RECIPE COUNTDOWN TO 2010: NUMBER 2

NUMBER 2: ICEBERG WEDGE SALAD WITH BUTTERMILK ROQUEFORT DRESSING

For weeks I've been craving this salad. I finally made it yesterday just for me. Make sure you have a pitcher of extra dressing on the table. There was no one around, so I licked the plate.

ICEBERG WEDGE SALAD WITH BUTTERMILK ROQUEFORT DRESSING: printable recipe

I discovered that this dressing tastes even better the next day. And I did like it better with a bit of mayonnaise, but you can certainly leave it out.

1 shallot, finely chopped

1/3 clove grated or pressed garlic

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/3 teaspoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon white wine or champagne vinegar

4 tablespoons olive oil

4-6 tablespoons crumbled Roquefort cheese

2 tablespoons buttermilk (preferably full fat)

1 teaspoon dijon mustard OR Colman's mustard powder

1 tablespoon mayonnaise (optional)

big pinch salt

pepper to taste

handful of parsley,  roughly chopped.

crispy bacon (optional topping)

Place chopped shallot, lemon juice, zest, and vinegar in a bowl. Let it sit for a few minutes. Slowly whisk in olive oil. Whisk in cheese, buttermilk, mustard, mayonnaise (if using), salt, and pepper. Taste and adjust to your liking. (I needed to add more lemon and more salt.) Set aside for a few minutes and then taste again. It's amazing how the flavors shift as they integrate. You could also make it easy and throw it all in the blender. I don't use the blender for this because I like having the chunks of cheese and shallots.

Serve over wedges of iceberg or heart of romaine. Top with parsley. Place cooked bacon slices on either side of the wedge. Serve with extra dressing in a pitcher.

RECIPE COUNTDOWN TO 2010: NUMBER 3

NUMBER 3: CHANTERELLE AND GRUYERE TART

My brother gave my parents and me a huge basket of chanterelles mushrooms for Christmas. He has some secret spot in the hills of Berkeley where he finds them. I used to worry that he might kill us all with some bogus mushrooms. But I've grown up and now I trust him. After all, he eats them every year with his friends. And with my parents. And no one has ever gotten sick. Turns out he is an expert forager.

My brother cooks his chanterelles the same way every year and he challenged us to do something different. I've never cooked chanterelles. For some reason gruyère cheese kept popping into my head. It was down to a lasagna or a tart. My mom and I decided to collaborate on a tart.

Dash and I looked at each mushroom close up. He couldn't believe how dirty they were.

Three things I learned from my mom and brother about chanterelles mushrooms:

1. To clean them just do a quick dunk in water, a brush off with the vegetable brush, and then a speedy final rinse. Dry them really well. Never soak the mushrooms.

2. Instead of chopping chanterelles you can tear them very easily along their vertical seams. 

3. Tons of liquid comes out when they're first heated up. You can do a dry sauté or a sauté in oil and onions like we did. Just take the time to let the liquid come out. You can set the mushroom broth aside and use it for risotto or soup. Or you can just reduce it down.

My brother took his first bite of the tart and looked ecstatic. After his third bite he said he thought it was so good that he might cry. Keep in mind that my brother has a new baby and he is sleep deprived. But still, I think this tart was out of this world delicious.

CHANTERELLE AND GRUYERE TART: printable recipe

Inspired by "Cozy Comfort Food" published by Sunset Magazine in 2009. 
Don't soak the mushrooms in water to clean them. They just need a quick dip in the water, a brush off with the vegetable brush, and a speedy final rinse. Dry them very well.


