Meet Thomas Keller: chef & owner of The French Laundry, reoccurring guest on TV shows like Top Chef, and one of the most famous American chefs. I’m sure you know of him, but now you have the chance to actually meet him. Tomorrow at the NorthPark Williams-Sonoma, Chef Keller will be signing copies of his [...]
Browse the recipes I’ve posted so far, and you’ll be able to gather that I’m not a gastronomic guru. I love to bake, know my way around the kitchen, and I’ll say right now that I (if you won’t consider it bragging) make some pretty delicious food. However, my current level is nothing compared to someone like Carol Blymire who is currently cooking her way through Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry Cookbook. Shout it with me: “OVER ACHIEVER!”
So being a far-from-expert baker, I tend to take some shortcuts that I’m not very proud of. I’ll use regular flour when a recipe calls for cake flour. I’ll use salted butter if that’s what’s around. I’ll substitute vanilla extract when I know very well that I really should be using a vanilla bean. But it happens! I bake on the fly! It’s what I do! I use what I’ve got and don’t let an extra trip to the grocery store bog me down.
One of the things I usually don’t have is a vanilla bean and that brings me to this beautiful find that our Central Market cooking instructor introduced us to during our desserts class. It’s Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Bean Paste. It’s essentially vanilla beans and sugar stored in a way that can keep in your spice cupboard and use as an even exchange for vanilla beans or extract (1 tbsp. paste = 1 tbsp extract = 1 vanilla bean). I’ve used it three times already and couldn’t wait to post about it. It’s great.
As for the rest of the cheating I do in the kitchen, I’m thinking cake flour is the next thing I need to get serious about. I’ve heard that using it makes all the difference…
Price: $9.95
Available at Central Market