HOW TO PREP A WHOLE VANILLA BEAN
Fresh, plump, soft vanilla pod
Equipment
Small, sharp paring knife
Smooth-surfaced cutting board
Small hook or pushpin (optional)
Instructions
1. Split the pod lengthwise into two halves: Assemble your cutting board, knife, and vanilla pod. I like to use the little hooked area of the pod as a handle, anchoring the pod to the cutting board with my non-dominate hand. This helps you to maneuver the pod without getting your fingers full of the precious vanilla seeds. Starting as close to the hook as possible, firmly run the tip of the paring knife down the length of the pod. You may need to repeat this step if the pod didn’t completely split on the first try. Try to follow your original cut when doing this to produce two halves of the pod, joined at the top by the little hook.
2. Scrape the pod halves: Still holding the hooked area down on the cutting board, run the unsharpened side of your knife down the length of each of the pod halves, using firm pressure. I sometimes find that the sharp side of the knife can puncture the pod and pull up too many fibers along the way, creating a lot more mess then necessary. The dull side works perfectly to carefully but thoroughly scrape the seeds.
3. Use the seeds and save the pod! Go ahead and add the seeds to your recipe but don’t throw away the pod! If your recipe requires a liquid, you can add the pod to the liquid to steep, further enhancing the vanilla flavor. This works especially well if the liquid has been heated. See notes below for other ways to use your vanilla pod.
Notes:
• You can also make vanilla sugar by adding the split and de-seeded pod to a canister of sugar, sealing it well, and letting it sit at least two weeks. The pod can remain in the sugar indefinitely and you can just add additional pods as you use them.
• The used pod can also be added to a bottle of alcohol such as vodka or rum to make vanilla extract. Since it isn’t a fully stocked pod, the resulting vanilla won’t be strong enough, so just continue to add your spent pods to reinforce the flavor. Time and continuous additions of used pods will boost the vanilla. Or you can add a split, unscraped bean if you want to move things along a little
• One of my favorite things to do is to thoroughly dry the pod until it is hard and then break it up in a clean spice grinder. Grind until a fine powder is created and use this in baked goods to boost the vanilla flavor.
