Low tech kit, part one
My kitchen is pretty low-tech and I don’t spend a lot of time fantasizing over new kitchen equipment. Most of the time I’m happy enough with a sharp knife, a good cutting board, and my pots and pans. I do have a really good food processor that I don’t use very often and a mini food processor I use every once in a while. A few weeks back, when I reached for my food mill instead of a blender, I had a revelation – I don’t like the noise of most kitchen equipment. My kitchen is noisy (remember I’m the parent of at least a dozen birds and I always have music playing) and the noise of a blender or food processor can send me over the edge. Even if the end result of a food mill is no better than a mini food processor (but it can be), the fact that it is silent is a HUGE advantage to me.
So I’m always looking for ways to not use electric kitchen appliances and while that may suggest that I have Luddite tendencies, I’ll still opt for muscle power if its effective, which brings me to today’s post. A few weeks ago I bought a couple of additions to my kitchen kit that I love.
The first is a basic mortar and pestle. I’ve had a mortar and pestle for a while, but it w as smallish and while great for grinding spices, it wasn’t much good for anything else. This black one is about three times the size and I love it. It’s heavy, black granite and is fully capable of grinding garlic, herbs, peppers, or whatever to a paste. It takes a little longer than a food processor, but in addition to being quieter, there is something satisfying about pulverizing a couple of garlic cloves or creating an eggplant/yogurt/garlic mixture with your own muscle power.
My first mortar and pestle based pride and joy was that eggplant-yogurt that I talked about here. Since then I’ve used it for a Turkish red pepper dip I hadn’t made before and a chipotle mayonnaise I’ve made dozens of time with a mini food processor.
The dip was a mixture of crumbled feta cheese and roasted red peppers that were mashed together in the mortar and pestle. Add lemon juice, salt, and cayenne and serve with warmed pita bread. I could eat that all day and never get tired of it.
The chipotle mayonnaise is one of my all-time favorite condiments. It’s basically mayonnaise, garlic, canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, lime juice, and cilantro. I’ve been making it for years in a food processor and using it on salads, sandwiches, to dress vegetables, and as a general flavoring. I made it yesterday in the mortar and pestle and like it better. The flavor is similar but the texture is a little less “pure” which is good.
There is something really satisfying about grinding garlic, spices, salt, and vegetables to a smooth consistency with this black granite pestle in a black granite mortar. I don’t know if this old school technology is any better than a food processor in terms of flavor, but the texture of hand grinding can be more interesting than that produced by a machine. Just like an old fashioned food mill has become a valued part of my kitchen, so has the mortar and pestle.
Recipe – Feta and red pepper dip
Ingredients
1 cup of feta cheese
1/2 cup roasted red peppers
2 tbl extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp cayenne
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Add cheese, peppers, olive oil, and lemon juice to a mortar and grind with the pestle until smoothly blended. Add cayenne, salt, and pepper to taste. Served with warm pita bread.
Recipe – Chipotle mayonnaise
Ingredients
2 canned chipotle peppers
1 tsp adobo sauce from the canned chipotle peppers
1 cup mayonnaise
1 garlic clove
1 tbl lemon juice
2 tbl chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Put the garlic and a generous pinch of salt in the mortar and grind to a paste. Add the chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, mayonnaise, and lemon juice and grind to a smooth consistency. Add cilantro and taste for salt and pepper.