cucumbers? Apparently they aren't the right kind for making pickles out of... Thoughts??

In the meantime, Hubby has taken to eating them plain:

Wanna bite?

BTW - in case you were wondering about the dryer... we still don't have a working kitchen yet, so all cooking and dish washing, etc. is happening in our basement laundry room.

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Dinner for Maura

nobody@vox.com(Queen of Fractal Beauty) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:33:52 +0000

OK, Maura. Here's a complete meal just for you that will accomplish what the NuWave Oven claims to do for you and probably tastes a whole lot better. You will be baking everything in the oven at the same time reducing the amount of energy required to cook the meal. This is a dinner that's nice enough to impress guests. For tonight's dinner we are going to have roasted chicken and vegetables with rosemary and olive oil.

Roasted Chicken

One whole chicken
olive oil
salt
pepper
rosemary

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Get out a baking pan large enough to hold your chicken. I like to line it with foil for easier clean up later. If you don't have a cooking rack use two pieces of foil to create a make shift rack you can set the bird on.

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Remove the chicken from the packaging and wash it off under cool running water. Take out any giblets that are inside. Pull off any big hunks of fat that you see near the openings. If you see any feathers still sticking to it, pull them out. Pat the chicken dry.

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Add salt, pepper, and rosemary into both cavities of the chicken. You can also gently pull away the skin on the breast to put seasonings in there.

Rub the skin all over with olive oil or spray with cooking spray. Truss your bird up nice and tight. This is not an art project. It doesn't have to be pretty. Just make sure it can't get away!

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Place your chicken in the baking pan and pop it into the oven. It will probably need to cook about 30 minutes per pound. I check to see if it's done by wiggling the drumsticks (they will be very loose) and tipping the pan a bit so that juices run out of the abdomen (the big cavity). The juices should be clear. Transfer to a new dish before carving. Be sure to remove the twine before serving.

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Roasted Vegetables

You need an assortment of fresh (or frozen if you must) vegetables. I have used potatoes, carrots, and onion because that's what I had on hand. Use what you like.
Cooking spray (I used olive oil PAM)
Oil (I used olive oil)
salt
pepper
rosemary (I used dried, but fresh would be better)
baking dish with lid

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Spray the baking dish and lid with cooking spray (or you can rub it with oil if you don't have any cooking spray). Wash the vegetables and peel if needed. Cut them up into bite size pieces. I layer them in the dish with dense veggies (like potatoes and carrots) on the bottom and watery veggies (like onions and bell pepper) on the top. This allows the juices from the watery veggies to run down onto the dense veggies blending the flavors better. Salt and pepper to taste (you can always add more later if you don't get enough on them). I used about a tablespoon of dried rosemary. Drizzle olive oil over the top (maybe 2-3 tablespoons? I don't measure it.) [Note: I'm showing you enough veggies for about 4 people. We like leftovers.] Put the lid on the dish and bake for about 1 hour (stir it about half way through) until the veggies are done.

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Here's what it will look like when you are done.

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Valuable cooking notes:
Your chicken will most likely take longer to cook than the veggies so prepare it first and pop it in the oven while you're preparing the veggies. You want everything to come out of the oven at the same time. If the bird takes a bit longer than you anticipated it won't hurt the veggies to cook a bit longer.

If you wish you can prep the veggies a day ahead and put the baking dish in the refrigerator. If you choose to do this don't add the spices until you are ready to put it in the oven.

If you have nice variety of colors and textures in you veggies this is all the food you need to serve (I would have preferred something green thrown in that dish.) If you don't feel you have quite enough you can easily flesh out the meal with a tossed salad and fresh loaf of French bread. Include a bottle of wine and you have a feast!

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Ken and I usually only eat the drumsticks and thighs on the first night. Tonight I think I'll make chicken quesadillas with the leftovers. Oh, and the rest of the veggies? Well, I also had a piece of leftover grilled pork from Saturday night which I cut up and threw into the leftovers of that. Today I got a fresh zucchini out of the garden which I will cut up, steam, and toss into the dish. Wednesday night it'll get tossed into the oven to be reheated for dinner.