Ingredients

shortcrust pastry (check out tips):

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons unsalted butter (one stick), very cold and cut into 1/4 inch square chunks

3-6 tablespoons ice water 

filling:

3 tablespoons butter

2 leeks, cleaned and thinly sliced

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1 pound chanterelles mushrooms (cleaned and dried), pulled apart at vertical seams or sliced into 1/2 inch pieces

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1-2 tablespoons madeira, sherry or dry port 

1 teaspoon salt 

pepper to taste

1 cup gruyere cheese, grated

½ cup parmesan cheese, grated

2 tablespoons whipping cream 

Directions

for the pastry:

Mix flour and salt in a bowl. Cut butter into 1/2 inch square chunks and toss into dry ingredients. With your fingers or a pastry cutter, incorporate the butter into the flour mixture until the butter chunks are the size of peas. Add half the cold water and mix it in with a fork. Add more water if you need to, enough so that when you squeeze the mixture in your fingers it's just moist enough to form a dough. Pour dough out onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Use the sides of the plastic wrap to press the dough into a disc. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least an hour before rolling it out.  

Set oven for 375º F. Lightly flour a work surface and roll the dough into a 12 inch round.  Place into a 9 1/2 inch tart shell and press off the edges. Cook the shell for 20-30 minutes until golden. 

for the filling: 
Sauté the leeks and onion in the butter until soft, about 3 minutes.  Turn heat to high and add the mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms have given off their liquid, 5-10 minutes. Stir in the thyme, alcohol, salt, and pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Take off the heat. 

assembly:

Spread half the grated gruyere over the bottom of the pre-baked tart shell. Spread the mushroom filling on top of the cheese and then add then sprinkle the remaining gruyere and the parmesan cheese on top of the filling. Drizzle the cream over the top of the tart. Bake until the cheese is melted and golden, about 25-35 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

RECIPE COUNTDOWN TO 2010: NUMBER 4

NUMBER 4: VANILLA BEAN REFRIGERATOR COOKIES

"Momma, boys drink tea."

"Yes, they do Dashi."
He continued, "Boys don't drink latte. Or chai. Or coffee. Or cars."

So we drove home and had tea with fresh-baked vanilla bean cookies.

We took the log of dough out of the freezer, painted it with egg, and rolled it in the vanilla sugar. Then we sliced it up and baked the cookies.

It's hard to stop eating warm cookies but I did finally have to say, "No more." This did not go over well.

VANILLA BEAN REFRIGERATOR COOKIES:

printable recipe

(Adapted from Cinnamon Sablés from David Bouley's "East of Paris: The New Cuisines of Austria and the Danube")

In this recipe I've put the minimum amount of vanilla and vanilla bean necessary. Feel free to double or triple the amount. Don't use vanilla bean paste in these cookies because they will be too sweet. They're best eaten the day they're made although they will keep for a few days at room temperature in an airtight container. You can refrigerate the dough for up to a week or freeze it for many months if it's well wrapped. Don't coat them with egg and sugar until right before you bake them. Makes about 32 cookies.

Ingredients
for the cookie dough:

2  cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter, unsalted and room temperature
1/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean (slice bean in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds)
1 egg

for the sugar coating:
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean (slice bean in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds)

Directions

Whisk flour and salt together and set aside. In a mixer or by hand cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and add the vanilla extract and vanilla bean seeds. Mix until you can see that the seeds are evenly distributed. Scrape down sides and add the egg. Mix for 5 seconds. Add flour and salt mixture in 3 batches, mixing briefly and scraping down after each addition.

Scrape the dough out onto a long piece of plastic wrap. Using the plastic wrap, roll the dough out into a log 2" in diameter. Leave it a round cylinder or if you prefer square cookies you can flatten all four sides into a square cylinder. Put the log into the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Put granulated sugar on a flat surface like a big plate or platter (or directly onto your counter). With your fingers mix in the vanilla bean seeds until evenly distributed. This takes a few minutes. Whisk the egg in a bowl. Remove dough from fridge and plastic wrap and cut into 2 smaller logs. Paint the first log all over with the beaten egg EXCEPT for the 2 exposed ends. Roll the log in the vanilla sugar until well-coated. There is very little sugar in this cookie dough so make sure you get a nice layer on the log. You can even press it in a bit with your fingers. With a serrated knife carefully slice the cookies 1/2" thick. Place cookies on a nonstick sheet pan (or use a silpat or parchment paper). White the first batch cooks, repeat egg and sugar coating with 2nd log. Keep an eye on the cookies after they've been in the oven about 8 minutes. Take them out when the cookies are just set and the sugar begins to brown along the edges. Cool completely on the sheet pan or the sugar coating will crack off. Eat right away.

