Meyer Lemon and Vanilla Bean Marmalade

One of my cooks ( Melody, thanks so much!) recently made me this jam from her mother's Meyer Lemon tree. She said it was sunshine in a jar and well, she wasn't kidding. I really needed this on a gloomy cold Saturday morning. It was in a word...Perfection. Bright and lemony with a hint of Tropical climes and the heady aftertaste of luscious vanilla, in a way that vanilla could never be on its own. It was a very thoughtful gift of homemade love....and its ALL MINE.

I am not sure what recipe Melody used for this but here is one from Epicurious that you might enjoy..

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 pounds Meyer lemons
• 5 cups water

• 5 1/2 cups (about) sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• Pinch of salt

  Working on large plate to catch juice, cut lemons in half lengthwise, then very thinly crosswise. Discard seeds. Pack enough lemons and any juice to measure 2 1/2 cups. Transfer to large nonreactive pot. Add 5 cups water; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand uncovered overnight.

  Measure lemon mixture (there should be about 5 1/2 cups). Return to same pot. Add equal amount of sugar (about 5 1/2 cups). Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Add pinch of salt. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Attach clip-on candy thermometer. Maintaining active boil and adjusting heat to prevent boiling over, cook until temperature reaches 230°F, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Transfer to jars. Cover and chill. (Can be made 2 weeks ahead. Keep refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before serving.)

and here are some more rantings about this lovely confectionery bliss of wonderful breakfast anytime goodness sunshine in a jar! Click here for Food Gal's version of perfection!

Enjoy!
Chef

Tomato Leaf Soap

As promised and in just enough time (there was snow on the ground this morning!) here is the recipe for tomato leaf soap. I forgot to take photo during the process but here are a few of the finished project!






tomato leaf soap

* Note: do not heat glycerin soap above 160 degrees! or it will sweat once hardened.

Tomato Leaf Soap
Use as a gardeners soap or hand soap in late Winter or early Spring when the urge to grow something in the ground is almost unbearable. The smell of this soap will immediately transport you to a warm hillside in Tuscany.

Makes two bars:

8 ounces unscented clear glycerin soap
8 ounces of fresh tomato leaves and their stems. (this is more than you think)
2 extra ounces tomato leaves, no large stems
2 drops grapefruit essential oil
2 drops lavender essential oil.

1 large heavy saucepan, 1 wooden spoon, 1 slotted spoon, 1 large bowl with a pour spout side, 1 large strainer, 2 soap molds or other containers. (I used two plastic Glad tupperware containers)

Instructions:
In a heavy saucepan over low heat, melt the glycerin soap until liquefied. Add the 8 ounces of tomato leaves and stems pushing down to submerse all of the leaves. Keep the soap on low and using a wooden spoon press the leaves to extract the chlorophyll and scent. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in both of the essential oils. The soap will be a natural colored green and smell lovely. Place the smaller amount of leaves into a large bowl (I used a bowl with a funnel side for pouring, this will help later). Pour the heated soap mixture into a strainer set over the large pour spout bowl. Press down to remove soap from leaves. Discard original leaves and remove the second set of leaves from strained soap mixture with a slotted spoon. Quickly pour the soap into clean molds. Let harden for three hours and remove by turning the mold upside down and popping out with your fingers. Enjoy!

Local Fruit

We have tons of local pears coming in right now and local bay leaves, We use the two together for a classic dish of red wine poached pears with pink peppercorns

I like to use a dry red wine (any variety), because we do add a little bit of sugar in the recipe, so a sweet wine might overpower the subtle flavor of the pears


One hour later, plus 30 minutes resting time to help set the color and let the pears cool off a bit in the poaching liquid before removing...


Beautiful little ruby colored gems, perfect for salads, Pear Belle Helen etc..

What a Chef does on her day off

I am pretty much jaded by food shows. I have been going to them since I was young and in Culinary School in Florida. After so many years, there just isn't enough "new" product out there to make me want to see 40 different ways to bread chicken fried steak and eat all day from one color group....shades of brown.

Yesterday however was the Southwest Food Expo and it is better than average.It only comes around every three years. I don't expect much and the day did not start off well, but I did find a few things I wanted to share.
First let me say, I love driving into downtown Dallas. I get excited coming over the last curve by the W Hotel and seeing the skyline spread out before me. It feels like the beginning of a fish out of water movie. You know the kind, where the country girl makes good in the big city!

Anyway,the food was ok. A few surprises, like truffle infused salt and Thai ginger salt...must have those. Also, Katz's was there with some really spicy tuna rolls with all kinds of caviar. They had huge fish on ice and were cutting it up in the booth! Pretty great for a food show. But I have to say that the biggest finds were in the alcohol section of the convention center called Cafe 21.


A few of my favorites were mostly Texas spirits. I spent some time talking with Mrs. Kelleher. She and her husband Gary make Dripping Springs Vodka. A truly great spirit with a sweet corn flavor that really imparts some nuance that you just can't find with traditional vodkas. I am not a huge fan of vodka cocktails. I think a great cocktail should showcase and enhance the flavor of the spirit, and most vodkas taste like nothing to me, so why am I drinking it? I usually stick to gin or rum, but this one tasted wonderful, subtle and substantial at the same time. Mrs. Kelleher also told me about Paula's Texas Spirits. Paula and her crew make some of the best lemoncello and orangecello out there. They have such a dedication to quality, all of their fruit is hand zested for the liqours!


She cited her favorite Sunday Brunch Drink for me...Texas Rio Ruby Grapefruit Juice, fresh squeezed of course, with Dripping Springs Vodka and a splash of Paula's Texas Orangecello! Where is my glass?

Another booth where I spent a good bit of time was Treaty Oak Platinum Rum. The owner was there to talk up his great product and to hand out quite a few samples... a couple for me! Wow, what a wonderful flavor, earthy and sweet on the nose, "like gingerbread" I said. That's when he told me that they use molasses for the alcohol base. Actually they use only local products, incorporating molasses from the last operating sugar mill in Texas.


I really hope to have some of these products at Hannah's soon, make sure to ask the next time you are in and tell me what you think!

Well after a trip through Cafe 21, I went round again to hit up some more of those tuna rolls, some more focaccia with olive oil and truffle salt, and a kobe burger with gorganzola from the Sysco booth. Not a bad day afterall.

Chef Sheena

Congratulations Graduates!

Congrats to all TWU and UNT Graduates! Hannah's salutes you! In honor of our special guests on this day, we offered one of our staple desserts....Katherine Hepburn's Brownie, we serve it a la mode of course, but here is the recipe with a creme fraiche topping!

• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter
• 2 squares unsweetened chocolate
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preparation

1. Melt together 1 stick butter and 2 squares unsweetened chocolate and take the saucepan off the heat.

2. Stir in 1 cup sugar, add 2 eggs and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and beat the mixture well.

3. Stir in 1/4 cup all-purpose flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt. (In the original recipe, 1 cup chopped walnuts is added here as well.)

4. Bake the brownies in a buttered and floured 8-inch-square pan at 325°F for about 40 minutes.

You can cut these brownies into squares, once they have cooled, and eat them out of the pan, but it is so much nicer to pile them on a fancy plate, from which people are going to eat them with their hands anyway. If you want to smarten up your act you can put a square of brownie on a plate with a little blob of créme fraîche and a scattering of shaved chocolate.

Katherine Hepburn's Brownie Recipe

Ok, this is not a closely guarded recipe for our restaurant, but it is one we use any time we want the moistest richest brownies ever! We get nothing but compliments. They have that shiny brownie crackle top with a perfect combination of fudge like cake middle. View blog post above to see recipe!