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Socca with Eggplant Caviar, Tomatoes and Corn

nobody@vox.com(julie) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 02:53:18 +0000

Socca with Eggplant Caviar, Tomatoes and Corn

I know it seems as though I've fallen off the blog-o-sphere, but the last week has certainly been challenging. First of all, Olympics viewing has been keeping me up way, way past my bed time leaving me a zombie during the day. Secondly, I've been picked for the oh so dreaded jury duty! Thus far it has proven itself to be an interesting experience/process though I can't wait to get back to work (never thought I'd be saying that). That's the 411 on my life. Now more importantly, lets get on to what's been going on in my kitchen.

Socca, or chickpea crepes, make a lovely appetizer. Whether eaten plain out of the oven or garnished, it is equally delicious. It is simply a batter of chickpea flour, water and olive oil cooked in a cast iron skillet in the oven. I've also done it on the stove top, though the oven yields a crisper edge. To make it a more substantial course, I topped mine with an eggplant caviar (roasted eggplant, tahini and lemon juice), cherry tomatoes, fresh corn and chopped parsley. A drizzle of olive oil over the top would have finished it off perfectly. I'll have to remember that for next time.

Looks like we have a cherry tomato thief amongst us. Just look at the slice of socca there at the top of the photo. See... so yummy... it's just irresistible. Have a good week everyone.

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[cream cheese frosting]

nobody@vox.com(kurishi_chan) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:26:47 +0000

frosts about 24 cupcakes or a 13x9 sheet cake

3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp warm milk
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Mash cheese with milk. Add sugar gradually and then vanilla. Beat until creamy. Any other desired flavoring may be substituted for the vanilla.

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[vanilla cupcakes]

nobody@vox.com(kurishi_chan) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:24:10 +0000

makes 24 medium-sized cupcakes

1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 cup shortening, melted
1 cup milk
1 egg, well beaten
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sift together all dry ingredients; add melted shortening to the milk, egg and vanilla and mix together. Combine two mixtures well. Line muffin pans with baking cups or spray with cooking spray and fill each one about halfway with batter. Bake for 20 minutes. If you are going to be frosting them right after, transfer pans to the freezer to flash-cool for about 5 minutes. Otherwise, let sit until completely cool before frosting.

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[snickery doodles]

nobody@vox.com(kurishi_chan) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:17:37 +0000

Makes approximately 48 cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup butter flavored shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp white sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Cream together butter, shortening, sugar. Beat the eggs and vanilla together and add to the creamed mixture. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.

Mix the 2 tbsp sugar and 2 tsp ground cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture, evenly coating. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not to hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets.

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[easy cheesy alfredo sauce]

nobody@vox.com(kurishi_chan) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:15:43 +0000

Makes approximately 8 servings

1 cup butter
1 8oz brick of cream cheese, softened
2 cups half and half
1 cup grated parmesan (add more to taste)
1/2 tsp garlic pepper salt (add more to taste)
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic (add more to taste)

In a double boiler, melt down the cream cheese to a creamy consistancy. Melt the butter completely in a sauce pan, and add the garlic and half and half. Add the cream cheese and garlic pepper salt and bring to a low boil on medium heat. Add parmesan and stir. Cook and stir occasionally for several minutes until thickened, then bring heat down to low and simmer UNCOVERED. I let mine simmer a while, but you can typically let it simmer for 10 minutes. Serve over pasta of your choosing.

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[mouthgasmic sugar cookies]

nobody@vox.com(kurishi_chan) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:29:55 +0000

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup (two sticks) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and baking powder; set aside. In a large bow, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded spoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire rack.