RECIPE COUNTDOWN TO 2010: NUMBER 5

NUMBER 5: SHORTCRUST PASTRY

Tomorrow I'm going to post recipes for lamb pie and chanterelles tart. But first I thought I'd talk a bit about shortcrust pastry. You can buy a frozen tart shell at the supermarket. Often they are quite good. But if you have time to do one at home it's pretty straightforward.

Kids love dough. Even when it's just flour, salt, butter, and water. It's just like working with clay. And it tastes so much better. Give your kids the scraps to taste and use to make their own mini-tarts. Last week Dash and Bella did one with strawberry jam.

For the first time in (almost) 40 years I can make shortcrust pastry dough for a tart, galette, or pie without referring to a recipe. I have my own recipe. A template. Very satisfying. I might add cornmeal and pepper to one or vanilla and lemon zest to another.  But it's basically the same each time. Here's a bit of what I've learned.

TIPS:
1. When you first start making this dough you'll learn more if you do it by hand. It's hard to overmix when you're doing it by hand. I can't tell you how many times I've over-pulsed dough with the Cuisinart. It's really hard to see what's going on in there. Get your hands into the dough instead.
2. To incorporate the butter into the flour mixture you need to squeeze the butter and flour between your fingers quite vigorously, as if you're trying to snap your fingers.
3. Use very cold butter and liquid.
4. Make the dough ahead of time so that it can chill in the fridge for at least an hour before you roll it out.

STEPS:
1. Combine the dry ingredients.
 2. Cut the cold butter into 1/2 inch square chunks. Mix in the butter until the dough looks like coarse cornmeal with pea-sized chunks.
 3. Add some of the cold liquid. Lightly mix with your fingers or a fork.  Press a bit of the dough together between your fingers. You want it to just come together into a dough. Add more liquid if it's too dry.

4. Place onto a long piece of plastic wrap and use the sides of the plastic wrap to press the dough together and flatten into a disc. Look closely. You want to see chunks of butter.

5. Chill for at least an hour. Roll out using lots of flour on the board and rolling pin. Press into a tart pan, pie pan, or place flat onto a sheet pan for a galette.

VARIATIONS:

Once you get comfortable making this recipe you can play around a bit by adding the butter in 2 batches. Add the first half of butter to the flour mixture and mix until it looks like coarse cornmeal. Add second half of butter and mix it in until second half of butter looks like large peas. This makes the dough tender and flaky at the same time. Proceed with steps 4 and 5.

Play with adding different flavors depending on the filling. To the flour you could add: salt, pepper, lemon zest, cinnamon, sugar or cornmeal. You could replace some of the cold liquid with: milk, cream, vanilla, lemon juice, or orange juice.

BASIC SHORTCRUST PASTRY RECIPE:  
This works well for any recipe that calls for tart, double-crust pie, or galette dough. Just double the recipe and split into 2 even discs for double-crust pie dough.  It freezes really well for months.

printable recipe

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons unsalted butter (one stick), cut into small chunks and very cold

3-6 tablespoons ice water

Mix flour and salt in a bowl. Cut butter into 1/2 inch square chunks and toss into dry ingredients. With your fingers or a pastry cutter, incorporate the butter into the flour mixture until the butter chunks are the size of peas. Add half the cold water and mix it in with a fork. Add more water if you need to, enough so that when you squeeze the mixture in your fingers it's just moist enough to form a dough. Pour dough out onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Use the sides of the plastic wrap to press the dough into a disc. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least an hour before rolling it out.

