On Sun, 11 May 2008 13:40:11 -0400, Goomba38 wrote:


> <standing up> Hi... I'm Goomba... I used to be a foodie until my dirty
> little secret came out-I don't have a mortar and pestle! I have an
> adorable and very user friendly little nutmeg grinder though.. does that
> count? LOL

<Cathy grins at Goomba>

I was just surprised that you didn't own a mortar and pestle, I thought
everybody had one...

FWIW, I don't recall ever having seen a recipe that calls for grinding bay
leaves either - we usually use them whole and then fish them out before
serving so they don't choke anyone.


> I never had a recipe that called for ground bay leaves before! Honest! I
> always use them whole. I guess I should look into either the spice
> grinder or a mortar/pestle. I can see other uses for one (I like those
> bigazz Mexican ones) Since you own one, do you ever feel you needed a
> powered spice grinder instead or was the ancient method totally
> adequate?

To answer your question - I must admit we still use the 'ancient method'
quite often for making rubs and grinding spices that go into marinades;
DH often uses it to grind spices for his 'secret' salad dressings. So no,
I've never felt the need to rush out and buy an electric spice
grinder...I've never even bought an electric food processor (I have a
manual one - a "Twista manual FP" to be exact) - but I do like my electric
blender for quite a few things.

BTW, Jamie Oliver uses a pestle and mortar quite often in his cooking
shows - and <big surprise> they sell the "Jamie Oliver brand" pestle and
mortar in some of the kitchen stores here (at a shockingly expensive
price, I might add).

--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

Egg tastes better when it's not on your face...