Homemade Bourbon Vanilla Extract

I recently returned from the most amazing vacation to Mexico. It was beautiful, incredibly relaxing and K proposed! Best week ever. While we were there, we picked up a bunch of little bottles of vanilla extract (careful not to buy any that contains tonka bean extract, which contains coumarin), as pure vanilla extract from Mexico is pretty amazing. Unfortunately, as we were about to board our plane, everyone’s bags were searched again and for some reason the extract was confiscated. We were in too much of a post-engagement stupor to fight it, and when I got home I decided to just make my own vanilla extract.

This isn’t so much a recipe as it is the combining of two ingredients—it’s so easy! I love to make my own because purchased vanilla extract can be full of chemicals (coal tar and anti-freeze!) and other additives. And the good stuff can be expensive. You can make this recipe with vodka instead of bourbon, but even though I am not from the south, I am more of a bourbon girl. It is so easy and inexpensive. I use vanilla beans leftover from recipes, like vanilla bean payesh, by simply rinsing them off and adding them to the bourbon. You can also use a new bean, like I did this time, in order to add the fragrant vanilla seeds. Whenever you get low, just top off the bottle with a little bourbon and add vanilla beans whenever you can.

Take a sharp knife and split in half two whole vanilla beans and scrape out the seeds. Put them in  a sterile jar along with 1/2 cup of bourbon. Shake the jar and store sealed in a dark place (like your pantry). Every few days give it a good shake. After two weeks you will have a mild vanilla extract and the flavor will continue to get stronger the longer it sits. As I mentioned before, continue to add more vanilla beans and bourbon so that you have a never ending supply. Add it to your favorite recipes that call for vanilla extract.

Ripe Plantain Cake/Torta De Platano Maduro

Breakfast. I love breakfast foods and, like most people, love it at any time of day. A picture of my perfect breakfast is shown above. There it is in all its yummy glory. An egg from a pastured hen fried perfectly in ghee, sliced avocado, black beans with a dollop of yogurt and a slice of warm plantain cake. Yum.

I love anything with plantains (plantain chips!) and I have been on a quest to find a great plantain cake recipe that is not made with flour. This is a Venezuelan recipe from the Latin American cookbook in the Time Life Cookbook series. Traditionally it accompanies meat dishes, but I love it as a side with my favorite breakfast. I substitute rapurda for sugar in this recipe as it is a dried, unrefined and naturally evaporated sugar cane juice. The processing method to obtain it retains the original natural vitamins and minerals in the sugar.

INGREDIENTS

• 7 tablespoons organic butter or ghee
• 2 plantains, very ripe, peeled and cut in half crosswise and cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices
• 2 cups queso blanco, grated 
• 3 tablespoons rapadura
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 organic eggs, separated
• 1 tablespoon flour or dried breadcrumbs (I use almond flour but you can use whatever you prefer)

DIRECTIONS

In a heavy 8 to 10 inch skillet, melt 3 tablespoons of butter/ghee over moderate heat. When the foam subsides, drop in the sliced plantains and cook, turning frequently, until the slices are golden brown on both sides. Transfer the plantains to a double thickness of paper towels to drain.

In a small bowl, mix the grated cheese, rapadura and cinnamon and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with a whisk or a rotary or electric beater until they are stiff enough to form unwavering peaks on the beater.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks until they are thick and lemon colored, then with a spatula fold the whites into the yolks.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease the bottom and sides of a deep 1 quart baking dish or mold, then sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of flour or bread crumbs, tipping the dish to spread the flour or crumbs as evenly as possible.

Turn the dish over and rap it sharply to remove any excess. Ladle about a quarter of the egg mixture into the dish, and spread it with the back of a spoon. Cover with a layer of plantains--using about one third of the slices. Sprinkle with 2/3 cup of the cheese mixture and dot with 1 tablespoon of butter.

Repeat the layers two more times, ending with the egg mixture. Dot with the last tablespoon of butter and place in the middle of the oven.

Bake for 35 minutes.

Serve hot directly from the baking dish, or let the cake cool for 5 minutes or so.

Enjoy! I am off for a very much needed vacation and will be back in a few weeks!