Last night I made chorizo per the recipe in Rick Bayless' "Mexico, One
Plate at a Time" cookbook. It calls for you to grind the bay leaves with
mortar and pestle, which I don't own. I tried to do it in the food
processor, even adding the salt from the recipe to act as an abrasive
but it barely worked.
Any other suggestions to get the job done?

Goomba38 wrote:
> Last night I made chorizo per the recipe in Rick Bayless' "Mexico, One
> Plate at a Time" cookbook. It calls for you to grind the bay leaves with
> mortar and pestle, which I don't own. I tried to do it in the food
> processor, even adding the salt from the recipe to act as an abrasive
> but it barely worked.
> Any other suggestions to get the job done?

You can grind them in an electric spice grinder. I make garam masala
(which contains bay leaves) that way.

Ground bay leaves are also good to use with soups such as split pea or bean.

"Goomba38" > wrote in message
. ..
> Last night I made chorizo per the recipe in Rick Bayless' "Mexico, One
> Plate at a Time" cookbook. It calls for you to grind the bay leaves with
> mortar and pestle, which I don't own. I tried to do it in the food
> processor, even adding the salt from the recipe to act as an abrasive but
> it barely worked.
> Any other suggestions to get the job done?

It's a pain. My solution; I purchased Ground Bay Leaves at Publix. The
brand name is "Badia".

On Sun, 11 May 2008 11:49:16 -0400, Goomba38 >
wrote:

>Last night I made chorizo per the recipe in Rick Bayless' "Mexico, One
>Plate at a Time" cookbook. It calls for you to grind the bay leaves with
> mortar and pestle, which I don't own. I tried to do it in the food
>processor, even adding the salt from the recipe to act as an abrasive
>but it barely worked.
>Any other suggestions to get the job done?

Use a coffee grinder, like a Braun, or Krups. I use one for spices
all the time.

Christine

On Sun, 11 May 2008 11:49:16 -0400, Goomba38 wrote:

> Last night I made chorizo per the recipe in Rick Bayless' "Mexico, One
> Plate at a Time" cookbook. It calls for you to grind the bay leaves with
> mortar and pestle, which I don't own.

You don't own a mortar and pestle? Good grief. We have two.

Call yourself a foodie? For shame!

--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

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

On Sun 11 May 2008 08:49:16a, Goomba38 told us...

> Last night I made chorizo per the recipe in Rick Bayless' "Mexico, One
> Plate at a Time" cookbook. It calls for you to grind the bay leaves with
> mortar and pestle, which I don't own. I tried to do it in the food
> processor, even adding the salt from the recipe to act as an abrasive
> but it barely worked.
> Any other suggestions to get the job done?

Yes, I use a "whirly blade" type of coffee grinder to grind all my spices.
It quickly reduces almost anything, including bay leaves, to a fine powder.
If you don't have one, it's worth the usually cheap investment. I'm still
using the $15 Oster that I bought in the 1970s.

Other notably had things to grind are whole cloves and allspice berries.
The coffee mill totally pulverizes them.

--
Wayne Boatwright
-------------------------------------------
Sunday, 05(V)/11(XI)/08(MMVIII)
-------------------------------------------
Today is: Mother's Day, Pentecost
Countdown till Memorial Day
2wks 14hrs 25mins
-------------------------------------------
Be careful when you're playing under
the anvil tree.
-------------------------------------------

On Sun 11 May 2008 09:16:41a, ChattyCathy told us...

> On Sun, 11 May 2008 11:49:16 -0400, Goomba38 wrote:
>
>> Last night I made chorizo per the recipe in Rick Bayless' "Mexico, One
>> Plate at a Time" cookbook. It calls for you to grind the bay leaves with
>> mortar and pestle, which I don't own.
>
> You don't own a mortar and pestle? Good grief. We have two.
>
> Call yourself a foodie? For shame!
>

I have a mortar and pestle, but I wouldn't even consider trying to grind up
bay leaves in it. Too laborious. :-)

--
Wayne Boatwright
-------------------------------------------
Sunday, 05(V)/11(XI)/08(MMVIII)
-------------------------------------------
Today is: Mother's Day, Pentecost
Countdown till Memorial Day
2wks 14hrs 15mins
-------------------------------------------
Cats must play 'hockey' with a shampoo
cap in the bathtub in the wee hours of
the morning.

