Candied Citrus Peel

Put the citrus strips in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and let it boil for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and drain the peel in a colander. Repeat the boiling and draining two more times. Set the drained peel aside in the colander.

Put the sugar, water and vanilla bean in the saucepan. Bring it to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the citrus peel strips, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the syrup has dissolved, stirring regularly. When it is close to done, a white sugary coating will appear on the peel.

When the syrup has completely dissolved, remove the pan from the heat and dump the contents on a wire rack to cool, spreading it out as much as possible. Let it cool. As they harden, you will want to separate them several times to keep from developing large clumps of peel.

Notes:
1. I like to start with peel that has already been scraped and cut into strips. When I eat a piece of fruit I remove the pith right away and cut in into strips. Then it goes into the freezer until I get enough to make a batch.
2. The peel is easiest to scrape when it is in larger sections. I always cut my fruit instead of peeling by hand. Oranges get cut into 4 sections and grapefruit in half to eat, and then into fourths to remove the pith. The peel will lay flatter on the cutting board and be easier to manage at this size.
3. You want to use a knife with a long, thin blade that is comfortable in your hand to prevent hand fatigue and soreness.
4. Do not cheat on the multiple rounds of boiling. This is the most important step. If the bitterness does not get boiled away, your peel will be inedible, even with its sugary coating.
5. Dissolving the syrup can be a long process. It usually takes about 2 1/2 hours for the sides of the pan and the peel to start to develop its sugary coating.
6. Put a cookie sheet or cutting mat underneath the wire rack when the peel is cooling. Stuff is going to fall through and this makes for easier clean up.
7. I put the piece of vanilla bean into my bottle of homemade vanilla extract when finished.
8. Store the peel in an airtight container.
9. Makes about 4 cups.
10. Adapted from Starbucks Passion For Coffee.