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Mortar and Pestle

A utensil, usually made from porcelain, metal, or wood, that is used to crush or grind such foods as herbs or spices. Usually sold as a set, the mortar is a small bowl and the pestle is a small cylinder with a club-shaped end.

Recipes

  1. Thai Curry Paste

    The master recipe makes a red curry paste, using dried red chiles. For green curry paste, see the variation at the bottom. Thai curry paste is traditionally made using a sturdy granite mortar and pestle , but a food processor works fine. This curry paste will have a softer texture than the ...

  2. Spicy Green Papaya Salad

    For this Thai classic, Andy Ricker uses a mortar and pestle to pound crunchy raw green beans with a piquant mix of chiles, garlic, fish sauce and lime juice. He then tosses in crisp strips of unripened papaya.

  3. Fusilli with Feta & Lemon-Caper Pesto

    The idea here is to make a tangy, lemony pasta sauce with feta and a few pantry staples. You can make it in the time it takes to cook the pasta. I use a large Japanese mortar and pestle for the sauce--it takes about 5 minutes of pounding--but a blender is even faster.

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Articles

  1. Fave Ever Leftover Turkey (or Chicken): Best of the Blogs

    Tue, 27 Nov 2012

    … through — step by step, with nice photos like the one above. Ground up coriander and cumin — done properly, in a mortar and pestle , which keeps in the oils automatic grinders can strip away — is a good start. Ginger root, jalapeño and some chopped …

Food Blogs We Love

  1. Labneh

    Thu, 4 Apr 2013

    … poached egg, shredded radicchio and tarragon, sea salt. - smashed a few threads of saffron with brown sugar in a mortar and pestle added a bit of labneh, and used it to fill pitted dates. - spread across a shallow bowl, drizzled generously with …

  2. Thinnest Oatmeal Cookies

    Fri, 14 Dec 2012

    … the big electric mixer, and there are all sorts of aspects I suspect he'll like - pounding fennel seeds with a mortar and pestle , using an egg-beater to blend the sugar and egg, and working with dough that transforms from little bumps to …

  3. Yuzu Maple Leaf Cocktail

    Wed, 26 Dec 2012

    … you have it, a little secret. If you want to be more exacting than I am, grind your salt powder-fine with a mortar and pestle before proceeding. It'll incorporate more quickly into the liquids. I hope you like this as much as I do. In …

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