What to do with two vanilla beans?
Coming back from vacation in Mexico, my mother has brought me two vanilla beans. Not traditionally a purchaser of these I cannot decide how I want to use them. Ice-cream certainly comes to mind, but I do not have an ice-cream make. I will not buy one either as I know I will abuse it by making ice-cream too often... he he. Anyhow, how would you use these vanilla bean if you were I?
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9 Comments:
i've only ever used vanilla beans in recipes where you do want that strong vanilla flavor, like creme brulee or ice cream. my sister in law makes a vanilla champagne beurre blanc for fish and uses vanilla beans for that.
whatever you do, once you use them, save the used pods and put them in a canister of sugar that has a tight fitting lid. in about a week or two, you'll have vanilla sugar. just replenish the sugar over time and eventually replace the bean pods. this is pretty handy for the brulee part of creme brulee, or coffee, or whatever you want to use it in.
french tart at 8:22AM on 03/20/07
If you put the whole pods in a cup of vodka(or other liquor) you can make vanilla extract. It comes out great. Then, you can use it in baking. The liquid turns dark.
Mich23 at 9:26AM on 03/20/07
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_12636,00.html
Topper at 9:40AM on 03/20/07
I say creme brulee. It's the only thing that I cook that absolutely must be made with vanilla beans, not extract. "Southern Living has a great creme brulee recipe that doesn't require cooking over a bain marie first, you just dump all the ingredients (beaten) into creme brulee dishes, and bake in a water bath. Check it out. Just substitute one scraped vanilla bean for the extract in the recipe. I use demerara sugar for the topping, rather than plain brown sugar, it brulees better. Recipe also has some good variations at the bottom.
dksbook at 10:02AM on 03/20/07
Homemade vanilla extract....I'm with Mich23 on that one.
First split the vanilla beans down the center, and then cut them into 1" pieces.....this allows the vanilla to permeate the vodka better. Put them into a pint of vodka & put into a cool, dark place. About once a week shake the bottle & then put it back. In about 6 weeks you'll have the best vanilla extract you've ever tasted...and you'll be able to use it for weeks to come.
You can even add more vodka periodically, but that is something better done if you have more beans. Enjoy!
mepolo at 10:55AM on 03/20/07
I recently read a post on www.mattbites.com on vanilla brine for pork. Sounded scrumptious.
JoAnn at 1:00PM on 03/20/07
Last week I stopped at our local mexican bakery and grabbed 4 conchas (sweet small round loaves of bread) I brought them home cubed them and made a bread pudding with vanilla bean. I added one sliced up ripe banana. Next week I am going to make it again this time with a granny smith apple.
It was so good it was gone.
I am sure you could get a challah for a raisin bread and make the same great bread pudding. The flecks of vanilla in the custard just scream food love.
JerzeeTomato at 12:28AM on 03/21/07
French Toast! The Five Points cookbook has a fantastic recipe for Bourbon-vanilla French Toast. I'm sure you can find a similar recipe online, or puchase the book?
kathryn at 11:56AM on 03/21/07
how about vanilla sugar?
just split the vanilla beans, scrape the seeds out and mix into sugar. fantastic treat!
thefrugalfoodie at 1:04PM on 03/24/07