In article >,
"Bob" > wrote:

> Katra replied:
>
> >> you should slit the beans, scrape out the pulp, and add both the bean
> >> husks and the pulp to the pudding when you start to cook it. At the
> >> end of cooking, fish the bean husks out.
> >>
> > You add the husks too? Interesting.
> > Most cooking shows I've seen just add the pulp and put the husks aside
> > to make extract, or they will grind the husks prior to adding them
> > rather than fishing them out.
>
> Might as well use the husks in the pudding, since they will add flavor to
> it. If you want to make vanilla extract, then you can do as you say. Or you
> can simply put the husks into a jar of sugar and shake the jar every once in
> a while; over time, the sugar will become vanilla-flavored.
>
> I'm curious as to what might be used to grind the husks. It seems that
> they'd be too damp and sticky to work well in a burr grinder, and they'd
> also be too sticky to work in a blender-type grinder. I thought a meat
> grinder mechanism would work, but you'd have to have a *lot* of vanilla
> beans to make that worthwhile, much more than I generally have on hand.
>
> Bob
>
>

Well, I "grind" fresh ginger in the food processor along with fresh
rosemary and other fresh herbs.

I just add enough liquid to it to get a good slurry going. I use
whatever "flavored" liquid I plan to add to the final dish, even if it's
just a little bit of liquid from the few canned ingredients I use, such
as canned straw mushrooms.

I imagine that you could add milk or cream, or even sugar water to a
food processor with the vanilla husks to get them finely chopped?

Then of course, there is mincing with a good old fashioned chef's knife.
;-)

I've heard of making vanilla sugar the way you describe, but I've never
tried it. How long does it take?

--
K.

Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

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