ChattyCathy wrote:
> On Sun, 11 May 2008 11:49:16 -0400, Goomba38 wrote:
>
>> Last night I made chorizo per the recipe in Rick Bayless' "Mexico, One
>> Plate at a Time" cookbook. It calls for you to grind the bay leaves with
>> mortar and pestle, which I don't own.
>
> You don't own a mortar and pestle? Good grief. We have two.
>
> Call yourself a foodie? For shame!
>
<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

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?

Wayne Boatwright wrote:

> I have a mortar and pestle, but I wouldn't even consider trying to grind up
> bay leaves in it. Too laborious. :-)
>
But..but.. Rick says to do it that way!!
I've never had a recipe call for ground bay leaves before, to tell you
the truth? At least I don't recall one....?

On Sun, 11 May 2008 11:49:16 -0400, Goomba38 >
wrote:

>Last night I made chorizo per the recipe in Rick Bayless' "Mexico, One
>Plate at a Time" cookbook. It calls for you to grind the bay leaves with
> mortar and pestle, which I don't own. I tried to do it in the food
>processor, even adding the salt from the recipe to act as an abrasive
>but it barely worked.
>Any other suggestions to get the job done?

Do you have a whirly blade coffee grinder? that would probably be
best. Did the recipe specify fresh or dried? I think that might make a
difference also.

I've gotten in the bad habit of buying mortars and pestles. I have
probably 5 in graduating sizes. Believe it or not I use most of them.
I don't have one as big as Christine's granddaddy of them all though.

koko
---
http://www.kokoscorner.typepad.com
updated 5/11
"There is no love more sincere than the love of food"
George Bernard Shaw

Goomba38 > wrote:

>Wayne Boatwright wrote:

>> I have a mortar and pestle, but I wouldn't even consider trying to grind up
>> bay leaves in it. Too laborious. :-)

>But..but.. Rick says to do it that way!!
>I've never had a recipe call for ground bay leaves before, to tell you
>the truth? At least I don't recall one....?

The Rick Bayless recipe for chorizo seasoning I have does
not include ground bay leaves.

Steve

Goomba38 > wrote in
:

> ChattyCathy wrote:
>> On Sun, 11 May 2008 11:49:16 -0400, Goomba38 wrote:
>>
>>> Last night I made chorizo per the recipe in Rick Bayless' "Mexico,
>>> One Plate at a Time" cookbook. It calls for you to grind the bay
>>> leaves with
>>> mortar and pestle, which I don't own.
>>
>> You don't own a mortar and pestle? Good grief. We have two.
>>
>> Call yourself a foodie? For shame!
>>
> <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
>
> 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?
>

I have 3 mortar and pestles (small medium and large. A dedicated
motorized coffee err spice grinder. Plus a manual coffee grinder from a
lee valley kit modified to take my battery operated drill for quanities
of fresh ground pepper etc...

The mortar and pestles are great for wetish stuff like garlic cloves
spice blends and added oil. The spice grinder best on dried stuff. For
anything eles I use my stick blender with its'chopping attachment.

--

The house of the burning beet-Alan

A man in line at the bank kept falling over...when he got to a teller he
asked for his balance.

On 2008-05-11, Goomba38 > wrote:

> Any other suggestions to get the job done?

Yeah. Screw Rich Bayless (one screw-job at a time) and put in the whole
leaf and remove it before serving.

nb

On Sun 11 May 2008 10:41:35a, Goomba38 told us...

> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>
>> I have a mortar and pestle, but I wouldn't even consider trying to
>> grind up bay leaves in it. Too laborious. :-)
>>
> But..but.. Rick says to do it that way!!
> I've never had a recipe call for ground bay leaves before, to tell you
> the truth? At least I don't recall one....?

I don't mind breaking with "tradition" or recommendations if I like the
result the way I chose to prepare it. I've come to realize, after reading
countelss cookbooks, that some procedures are performed in great part for
effect.

I don't think a lot of recipes call for ground bay leaves, but I often do
grind them because I like the way it works in recipes. I also use them
whole, depending on what I'm making.



