Katra wrote:
> In article >,
> Wayne Boatwright > wrote:
>
> > On Fri 01 Apr 2005 11:07:03p, Bob wrote in rec.food.cooking:
> >
> > > Katra wrote:
> > >
> > >>> 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.
> > >>>
> > >>
> > >> 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 tell you what: YOU try grinding vanilla beans that way and let
me know
> > > how it works! I'm perfectly willing to believe you, just not
willing to
> > > make the experiment first. :-) I've also processed ginger that
way, but
> > > I think ginger is a lot less leathery and sticky than vanilla.
> >
> > I find it works well if you put sections of the vanilla bean in
with dry
> > granulated sugar - no liquid.
> >
> > >> I've heard of making vanilla sugar the way you describe, but
I've never
> > >> tried it. How long does it take?
> >
> > It obviously depends on how much your grinding. At most, a very
few
> > minutes.
> >
>
> Now that is a clever idea!
> The dry sugar would keep it from being sticky!

Yeah, clever... and novel too... now that it's written why don't yoose
copywrite vanilla sugar, right alongside cinnamon sugar.

Sheldon