I love the flavor of vanilla. I love it in sweet things like cupcakes, mousse, frosting, cakes and ice cream. I also love it in savory things such as dry rubs for pork chops, ham or grilled chicken.
In the U.S., we tend to use vanilla extract instead of vanilla bean pods in most dishes. Why? Hummm…I am not sure really but I suspect it has something to do with storage or transportation seeing as vanilla bean pods are the second most expensive spice to produce behind saffron (and we all know how expensive saffron can be!). In Europe, vanilla beans pods are commonly found in most grocery stores and are usually quite pricey.
Finding vanilla extract in Norway is nearly impossible and when one does find vanilla extract, it tends to be extremely, extremely expensive. I say boo (!!!) to over-priced, hard to find vanilla extract and instead make my own.
Vanilla Extract
Ingredients
250 ml vodka (use the mid-range stuff, cheap vodka is just a bad idea in general)
3 vanilla bean pods cut in half
1 glass jar or bottle (with a lid)
————————————————————————————–
1 cup vodka (use the mid-range stuff, cheap vodka is just a bad idea in general)
3 vanilla bean pods cut in half
1 glass jar or bottle (with a lid)
Directions
1 Place the cut vanilla bean pods into the glass jar/bottle.
2 Pour the vodka over the bean pods and screw the lid onto the jar/bottle. Give the jar a good shake, then place in a cool dark area (like the back of the kitchen cabinet) for 1 month.
3 When one month has passed, check the liquid in the jar for taste and color. You want the liquid to become a deep brown color. If the liquid isn’t brown enough yet, let it sit for another 2-4 weeks before using. It will darken and take on more of the flavour of the vanilla beans over time.
4 Use in cupcakes, ice cream and other sweet dishes or in pork or chicken recipes.
This post is for non-commercial, personal use only. Copyright ©2012 by Whitney @ Thanks For The Food.
Be sure to check out my Useful Links Page and More Useful Links Page or read more about me on the About Page. You can also find TFTF on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and You Tube.
That’s another way to do it. 🙂 Thanks for the tip.
You know what? Doing it that way, yeah, it works … but it also works to do it with “spent” pods – the ones you’ve scraped the guts out of. We just take a bottle of vodka & set it aside, and every time we scrape a pod for some baked good or other, we pop the scraped pod into the bottle. Eventually (maybe 8 or 9 pods later) you’ve got vanilla extract, and didn’t have to use whole pods!