--
Wayne Boatwright
-------------------------------------------
Sunday, 05(V)/11(XI)/08(MMVIII)
-------------------------------------------
Today is: Mother's Day, Pentecost
Countdown till Memorial Day
2wks 13hrs 10mins
-------------------------------------------
Only fools are certain; it takes
wisdom to be confused.
-------------------------------------------

notbob > wrote:

> Yeah. Screw Rich Bayless (one screw-job at a time) and put in the
> whole leaf and remove it before serving.

The idea here is it is a sausage seasoning that needs to blend.
I suppose you could have one bay leaf stuck in each sausage,
and later pull it out, but that seems a little odd to me.

Steve

wrote:

> Do you have a whirly blade coffee grinder? that would probably be
> best. Did the recipe specify fresh or dried? I think that might make a
> difference also.
>
No, I don't have a whirly blade coffee grinder! I don't drink coffee,
lol. I'm a tea drinker.
I will be in the market for either a whirly diddy or the mortar/pestle
though. Which one would you suggest being most valuable if I only wanted
one or the other?

Steve Pope wrote:

> The Rick Bayless recipe for chorizo seasoning I have does
> not include ground bay leaves.
>
> Steve

From "Mexico-One Plate at a Time" page 26
Chorizo Mexicano

1.5 pounds lean boneless pork shoulder..
8 ounces pork fat
12 medium dried ancho chiles...
2 bay leaves
1.5 tsp cinnamon, pref fresh ground Mexican canela
1/8 tsp cloves, pref fresh ground
1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
Thyme and marjoram (1 T fresh or 1 tsp dried)
Salt
1/4 cup cider vinegar

I was surprised by there being no garlic though! It seems to need some...

Wayne wrote on Sun, 11 May 2008 17:49:34 GMT:

>> ChattyCathy wrote:
>>> On Sun, 11 May 2008 11:49:16 -0400, Goomba38 wrote:
>>>
>>>> Last night I made chorizo per the recipe in Rick Bayless'
>>>> "Mexico, One Plate at a Time" cookbook. It calls for you to
>>>> grind the bay leaves
> with
>>>> mortar and pestle, which I don't own.
>>>
>>> You don't own a mortar and pestle? Good grief. We have two.
>>>
>>> Call yourself a foodie? For shame!
>>>
>> <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
>>
>> 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?

> Since I have both, and I do use both because some things just
> work better in a mortar and pestle, for most things the bottom
> line is speed. In a coffee grinder the results are almost
> instantaneous. Not so with the M&P. You could also look at
> it as tradition vs. technology. I'll usually pick technology
> every time, but there are exceptions. One other caveat about
> the coffee grinder, you cannot incorporate moist ingredients
> (like garlic cloves) with the dry ingredients. You can
> certainly do this in a M&P. IMHO, it pays to have both.

As a chemist, I learned how to use a mortar and pestle and I
still know how but you can keep the things! Practically
everything that involves incorporating damp things like garlic
can be done with the jar-blender attachment of my Braun
immersion blender. I used to have a mortar and pestle but I was
eternally losing one or the other. To tell the truth I can't
remember which is which but I suspect the pestle is the thing
you grind with:-)
--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

James Silverton wrote:

> As a chemist, I learned how to use a mortar and pestle and I still know
> how but you can keep the things! Practically everything that involves
> incorporating damp things like garlic can be done with the jar-blender
> attachment of my Braun immersion blender. I used to have a mortar and
> pestle but I was eternally losing one or the other. To tell the truth I
> can't remember which is which but I suspect the pestle is the thing you
> grind with:-)

I remember when pharmacies all had one sitting on the counter for
compounding medications. Who does *that* anymore?! It is rare.
I think one of those would be kinda cool though.

I'm leaning towards the mortar and pestle over power just because I'm a
great believer in using elbow grease. I get a certain satisfaction out
of doing things by hand slowly and as my ancestors might have done.

