What do *you* use your mortar and pestle for?

I have three so far. A Thai granite, a molcajete and a small ceramic.
I use the them all. The ceramic is used mainly for grinding small amounts of spice
such a saffon, The Thai granite is my big masher, works great for pounding rock
hard lumps of piloncillo, palm sugar or jaggery to a powder. Thai curry pastes.
The molcajete is my main mortar scooter,I use it for grinding spices, making salsas,
mashing and grinding garlic and peppers.
I use my mortars more than I use my blender or food processor.
A salsa always tastes better if done in a molcajete rather than a blender.

jcisn in Cookware

How Does One Sharpen A Mandoline [split from Home Cooking] ?

The Beringer mandoline blade is easy to sharpen.
It's held in place by two Phillips-head screws.
Loosen both and the blade will slide out of the holder.
The angled side of the blade has been ground to a concave
shape which makes sharpening from that side a bit of a challenge.
It can be done but I wouldn't recommend it to those with
problems handling manually adjusted vectors.
But all is not lost... The other side is flat, sorta-kinda.
Making for easy sharpening.
A bit of sandpaper will do, two-twenty grit or finer.
Or a whetstone.
One takes off a bit more steel over a broader area
to get the job done But Hey! The blade will be just as
or maybe sharper than it was when you bought it
Watch your finger chula!

jcisn in Cookware

Cheap yet good cuts of meat

One of my favorites is skirt steak. At one time I could only find in Latin markets but now the local stupor markup has it for sale on a regular basis.

jcisn in Home Cooking

Hot Lunch at your Desk

I'm retired now.. but I used to make good use of the nuker and the toaster oven at work.
Not to mention the coffee maker.
We had a fridge as well so it was just a matter of putting it all together.
I used to torture my co-workers with home brewed bacon and or ham, roasted potato
wedges, sunny side up eggs all done in the toaster oven. Coffee made with home roasted beans.
Sometimes I would bring in chicken parts that I had marinated in yogurt with fresh
rosemary and thyme, also roasted in the toaster.
Some times marinated lamb.
I used to do ribeye and t-bone.
Raman chicken noodles with fresh shrimp and cilantro.
I did tacos in various ways.
Made salads.
It was fun watching the expressions of my co-workers as the aroma of what I was cooking
hooked in to their brains.
My one regret is that I didn't bring in an electric fry pan.
And.... I still got my job done. :-)

jcisn in General Chowhounding Topics

grilled corn question?

I usually pull the husks back and remove the silk then add salt, black pepper, butter and
salsa cruda, then replace the husks and wrap with aluminum foil.
No need for water, the moisture in the husks is enough to steam the corn.

jcisn in Home Cooking

Brining Shrimp before cooking?

One thing that can enhance a shrimp brine is to add minced garlic and ginger,
lemon zest, a little cayenne pepper, or whatever your favorite shrimp spices are
to the brine at the start.
The salt will draw the spices into the shrimp making them all the tastier.

jcisn in Home Cooking

Why marinate chicken breast in buttermilk?

Factory raised chicken parts are as soft as wet toilet paper, Why tenderize?
No need ...right?
The buttermilk is for flavour.

jcisn in Home Cooking

Dried Garbanzo beans (chickpeas

I agree.
I have found that there is a difference in the texture of a quick hot soak then cooking and
soaking the chickpeas over night before cooking.
The over night soak makes for a softer smoother texture.
There is some debate as to which method results in the most nutritional legume, speaking
of legumes in general but that's another can of garbanzo beans.

jcisn in Home Cooking

Dried Oysters

Thanks for the info.
Jose

jcisn in Manhattan

Dried Oysters

Thanks very much for the info.
Jose

jcisn in Manhattan

Dried Oysters

Thanks for the info.
My friend was able to find some without having to search to much.
Jose

jcisn in Manhattan

Dried Oysters

I have a friend that is willing to go on an ingredient hunting mission
for dried oysters for me in NYC but I don't have a specific grocery store
that I might offer her as a place to look.
Anyone know of a place where one can buy dried oysters
in the city?
I dinked about on various search engines for four afternoons
and found nothing.

Jose

jcisn in Manhattan