RECIPE COUNTDOWN TO 2010: NUMBER 6

Both Dash and Bella are out of the house today after 10 LONG DAYS at home. The quiet is bliss. Sort of like the silence after it snows. I'm sipping coffee and trying to shake the foggy feeling from my head. I've fallen behind. Posting one recipe a day for my new year's recipe countdown is proving to be impossible. I"m going to try to catch up.

Number 6: CREMINI MUSHROOM SALAD WITH ASPARAGUS, AGED GOUDA, AND LEMON VINAIGRETTE




You will need a surprising amount of dressing because mushrooms are like sponges. I used cremini (or crimini) mushrooms. I just learned that they are baby portobellos. They're also called baby bellas. MY baby Bella turns her nose up at mushrooms. What is it with kids and mushrooms?

Cremini and asparagus salad? Yes, I know. You can't grow asparagus in California right now. They just looked so beautiful and spring-like. They were conventionally grown and from Chile. And to tell the truth they didn't have much flavor. Bad, bad carbon footprint asparagus. Tomorrow I"m going back to organic local kale, squash, onions, leeks, and Brussels sprouts. If you do make the salad, you can replace the asparagus with green beans or fennel or just keep it a simple mushroom salad. And in the spring, make this salad with beautiful young and skinny asparagus from the farmers' market and it will rock.

I finish off the salad with thin slices of aged gouda. The caramelized taste and the flavor crystals (that's what I call them but they're actually crystallized lactic acid) make the cheese like candy. Bella looks at me like I'm either stupid or crazy when I say that aged gouda tastes like candy.

CREMINI MUSHROOM SALAD WITH ASPARAGUS, AGED GOUDA, AND LEMON VINAIGRETTE: printable recipe

You can replace 1/2 the olive oil with walnut oil or hazelnut oil. Green beans are a good replacement for the asparagus. Thinly sliced fennel would also work well. Or just make it a solo mushroom salad.

(feeds 1 as a meal or 2 as a side)

for the dressing:

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 lemon

handful of parsley, coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

3 tablespoons olive oil

pinch of salt
a few turns of pepper
aged gouda

10-12 cremini mushrooms, sliced thinly
6 spears asparagus, raw or cooked until just tender and sliced into 1 inch slices

In a bowl, squeeze half 1/2 the lemon over the chopped shallot and let sit for a few minutes. Whisk in parsley, mustard, salt, and pepper. Slowly whisk in olive oil. Taste and add more of any of the lemon or dressing ingredients if it's not balanced. In another bowl, combine mushrooms and asparagus (or alternate vegetable). Drizzle over 1/2 the dressing and quickly combine with a fork or your fingers. Add more dressing in a minute or so. Shave lots of thin strips of aged gouda over the top of the salad with a vegetable peeler. Drizzle over a bit more olive oil and cunchy salt. Eat immediately.

RECIPE COUTDOWN TO 2010: NUMBER 7

NUMBER 7: SQUASH AND CARROT SOUP TOPPED WITH YOGURT, PARSLEY, LEMON ZEST, AND BACON

This is how fast Dash moves. Here he is holding a glass bowl filled with oranges. This is why I'm always taking deep breaths.

Thankfully he seems to slow down a bit when he gets to cook. "What are we cooking today, mama?" is his constant refrain.  Today we are cooking squash and carrot soup.

 

Look at his focus as he peels the onion.

And then he starts rubbing his eyes saying, "The sun. The sun. Too bright." He doesn't realize that the onion is making his eyes sting, not the bright light.

We prep everything and then set it aside until the next day. I introduce him to the concept of "mise en place." Everything in its place. Bowls of chopped ingredients all ready to go. The next day Dash wants to "cook" the soup in the living room with his blue wooden pan. Onions. Yup. Carrots. Yup. Celery. We stir. And then we move to the kitchen to find the real heat.