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just signed up for boston organics

nobody@vox.com(Crystal) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 19:34:28 +0000

Fruits & Veggies Delivered to Your Door

I've been reading Michael Pollan's Ominvore's Dilemma and aside from a general desire to eat more healthfully, I have become very motivated to try and eat mostly organic and as local as possible. I really want to cut out as much processed foods as possible and search out meat that is truly pasture fed, not just the "free range" marketing ploy of industrial organic farms.

For me the meat is the bigger deal. I want to try and cut out most meat unless it's organic, grain-fed and pasture-raised if at all possible. We're looking into meat lots from Caledonia Farm in Barre, MA but we missed the last deadline so we're on a waiting list.

The farm lots for many of the farms in the area are long since out for the summer so we decided we'd try out Boston Organics, which delivers a weekly box of organic fruits and veggies. They try to get their food locally when possible but may get some fruits from California, Florida or tropical fruits from organic farms in South Amica. I mean let's face it...hard to grow bananas in New England. We're getting the $29 box 1/2 fruit and 1/2 vegetables.

This week's box will include:

1.5 lbs Bananas
1 Grapefruit
0.5 lbs Kiwis
2 Nectarines
3 Paula Red Apples*
2 Valencia Oranges
2 Yellow Peaches
1 Avocados
1 Cucumbers*
1 Green Bell Peppers (PA)
1 bunch Red Kale*
1 head Romaine/Leaf Lettuce*
0.75 lbs Summer Squash (yellow/green)*
2 ears of Supersweet Corn*

One of the best things about Boston Organics is that you can choose if you really don't want something in your box. So out of this box I won't be getting the peppers (just can't eat them without consequences) and the kale (blech!). They'll substitute with other fruits and veggies instead (hopefully more corn!). The asterisks mean the produce is local.

Sooo not only will we be getting our fruits and veggies, but we'll be cutting out pesticides and chemical fertilizers from the mix. I do wish that overall the box was more local (peaches are being harvested in MA, for example, and what about local blueberries?), but it's a step in the right direction. We've found organic foods and grass fed meats to be more flavorful as well. I'll let you know how it goes!

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Succotash, Shrimp n Caramelized Scallops

nobody@vox.com(Mootang man) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 05:28:49 +0000

Since I like to cook a lot, I thought I might share a recipe that was exposed to me at my culinary school. The chef cooked this as a demo and it was pretty good. I expanded on it a bit. I added the scallops, jalapeno and fennel seeds. I had it for dinner tonite with some steamed Alaskan King Crab Legs. It was allllll quite yummie! By the way true succotash is a traditional stew of the Indian-Americans that is made of corn kernels, lima beans, and tomatoes. This is an alternate to the true dish.

First the recipe: and helpful instructs,

3-4 strips of thin smoked bacon, cut in half lengthwise, then rotate the bacon 90 degrees and cut in 1/8 inch pieces, or look at the pictures below to see the size and cut.

2 zuccini's chopped, cut length-wise til you get three pieces, rotate 90 degrees and cut in 1/4 in pieces

2 leeks chopped, remove the dark green leaves off (cut off about where it gets to be pale green). Take the white/pale green stalk you now have and slit it length-wise, in half. Spread the stalk and get all the sand/dirt out. You ain't coookin' gritz here.

OR YOU CAN substitute green onions, just trim off the greens and the hair at the white end and chop as instructed per the leek directions

1 red bell pepper cut in 1/8 inch pieces

6 shrimp, medium size, deveined...you can leave the shell on for more flavor

2 cloves of garlic chopped fine (when I say chopped fine, the ingredient size is between a mince (finely chopped) and the 1/8 inch normal chopped size. Hey I'm a beginner, what can i say? At least I am giving a lot of info.

olive oil,

salt and pepper

Above is the original recipe, below is what i added to the dish.