On May 11, 11:09*am, "weedhopper" > wrote:
> "Goomba38" > wrote in message
>
> . ..
>
> > Last night I made chorizo per the recipe in Rick Bayless' "Mexico, One
> > Plate at a Time" cookbook. It calls for you to grind the bay leaves with
> > mortar and pestle, which I don't own. I tried to do it in the food
> > processor, even adding the salt from the recipe to act as an abrasive but
> > it barely worked.
> > Any other suggestions to get the job done?
>
> It's a pain. My solution; I purchased Ground Bay Leaves at Publix. *The
> brand name is "Badia".

Any international food marget should have ground (molido) bay leaves
in the Mexican section. I use them for pasta sauce. I was upset when
Penzey's quit carrying the ground bay leaves.

--Bryan

Goomba38 > wrote:

>Steve Pope wrote:

>> The Rick Bayless recipe for chorizo seasoning I have does
>> not include ground bay leaves.

> From "Mexico-One Plate at a Time" page 26
>Chorizo Mexicano
>
>1.5 pounds lean boneless pork shoulder..
>8 ounces pork fat
>12 medium dried ancho chiles...
>2 bay leaves
>1.5 tsp cinnamon, pref fresh ground Mexican canela
>1/8 tsp cloves, pref fresh ground
>1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
>Thyme and marjoram (1 T fresh or 1 tsp dried)
>Salt
>1/4 cup cider vinegar

Yes, significantly different from my notes of a Bayless chorizo
recipe but I did not keep track of which book it came from:

1 oz dry Chili Ancho
1 oz dry Chili Pasilla
1/4 t Coriander Seeds
1/2 Cinnamon stick
1/8 t cloves
3/4 t Oregano
1/3 t black pepper
1/8 t nutmeg
1/8 t ginger
2 T paprika
1 t salt
3 cloves garlic
1/3 cup cider vinegar


Steve

Goomba38 wrote:
> ChattyCathy wrote:
> > On Sun, 11 May 2008 11:49:16 -0400, Goomba38 wrote:
>
> >> Last night I made chorizo per the recipe in Rick Bayless' "Mexico, One
> >> Plate at a Time" cookbook. It calls for you to grind the bay leaves with
> >> � �mortar and pestle, which I don't own.
>
> > You don't own a mortar and pestle? Good grief. We have two.
>
> > Call yourself a foodie? For shame!
>
> <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
>
> 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?

Many sausage recipes call for powdered bay leaves... you can buy them
already ground form the sausage supply places... The Sausage Maker has
it <http://www.sausagemaker.com> but probably too large a size for
your need. One of those little coffee bean whizzers will handle a few
bay leaves easily, crumble them first... be sure they're whizzed to a
fine powder, you don't want anyone choking on any sharp bits. I
seriously doubt dried bay leaves can be ground with a mortar and
pestal, you'll grind the pestle to a nub first... Rick Bayless is a
foodtv personality, he's no kind of cook, he plays a cook on tv...
like most foodtv personalities he has no practical experience, his
backgrond is that his family owned a small family operated Mexican
restuarant in Okalahoma, as a kid they probably made him do scullery
work. He was an undergraduate student of Spanish and Latin American
culture, and then a doctoral student in anthropological linguistics,
didn't get his Phd... he never accquired formal culinary training...
that chorizo recipe is probably his mother's, he probably never
touched a bay leaf in his life... Bayless suits him. hehe

Goomba38 wrote on Sun, 11 May 2008 14:08:50 -0400:

>> As a chemist, I learned how to use a mortar and pestle and I
>> still know how but you can keep the things! Practically
>> everything that involves incorporating damp things like
>> garlic can be done with the jar-blender attachment of my
>> Braun immersion blender. I used to have a mortar and pestle
>> but I was eternally losing one or the other. To tell the
>> truth I can't remember which is which but I suspect the
>> pestle is the thing you grind with:-)

> I remember when pharmacies all had one sitting on the counter
> for compounding medications. Who does *that* anymore?! It is
> rare.

Blenders and food processors are popular in India too.
..

> I think one of those would be kinda cool though.I'm leaning
> towards the mortar and pestle over power just because I'm a
> great believer in using elbow grease. I get a certain
> satisfaction out of doing things by hand slowly and as my
> ancestors might have done.