I'm all about the toppings. Here's what we put on the squash and carrot soup: Greek yogurt, chopped parsley, lemon zest, and BACON.

SQUASH AND CARROT SOUP TOPPED WITH YOGURT, PARSLEY, LEMON ZEST AND BACON: printable recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 carrots, diced

2 stalks of celery, diced

1/2 onion, diced

a least 2 big pinches of salt

a few turns of pepper

1 anchovy fillet (optional)

1 teaspoon tomato paste

4 cloves garlic

1 cup white wine

2 large squash or 3 medium (butternut, pumpkin, kabocha or anything similar)

4-6 cups chicken stock

1-2 cups water

2 sprigs thyme
squeeze of lemon juice (optional)
splash of vermouth (optional)

toppings:

bacon

Greek yogurt

chopped parsley

lemon zest

Warm olive oil in a big pot. Add, carrots, celery, and onion and keep at medium heat. While the aromatics cook, mash the salt, pepper, anchovy, tomato paste, and garlic into a paste with a mortar and pestle (or press the garlic and mix everything together in a bowl). Once the onions are translucent (4-5 minutes) add garlic/anchovy/tomato paste. Cook for a few minutes while constantly stirring until it smells caramelized and nutty. It can brown but don't let it burn. Add wine and cook off alcohol for a minute or so. Add squash, 4 cups of chicken stock, and thyme. Bring to a boil. Turn down to low heat, keep at a simmer, and cook until squash and carrots are tender (30-40 minutes). Remove thyme stems. Puree in the pot with an immersion blender or transfer to a cuisinart or blender. Taste and season as needed. If it's too thick add some chicken stock or water. I found I needed to add lots more salt. Sometimes adding a bit of vermouth or lemon juice at the end is nice as well. Serve by itself or with toppings.

RECIPE COUNTDOWN TO 2010: NUMBER 8

NUMBER 8: GRILLED COTSWOLD CHEESE SANDWICH WITH CILANTRO-PARSLEY PESTO

I bought this whole wheat oatmeal bread at The Cheese Board Collective in Berkeley. We brought it home warm and gooey and it inspired a grilled cheese sandwich.

We used Costwold cheese. It is a Double Gloucester (from Gloucestershire, England) cow's milk cheese with chives and onions. It is so unbelievably tasty in sandwiches, on burgers, and in omelettes. It melts beautifully and tastes a lot like cheddar. Some people in England love Costwold cheese so much that they have bumper stickers devoted to it.

I put the cheese, cilantro-parsley pesto, bread, and butter out on a cutting board. Bella helped Dash make the sandwiches and I grilled them. We ate so much of the cheese that we weren't very hungry for the sandwiches.

 

GRILLED COTSWOLD CHEESE SANDWICH WITH CILANTRO-PARSLEY PESTO: printable recipe

for the pesto:

1/2 clove garlic

handful of cilantro leaves

handful of parsley leaves
squeeze of lemon juice
glug of olive oil

1-2 tablespoons of creamy fresh goat cheese

handful of walnuts

big pinch of salt

pepper

sliced bread 
sliced Cotswold cheese (or cheddar)

butter for grilling 

Combine pesto ingredients. You can use a mini cuisinart, a blender, or a mortar and pestle. Or you can chop it all together on the counter. Just make sure you mash the garlic into a paste but everything else can be chunky if you like. Keep tasting the pesto to adjust the flavors. You can make it so that it tastes more like walnuts or more like parsley. It's up to you. For each sandwich, spread one slice of bread with pesto. Place slices of cheese on top. Place second slice of bread on top. Butter both sides of the sandwich. Grill on medium heat. Once you flip the sandwich over, put a heavy lid or pan on top of the sandwiches to press them down like a panini press. It's done when both sides are golden brown and the cheese is melting out the sides.