1 tsp of fennel seeds

6 scallops

1/2 jalapeno pepper chopped fine

After you have all this prepped in separate containers, I use ramikins, we are ready to start cooking. Here's the kitchen. Prep area 2 is where the ingredients are ready to go into the pan. Prep area 1 is to the left of the sink. Washing, cleaning the ingredients. And yep I have always wanted one, we have a Wolf gas stove, and it's awesome!

Prep area 2

Next is the tools, and pans to use. From left to right, chopped red bell peppers, jalapeno, zuccini, leeks and garlic. The bacon..the bacon...here piggy, piggy, piggy. Oh yeah, it's already in the pan, feeling right at home. Before you cut the bacon take it in hand and smell it! Really, the aroma is sooo goood! And the drink in the back ground for the cook. And it is ice cold too! It is that new Budweiser beer, BL light..I like Corona and MGD but this is not bad.

Prepped ingrd & tools

Get the pan medium hot and add the bacon the pan. Cook until it get crispy.

Bacon fry

Below is the crispy piggy.

Bacon is crispy

After bacon is crispy remove and place aside for later. Now we'll add in the leeks, and let them cook for about 2 minutes. Reminder: make sure you washed it really well. Sand tends to get in between the stalk.

Leeks

Now add in the chopped jalapeno pepper, let them cook for about 2 minutes. See the darker green bits...now that's spice!

Add jalapeno to leeks

And now add the gahhhhlic-cook for another 2 minutes. I always say, God's perfume should be in every household. Every household should never be without garlic, onions and olive oil!

Add garlic to leeks

Now its time to add another saute pan on another burner on medium heat with some olive oil in it. Do this now because as we continue with the first burner (leeks, garlic, jalapeno pan contents) the second pan needs to be hot enough to sear and caramelize the scallops. As the chef said at orientation, You want that Sizzle to lock in the juices. Same with the shrimp when we get to it. If you don't get that sizzle, your food will absorb the oil/fat and as we know, that is not good.

To continue with the first pan, add in the zuccini.

Zuccini slt n peppa

Time to add in the color and make it perrrrty. Add in the red bell pepper and let it cook for about 1 minute and then turn off the heat. Don't worry it is still cooking. And now we have to turn our attention to the second pan where we should see the oil shimmering, don't let the oil smoke! ahhh! Oh look at that...oh how beautiful! And it smells good too!

Red bells pepp added to zuccini

Here is another shot after about 10 minutes with the burner for this off. Can you see the slight difference? The picture above looks like just cut fresh veggies put in the pan and the picture below shows the ingredients 'sweated' a bit. We want the zuccini to still be crunchy not mushy. It's important to turn that burner off. Some people don't realize that this is still cooking. And while tending now to the scallops and shrimp, it is a good idea to get a spoon and turn the veggies over so all gets cooked evenly.

Red bells pepp add to zuccini2

Now for da seafood! Here are the scallops and shrimp in prep area1. Dried off, get all the moisture off of them.

Scallops n shrimp

Now into the pan, scallops first because they are thicker and take a bit longer to cook. You want them to get opaque when they are done. The pan side of the scallop should be a nice carmel color when you flip to cook on the other side. Don't forget to season them, add a pinch of salt and pepper.

Scallops

When the scallops are done, put them on top of the veggies to keep the scallops warm. Now we will add in the shrimp. They will only take about 2 minutes per side, so don't over cook them unless you like chewing on a old rubber tire.

Shrimp

An now for the plating/presentation. Surf no turf baby. Oh did I forget something? Heck no! Get ready for the Alaskan King Crab...prepped and ready to eat. I was going to do some corn on the cob too, but this was just enough! The lighting, the lighting,,,,the caramel color is really darker than what you see. Just don't burn them, ok?

Simple plating

and below, 'ere's THE KING---oh mamma baby, thank you verrry mush. I did also get the clarified butter onto the table which you don't see here. I mean come on, I think I did pretty good being the cook, photographer, table setter and cleaning up after each segment of making this dish, cut me some slack.

Table set

and then.........