You can try grinding corn for tortillas in a metatl (did I get
that right?). It only takes a morning for a family meal :-)

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

Goomba38 wrote:
>
> wrote:
>
> > Do you have a whirly blade coffee grinder? that would probably be
> > best. Did the recipe specify fresh or dried? I think that might make a
> > difference also.
> >
> No, I don't have a whirly blade coffee grinder! I don't drink coffee,
> lol. I'm a tea drinker.
> I will be in the market for either a whirly diddy or the mortar/pestle
> though. Which one would you suggest being most valuable if I only wanted
> one or the other?

No M&P, no coffee grinder. I'm revoking your membership
in RFC.

You do have a stick blender, right? You might be
able to grind the leaves by crumbling them into
one of the other ingredients, such as the cider
vinegar, then using the blender to pulverize the
bay leaf bits while they're suspended in the liquid.

On Sun, 11 May 2008 10:44:00 -0700, wrote:


>
>I've gotten in the bad habit of buying mortars and pestles. I have
>probably 5 in graduating sizes. Believe it or not I use most of them.
>I don't have one as big as Christine's granddaddy of them all though.

I am going to buy a small one next, I think. That granddaddy, is hard
to drag over to the sink to clean it out. Weighs a ton!!! But it is
a great mortar and pestle.

For those of you that want one, this is a great site for them:
http://importfood.com/


And the mortars and pestles:
http://importfood.com/mortarpestle.html

I have the big round one. It weighs about 24 pounds, they say.

Christine

On Sun, 11 May 2008 13:56:31 -0400, Goomba38 >
wrote:

wrote:
>
>> Do you have a whirly blade coffee grinder? that would probably be
>> best. Did the recipe specify fresh or dried? I think that might make a
>> difference also.
>>
>No, I don't have a whirly blade coffee grinder! I don't drink coffee,
>lol. I'm a tea drinker.
>I will be in the market for either a whirly diddy or the mortar/pestle
>though. Which one would you suggest being most valuable if I only wanted
>one or the other?

Hmm..they both have their uses and are used differently. Right now, I
can't see myself having only one... but that is me.

Christine

Bobo Bonobo® wrote:

> Any international food marget should have ground (molido) bay leaves
> in the Mexican section. I use them for pasta sauce. I was upset when
> Penzey's quit carrying the ground bay leaves.
>
> --Bryan

I've always used whole in my tomato sauces, soups and the like, and pick
out the leaves before serving. I like to be able to choose the size of
the leaf to the use. How much ground do you reckon equals a good sized leaf?

Steve Pope wrote:
> Goomba38 > wrote:
>
>> Steve Pope wrote:
>
>>> The Rick Bayless recipe for chorizo seasoning I have does
>>> not include ground bay leaves.
>
>> From "Mexico-One Plate at a Time" page 26
>> Chorizo Mexicano
>>
>> 1.5 pounds lean boneless pork shoulder..
>> 8 ounces pork fat
>> 12 medium dried ancho chiles...
>> 2 bay leaves
>> 1.5 tsp cinnamon, pref fresh ground Mexican canela
>> 1/8 tsp cloves, pref fresh ground
>> 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
>> Thyme and marjoram (1 T fresh or 1 tsp dried)
>> Salt
>> 1/4 cup cider vinegar
>
> Yes, significantly different from my notes of a Bayless chorizo
> recipe but I did not keep track of which book it came from:
>
> 1 oz dry Chili Ancho
> 1 oz dry Chili Pasilla
> 1/4 t Coriander Seeds
> 1/2 Cinnamon stick
> 1/8 t cloves
> 3/4 t Oregano
> 1/3 t black pepper
> 1/8 t nutmeg
> 1/8 t ginger
> 2 T paprika
> 1 t salt
> 3 cloves garlic
> 1/3 cup cider vinegar


The recipe I'm using the chorizo in is his Queso Fundido con choizos y
rajas, and it only required four ounces. I have this large container now
of chorizo to use and abuse in other ways. I think I'm going to take
some and add garlic, oregano, nutmeg and corinander to (per your recipe)
and doctor it up. I felt it should have garlic when i made it but wanted
to try it as he intended for this queso fundido. At least the first time

Sheldon wrote:

One of those little coffee bean whizzers will handle a few
> bay leaves easily, crumble them first... be sure they're whizzed to a
> fine powder, you don't want anyone choking on any sharp bits. I
> seriously doubt dried bay leaves can be ground with a mortar and
> pestal, you'll grind the pestle to a nub first...