RECIPE COUNTDOWN TO 2010: NUMBER 9

NUMBER 9: CARAMELIZED SWEET POTATO TART

Crunchy cornmeal crust with layers and layers and layers of paper-thin sweet potato slices, each coated with cinnamon sugar and butter. Yum.

We made chips with the leftover sweet potato slices. 

CARAMELIZED SWEET POTATO TART: printable recipe

 This is a sweet tart intended for dessert. See details at the bottom if you want it to be a savory tart. Use corn flour instead of cornmeal for this tart if you don't like the crunch of cornmeal. 

Use a 9 or 10 inch tart pan.

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cornmeal or corn flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick butter, unsalted and very cold

4-6 tablespoons ice water

3 sweet potatoes or yams

4 tablespoons butter, melted

5 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Mix flour, cornmeal and salt in a bowl. Cut butter into 1/2 inch chunks and toss into dry ingredients. With your fingers or a pastry cutter, slowly incorporate the butter into the flour mixture until the butter chunks are the size of peas. Add half the cold water and mix it in with a fork. Add more water if you need to, enough so that when you squeeze the mixture in your fingers it's just moist enough to form a dough. Empty onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Use the sides of the plastic wrap to press the dough into a disc. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for a few hours.

Preheat oven to 350° F.  Remove dough from fridge and let it warm up for a few minutes.  Scatter some flour on your counter (and rolling pin and dough if needed) and roll out dough until it's a little bit bigger than your tart pan. Roll the dough up onto the rolling pin and roll it back out into the tart pan. Don't worry if it falls apart at all. You can just patch tears and holes as needed. Press the dough into the tart pan, press off excess scraps, and put it into fridge until the sweet potatoes are sliced.

Combine sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Peel the sweet potatoes and slice them paper thin with a knife or a mandoline. Remove the tart shell from the fridge. Layer the bottom of the tart shell with sweet potato slices in overlapping concentric circles. Once the entire bottom is covered, paint on some melted butter and sprinkle on some cinnamon sugar. Repeat this layering sequence with sweet potatoes, butter, and cinnamon sugar until you have put down enough slices to reach almost to the top of the tart shell. You might need a little more butter and cinnamon sugar. Finish the tart off with a final sprinkle of cinnamon sugar. Bake until sweet potatoes are puffed, golden and caramelized on top, about 45 minutes. If the tart shell starts to get too brown cover the edges with foil.

VARIATION: You can make this a savory tart. Leave out the cinnamon sugar and butter. Instead, warm 1/2 cup olive oil with 1 clove crushed garlic, pinch of salt, and a sprig of thyme. Set aside to infuse for 1/2 a hour. Paint each layer of sweet potato slices with the oil and some parmesan. Sprinkle parmesan on top of final layer. Bake until puffed and golden. 

 

SWEET POTATO/YAM CHIPS:

printable recipe

peeled and very finely sliced sweet potatoes or yams

olive oil

crunchy salt

Preheat oven to 300° F. Place sliced sweet potatoes in a bowl. Drizzle on a little bit of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Gently mix the sweet potatoes until each slice is covered with a thin layer of olive and salt. Add more olive oil if any of the slices feel dry. Line a sheet pan with parchment or a silpat. Line up the slices in a single layer on the sheet pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes. You want the heat low enough so that the chips dry out and get crisp. Don't let them brown. Using tongs, place the chips on a paper towel to cool. If your first batch is soggy, turn the oven temperature down for the next batch so they dry out enough to get crispy without browning. Store in an airtight container.

RECIPE COUNTDOWN TO 2010: NUMBER 10

This past week we cooked nonstop. But I haven't found a spare moment to sit down and write. So here's the plan. A 10-day recipe countdown to New Year's Day. One recipe a day. A few photos. That way I can catch up. Then we can move on to some more cookbooks and bigger posts in 2010.

NUMBER 10: VANILLA BEAN MARSHMALLOWS

I thought it was marshMELLOWS. They are mellow. Cocoa makes you mellow. S'mores make you mellow. I guess not.