The end

Here are some other pic, miscellaneous. Steaming the crab. I had the whole neighborhood coming to the door with their $20.00 in hand.

Steamg king crab legs

And clarifyiing the butter-see below. If you want 'clean' butter without all the impurities, you will see how much butter you actually get for the $$ you pay at the store for it. Leave it on the stove next to a heat source and DO NOT disturb, shake or jostle it. Or you can put a stick of butter in a pan on very low heat, don't let it boil or bubble and let the butter melt slowly. After the stick has melted you should see the liquid butter on top and the impurities will be at the bottom. There may also be some impurities floating within the liquid. Just spoon carefully the floaties away. When spooning the butter, don't make waves to disturb the bottom. Just spoon out the precious yellow gold slowly. Once it is all spooned, discard the rest. If you want a more nutty flavor of the butter, put it back on the stove and let it cook slowly til it gets I little tan.

Clarifyg butter

Here on the left is the nasty stuff and the good stuff I used a small ladel to slowly and gently reach in and spoon out the good stuff. See the impurities in the upper picture?

Look in this lower picture, the left side see the floaties? And on bottom you should see all the yucky stuff. On the right is the good stuff. Sorry about the lighting.

Dirty butter left clarified rt

The spoon with the holes in it is good for getting the bacon out of the pan and the tongs are great for picking things up one at a time. Picking up more than one item with the tongs can be done but just be careful the food doesn't drop back in let's say a pan of hot oil, where you can get splashed with hot oil. There's a tool (gadget) for almost any situation. Be safe!

Straining tool

and this splatter screen is handy and helps keep the clean up to a minimum. You don't get dangerous oil pops n splatters if you are standing in range of the pan.

Splatter screen

Well, that's about it. This recipe is pretty easy. The only hard part is in the timing. Get the succotash cooked and kept warm on the side while the scallops and shrimp get cooled without making the succotash mushy.

In my case, I had an added ingredient and that was the crab legs. I had those on the stove steaming for a total of 25 minutes and within that time I made the succotash, scallops and shrimp.

Enjoy!

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ahhhh summer. . .

nobody@vox.com(Sunni) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 03:37:18 +0000

Peaches

This time of year is so great. I love going to the Farmer's Market to buy peaches, tomatoes, zucchini, green beans, etc., etc. But especially peaches! I always freeze a bunch to use in smoothies or desserts. Luan actually loves them frozen as a snack.

And then the blueberries! We go pick our own at an organic blueberry farm locally. It's so fun to go pick for a couple of hours and then to bring them home. I freeze tons of them because Luan's most favorite snack is frozen blueberries and plain yogurt. I think I've mentioned that before in an earlier post.

Here's a photo of a quiche I made for dinner recently. We love quiche. I usually make it with broccoli, cheddar cheese, and sun dried tomatoes. Sometimes I use spinach instead of broccoli. Julia Child said that you need to prebake your pie shell before putting the egg custard mixture into it. She's right that it makes the crust more crispy but sometimes if I don't have a lot of time, I just skip that step and it is still good.

Blueberries

Quiche

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Vanilla bean pound cake :)

nobody@vox.com(Mordacity) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 21:19:17 +0000

Vanilla Bean Pound Cake
from smittenkitchen.com

1 pound (2 cups) sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, used is fine
1 pound (4 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 pound (9 large) eggs
1 pound (4 cups) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a food processor, grind vanilla bean and sugar until vanilla is as finely chopped as it can get, about one minute. Sift this mixture twice, making sure all larger pieces have been filtered out. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer, then gradually add the vanilla sugar, continuing to beat until well creamed and smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually add the flour and salt, beating constantly. Add the vanilla extract and continue beating until well blended.

3. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube or bundt pan. Pour in the batter and ‘’spank” the bottom of the pan to distribute the batter evenly. Bake until a straw inserted into the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour 15 minutes, taking care not to overcook. Turn cake out onto a rack and let cool.

My pictures:

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