Homemade Vanilla Extract {recipe}

Homemade vanilla extract is far better than it’s store counterpart. You just need a bit of patience. And the stuff you find in the store regularly has added corn syrup and flavorings – a major no-no. Especially when you’re trying to cook tasty whole foods!

I’ve made a couple of large batches of this over the years, so you’ll have to forgive me for taking so long to get to this post.

It’s a simple process really, you buy vanilla beans and soak them in alcohol for a specific amount of time. And there is really no wrong way to do it, though there are approximately 354,759 different recipes on the internet.

Homemade Vanilla Extract

Ingredients
750ml of vodka (you can also use bourbon or rum)
15-20 vanilla beans (I buy mine from Mountain Rose Herbs)

You’ll also need either a mason jar or smaller jars if you’re gifting.

Method of Preparation

1. Take each vanilla bean and cut it to the length of your jar – you want to make sure it’s fully covered. Slice lengthwise through only half of it, keeping one end attached. You want to expose the beans, but not necessarily allow them to fall out into the vanilla. (While this isn’t a taste issue, it does make prettier vanilla extract if you don’t have a ton of beans floating about.)

2. Place beans in a quart size mason jar and cover with vodka.

3. Place the lid on and shake it gently. Each day for about a week or so, give it a couple of shakes. (I usually leave mine out on the counter during this time so I remember)

4. After a week or so, you can put the jar somewhere out-of-the-way, like a kitchen cupboard, and shake it gently just once a week. Or so.

The vanilla is ready to use after about 6 weeks, though the longer it sits, the better it tastes. Four months is absolute perfection. Just pour out the vanilla into another jar and then you can actually re-use the beans to make at least one more batch.

Tips and tricks:

• Most directions say to place it in a cool dark place – it’s what I do. But my friend Jodi put her homemade vanilla in the sun and it worked just fine.
• The vodka you buy DOES make a difference. Cheap stuff is, well…..cheap stuff. Buy at least a mid-priced vodka and you’ll get a better product.
• If you’re not used to buying alcohol and really have no idea what to buy, go to a liquor store. This way you can just ask the guy at the counter for a mid-priced vodka instead of standing at the supermarket feeling silly in front of a massive wall of booze.
• Jodi was also the one that bought a bunch of cute little jars for us to use.
• And she also made her vanilla IN those little jars.
• Katie used bourbon in her vanilla.
• And Crystal actually just put the vanilla beans in the jar of vodka. Uh…brilliant!

slicing through just half of the bean

immersed in vodka - now let it sit

Have you made your own vanilla before? What process do you use?

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Homemade Corn Tortillas {recipe}

Making your own homemade tortillas shells is not just easy – it opens you up to a world of very tasty food. Back in the day I’d soak and prepare whole wheat tortilla shells for tacos or sandwich wraps. But since my family has gone gluten free, I’ve yet to a) find a good recipe that we like and b) bother testing a bunch more out.

I thought I was going to make it easy on my self and make corn tortillas shells. The instructions online were super easy, just water and masa flour.

But oh how dismal they turned out. It was terrible really! Lots of muttering under my breath as I tried to roll them out and have them break apart. Using my tortilla press didn’t help anything either as they’d look beautiful and then fall apart as I peeled them out. If I got them in the pan, they would cook to stiff. And we didn’t enjoy the taste. My husband nicely asked me if I’d stop trying to make them.

Not one to keep messing up dinner after dinner, I gave in and called it a loss.

Oh…..but then I had an idea. An epiphany really.

I love reading through my old handwritten cookbooks and something jumped out at me while I was skimming my wheat tortilla recipe.

Oil.

And I had to try them again with some added oil. Just to see if my inkling was correct. And I think I finally got it right – these are even husband approved.

Homemade Corn Tortillas

Ingredients
2 cups masa harina (corn flour – not corn meal)
1/2 tsp salt
1 – 1 1/4 cups hot water
1 Tbsp oil

Method of Preparation

1. Mix together the corn flour, salt, one cup of hot water, and the oil together in a bowl and combine.

2. Add water until you reach the right consistency. What you’re going to be looking for is a dough that is wet enough to stick together, but not so sticky that it stays on your hands.

3. Knead the dough for a minute or so to fully combine the ingredients.

4. Cover the bowl in order to keep the moisture in the dough – otherwise by the time you’re done, it’ll be to dry. Take a golf ball sized chunk of dough and either roll flat with a rolling pin or place into a tortilla press. Either option you choose, lay the dough between layers of wax paper or a ziploc bag cut in two. If the dough sticks to the plastic – it’s to wet, just add a touch more flour.

5. Place the tortilla onto a medium-hot skillet, not greased. Cook for 45 seconds to one minute on each side.

6. Once tortillas are fully cooked, take them off the skillet and place in between a folded towel. This helps keep them supple and warm while you’re cooking the rest.

You can use them immediately or store in the refrigerator for a week or so.

Or if you’re looking for whole wheat tortillas, never fear – I have those listed right here: Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas

Making your own “traditional” masa is also a possibility when you purchase the pickling lime from a place like Cultures for Health. “Ancient Aztec and Mayan cultures developed nixtamalization using lime and ash to create alkaline solutions to treat corn.
Nixtamalizing corn by soaking it in lime water, produces corn that is more easily ground (when treating whole corn rather than corn meal), its nutritional value is increased (through the freeing up of Vitamin B3, flavor and aroma are improved and mycotoxins (a type of fungus) are reduced.  Unprocessed Maize (corn) is deficient in niacin which is problematic when corn is used as a staple food in a diet.  While it is suggested that corn should soak in lime water for 7 hours prior to using it in cooking, traditional cultures would often soak corn for 1-2 weeks.” – CfH.

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