These make a good present. Something about marshmallows makes people very happy.




 Dash measures the dish. "Eleventeen. Yup. Good."

He paints on the vegetable oil with such care.

 

He shakes the heck out of the pan to distribute the powdered sugar.

 I spread around the unbelievably sticky gooey mess.

 Dash licks. 

What a crazy texture. It is impossible to cut it with a knife. I have to snip the marshmallows with my poultry shears.

We have to try them in cocoa with Oreos. We shriek with joy. They taste JUST LIKE MARSHMALLOWS. Crazy cool.

And then we give them all away in pretty packages.

  

VANILLA BEAN MARSHMALLOWS: printable recipe

These are absurdly sweet. But I figure that marshmallows are supposed to be. This recipe is adapted from about 40 recipes I found on the internet. Some don't use egg whites. Some flavor the marshmallows with mint extract. Look around a bit at other recipes to make sure this is the one you want. The one good thing about making this recipe without egg whites is that you won't be dealing with uncooked egg. But I tasted it before and after the egg whites and decided they added a lightness that I prefer. Just eat them within a week or store them in the fridge.

Some tips: 
1. You must have a candy thermometer. 
2. Don't attempt to whisk this by hand. Use a standing or handheld electric mixer. 
3. Give your kids lots of measuring jobs early on because once the sugar is on the stove they need to stay across the kitchen.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 cup powdered sugar for dusting pan AND for the finished marshmallows

3 envelopes unflavored gelatin (2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon)

1/2 cup room temperature water

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup warm water

big pinch of salt

2 egg whites

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla and seeds from 1/2 vanilla pod

Directions:

Grease a medium-sized rectangular or square baking pan with straight sides (metal, ceramic, or glass) lightly with oil. Add 1/4 cup powdered sugar and shake the sugar around the pan around until entire inner surface is coated (same way you would flour a cake pan). Turn pan upside down over sink and smack out excess sugar.

Separate your eggs so that you have the whites ready. Set them aside.

Empty gelatin into your mixing bowl. Pour room temp water on top to and set aside. It will harden back up really fast. Don't worry because it will soften up again with the hot liquid.

Put granulated sugar, corn syrup, and warm water into a medium-sized saucepan and turn heat up high. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar dissolves. Turn down to medium heat. Boil until sugar syrup reaches around 240° F degrees (this took 5 minutes one time and 10 the next—and once the temp accidentally reached 250° F and it wasn't a big deal so don't stress). Remove from the heat. Pour syrup over the gelatin. Gently whisk mixture until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Whisk mixture using a standing or handheld electric mixer until the sugar syrup has tripled in size and is no longer hot—but still warm.  This takes anywhere from 5-10 minutes depending on your mixer. Add vanilla and vanilla bean (or any other flavoring ) during the final minute. In a mixing bowl with clean and dry beaters whisk egg whites until frothy (about 30 seconds). Add salt. Keep whisking until peaks are firm. It's very easy to overbeat so don't walk away. Pour beaten whites onto whipped sugar syrup and combine well. I needed to use the mixer to combine them but you can try to do this by hand. Be warned. It can be a big sticky mess. But so much fun. Pour mixture into oiled/powdered sugared baking pan. Even out the top surface as much as you can. Using a powdered sugar shaker, a sifter, or a fine strainer, sift powdered sugar all over the top. Put uncovered in the fridge for a few hours if you want to cut it soon. Or leave it out room temp and you can probably cut it about 6 hours later.

You can loosen the sides with a knife and remove marshmallow loaf onto the counter. Or you can just cut pieces out of the pan as needed.  I had no luck with a knife. Use scissors or shears to cut into any shapes you want. Funky squares look pretty good. Put all cut marshmallows into a big bowl and sift over more powdered sugar and toss with your hands until all sides are lightly coated. Store room temp for a few days in a bag or jar. Eat within a week or so or keep them in the fridge.