I'd rather not buy ground if I already have whole and can grind them
(somehow!) myself. I just dislike the redundancy of owning both, y'know?

Rick Bayless is a
> foodtv personality, he's no kind of cook, he plays a cook on tv...

Sheldon! How can you say that!? He had this restaurant long before he
had his television show!
He's earned prestigious food awards (James Beard, for example) and he
has an obvious passion for Mexico. I don't believe one has to be born
into a culture or ethnicity to become a respected expert on it.

James Silverton wrote:

>> I think one of those would be kinda cool though.I'm leaning towards
>> the mortar and pestle over power just because I'm a great believer in
>> using elbow grease. I get a certain satisfaction out of doing things
>> by hand slowly and as my ancestors might have done.
>
> You can try grinding corn for tortillas in a metatl (did I get that
> right?). It only takes a morning for a family meal :-)
>
LOL, gives new meaning to the "Slow Food Movement" huh?

Mark Thorson wrote:

> No M&P, no coffee grinder. I'm revoking your membership
> in RFC.

<pout>
>
> You do have a stick blender, right? You might be
> able to grind the leaves by crumbling them into
> one of the other ingredients, such as the cider
> vinegar, then using the blender to pulverize the
> bay leaf bits while they're suspended in the liquid.

I tried it using kosher salt but it wasn't too successful. Something
wicked odd about those thin, dry leaves I tell ya!
I've often used coarse salt to help grind and smash garlic directly on
the cutting board or in the food processor. It works well there.

Mark Thorson wrote:
> Goomba38 wrote:
> > k.. wrote:
>
> > > �Do you have a whirly blade coffee grinder? �that would probably be
> > > best. Did the recipe specify fresh or dried? I think that might make a
> > > difference also.
>
> > No, I don't have a whirly blade coffee grinder! I don't drink coffee,
> > lol. I'm a tea drinker.
> > I will be in the market for either a whirly diddy or the mortar/pestle
> > though. Which one would you suggest being most valuable if I only wanted
> > one or the other?
>
> No M&P, no coffee grinder. �I'm revoking your membership
> in RFC.
>
> You do have a stick blender, right? �You might be
> able to grind the leaves by crumbling them into
> one of the other ingredients, such as the cider
> vinegar, then using the blender to pulverize the
> bay leaf bits while they're suspended in the liquid.

A stick blender won't work any better than a regular blender or her
food processor.

All else fails I'd try crumbling a few bay leaves and running them
through a pepper mill set on the finest grind... I've never done this
so I've no idea of the results, and I'm not intimately familiar with
Goomba's grinder but I've heard only good things.

Maybe brewing a strong bay leaf infusion will suffice.

On Sun, 11 May 2008 14:01:00 -0400, Goomba38 >
wrote:

>Steve Pope wrote:
>
>> The Rick Bayless recipe for chorizo seasoning I have does
>> not include ground bay leaves.
>>
>> Steve
>
> From "Mexico-One Plate at a Time" page 26
>Chorizo Mexicano
>
>1.5 pounds lean boneless pork shoulder..
>8 ounces pork fat
>12 medium dried ancho chiles...
>2 bay leaves
>1.5 tsp cinnamon, pref fresh ground Mexican canela
>1/8 tsp cloves, pref fresh ground
>1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
>Thyme and marjoram (1 T fresh or 1 tsp dried)
>Salt
>1/4 cup cider vinegar
>
>I was surprised by there being no garlic though! It seems to need some...

I'm surprised by the amount of chiles.

--
See return address to reply by email
remove the smile first

"Goomba38" > wrote in message
...
>
> I'm leaning towards the mortar and pestle over power just because
> I'm a great believer in using elbow grease. I get a certain
> satisfaction out of doing things by hand slowly and as my ancestors
> might have done.

I'd recommend getting a mortar and pestle over a grinder if you are
going to get one or the other. For the bay leaves the results probably
wouldn't be much different with either. I think the mortar and pestle
is more versatile than those a coffee/spice grinders. It's worth
getting a mortar and pestle just to make pesto if for no other reason.

