The Vanilla Bean

Later this week I'm going to post a new cookie recipe, but I'm going to have to wait a bit, since the cookies are kind of a gift and I don't want anyone getting any early surprises...

I will say that the recipe used a vanilla bean (Tony prefers the word "niller", so hey, whatever floats your boat), which I had never really worked with before. Oh sure, I'd see the little devils in the store, expensive as all get out right next to their cheapo cousin, vanilla extract.

I needed a vanilla bean for this recipe, however, and the redneck niller extract cousin was just not going to cut it. I also happened to stumble upon the vanilla bean motherload at Costco--10 beans for about $6. This may not be as cheap as buying them off the internet, but it sure beats buying 2 beans from McCormick for about the same price as at Costco!

So this was what my setup looked like today. Vanilla bean--check. Sharp knife--check. Super cute ramekin that I use for just about everything when I'm cooking--check. We're ready to go!

First split the vanilla bean lengthwise down the center. This actually requires some force to get through the pod. I had to attempt this a few times before getting to the good stuff.

This is what the inside looks like, and those little black specks are the seeds--so close to victory!

Take your knife and gently scrape the seeds out. I had to do this a few times, and made a gigantor mess, but by the end I was able to get at least a good teaspoonful, maybe more, of vanilla bean seeds. Success!

Happy Sunday, y'all!