board77

Next project: Tonka Bean Ice Cream!

Start saving for your tickets to Montreal!

Oh, that sounds good. Homemade ice cream would be so lovely right now. Even though it would probably only add to my congestion...

OK, I'm going to have to try Tonka bean in something sometime! Especially since cinnamon is on my *do not eat* list now. Tonka might make an acceptable substitute.

OK, maybe not. This is what I found written on an amazon listing:

Quote:

The seed of the tree, dipteryx odorata, the Tonka bean has sometimes been used as a substitute from vanilla. It has a sweet fragrance and flavor which is reminiscent of vanilla, almonds, cinnamon and cloves. Because it contains coumarin, which is suspected of being toxic and carcinogenic, Tonka bean is banned from being used in food in the US. In addition to being sometimes used to flavor cookies, cakes and cream dishes, Tonka beans were sometimes used to flavor snuff and pipe tobacco. DO NOT EAT!

I disagree with the review - it contains no more coumarin than cinnamon, which is not banned. Unless the coumarin is what puts cinnamon on your "do not eat" list?

Just about everything is toxic if you ingest it in insane quantities.

No, it's cinnamon itself that I can't eat. I can't remember if it causes histamines to be released or supresses the release of the enzyme that deactivates histamine- either way the end result is too many histamines for me to cope with. It's not one of the foods that contains too many histamines in and of itself.

Look!!! Look what I found in the Royal Botanic Gardens!
My life is now complete.

That's neat! I am planning to make my own vanilla flavoring soon.

Excellent idea! What are you going to use for the liquid?

I've used vodka.

That's what I recommend. Fancy stuff like brandy and rum taste nice, but in my experience they needlessly mask the vanilla flavour.

Good to know! I was planning on using vodka.

Take a look at this picture of my newly-made vanilla extracts that I posted back in November 2009:
Of all those bottles, only the one on the far right has any left. Here's what it looks like today:
Quite a bit darker from two-and-a-half years of absorbing all that vanilla-y goodness

So I'm thinking ahead and just picked up a bottle of vodka for the next batch. Let the vanilla-making begin!

That reminds me...I need to do this!

If you haven't already started, here's a tip that I didn't think about until after I bought the vodka: choose a bottle where the bottleneck is not too narrow or too long. You want to be able to get the pods out when you've finally used up all the extract in a couple of years. They'll still have some flavour left in them, so you can use them to make vanilla sugar.

Here's the new bottle of home-made vanilla extract: I'm guessing that I won't actually start using it until about a year from now, unless I go on a prolonged baking binge and use up my current bottle quickly.

Thanks for the tip! I'll remember that.

Has anyone ever cooked with rue (the herb)?

When I was shopping for herbs for my garden, I saw it, and for some reason the Vaughan Williams song "With rue my heart is laden" popped into my head. It's got an interesting aroma, but I'm not sure how to incorporate it into my cooking.

No, I've never cooked with it. Sorry!

I am currently simmering garbanzo beans as I attempt to make my first ever hummus.

Can you soak them too long, though?

Garbanzo beans? I've always used chick peas for hummus.

They are the same thing. Right?

<goes off to check>

Yes, they're the same thing.

Anyway, homemade hummus is made and tastes pretty good! I think I might tweak some of the ingredients in the next batch. It could use a touch more salt and a different olive oil. (I don't like a strong olive taste, and this oil is robust.) I roasted garlic, too, for the first time, and that was yummy! Katie said a little less lemon juice next time, but I don't know.

Well, I was able to freeze 4 cups of beans to use later, so that's good.