I'm with you as far as doing things by hand is concerned. We both
might be stupid for feeling that way, but I enjoy doing things by hand
anyway.

-Mike

Wayne Boatwright wrote:
> On Sun 11 May 2008 10:41:35a, Goomba38 told us...
>
>> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>>
>>> I have a mortar and pestle, but I wouldn't even consider trying to
>>> grind up bay leaves in it. Too laborious. :-)
>>>
>> But..but.. Rick says to do it that way!!
>> I've never had a recipe call for ground bay leaves before, to tell you
>> the truth? At least I don't recall one....?
>
> I don't mind breaking with "tradition" or recommendations if I like the
> result the way I chose to prepare it. I've come to realize, after reading
> countelss cookbooks, that some procedures are performed in great part for
> effect.
>
> I don't think a lot of recipes call for ground bay leaves, but I often do
> grind them because I like the way it works in recipes. I also use them
> whole, depending on what I'm making.
>
>
>
Our bay tree finally got big enough I could start harvesting leaves.
Fresh bay leaves a different taste than the dried ones. Similar, but
enough difference to make me try it again.

Goomba38 wrote:
> wrote:
>
>> Do you have a whirly blade coffee grinder? that would probably be
>> best. Did the recipe specify fresh or dried? I think that might make a
>> difference also.
> No, I don't have a whirly blade coffee grinder! I don't drink coffee,
> lol. I'm a tea drinker.
> I will be in the market for either a whirly diddy or the mortar/pestle
> though. Which one would you suggest being most valuable if I only wanted
> one or the other?
I've got both and I use the small electric coffee grinder the most.
That's what I bought it for, never grind my own coffee anyway.

Goomba38 wrote:
> James Silverton wrote:
>
>> As a chemist, I learned how to use a mortar and pestle and I still
>> know how but you can keep the things! Practically everything that
>> involves incorporating damp things like garlic can be done with the
>> jar-blender attachment of my Braun immersion blender. I used to have a
>> mortar and pestle but I was eternally losing one or the other. To tell
>> the truth I can't remember which is which but I suspect the pestle is
>> the thing you grind with:-)
>
> I remember when pharmacies all had one sitting on the counter for
> compounding medications. Who does *that* anymore?! It is rare.
> I think one of those would be kinda cool though.
We have two compounding pharmacies in the area and they make a great
many of the drugs they sell with the mortar and pestle. My doc sends me
over there every once in awhile.
>
> I'm leaning towards the mortar and pestle over power just because I'm a
> great believer in using elbow grease. I get a certain satisfaction out
> of doing things by hand slowly and as my ancestors might have done.

Sheldon wrote:
>
> A stick blender won't work any better than a regular blender or her
> food processor.

I'd agree that a stick blender is no better than
a regular blender, but I disagree with regard to
a food processor. With a blender, there's at least
a chance it would achieve a fine grind. I'm pretty
sure a normal food processor would produce a coarse
grind, at best.

> All else fails I'd try crumbling a few bay leaves and running them
> through a pepper mill set on the finest grind... I've never done this
> so I've no idea of the results, and I'm not intimately familiar with
> Goomba's grinder but I've heard only good things.

That's a good suggestion. I think it might work.
Of course, that assumes she has a pepper mill.
I'm not sure we can even assume she has a spoon.

> Maybe brewing a strong bay leaf infusion will suffice.

That seems like an even better suggestion. She could
do a cold infusion overnight into the cider vinegar
without upsetting the basic proportions of the recipe.
I've never done a cold extraction on bay leaves,
so I don't know how easily they give up their flavor.

Boosting the number of bay leaves would help ensure
the infusion had sufficient flavoring punch. On the
plus side, it would remove the bay leaf solids from
the final product, which could only be beneficial.

sf wrote:
>
> I'm surprised by the amount of chiles.

Ancho chiles aren't very hot. They mostly have
chile flavor.

On 2008-05-11, Mark Thorson > wrote:

> Ancho chiles aren't very hot. They mostly have
> chile flavor.

A common trait of chiles.

nb