Some version of the mortar and pestle has been in use by many cultures for thousands of years to grind and prepare food.
The mortar is a stone or wooden bowl used to hold whatever is being ground (herbs, spices, nuts, beans). The pestle is the heavy hand tool used for grinding.
Stone was probably the original material used for a mortar and pestle, and may still be the most popular (basalt, granite and marble are common, as is porcelain).
Today, food processors and electric spice grinders often replace the mortar and pestle, but for small amounts of ground spices, pesto and spice pastes, they're hard to beat (and good looking, too).
Reference: What is a spice paste good for?
The basis for most soups, many sauces and gravies is a good quality stock or broth. Vegetable broth is one of the most versatile components in a cook's repetoire and it's so easy to make at home!
Starting with the best ingredients will always make the best product. The freshest celery, carrots and onions will make the best mirepoix, which is the de rigeur starting point for a quality vegetable broth.
Sweating the vegetables in a little oil or butter will start the cooking process and allow them to release all of their flavor into the water. Roasting the vegetables in a hot oven is another good way to develop the rich, caramelized notes that are so appealing in soups. You can add in leeks, parsnips or tomato paste to alter the flavor to your taste. Classic additions like whole black peppercorns and bay leaves introduce aromatic layers of flavor.
The best advice for making a good vegetable broth is to take your time. Many recipes for stocks and broths claim that 45 minutes to 1 hour is adequate time to cook all the flavor out of the vegetables, but you may want to keep simmering your stock for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Start tasting it about 45 minutes in and continue every 20 minutes until it tastes full-bodied.
Here's a basic method:
Take equal parts of chopped carrots and celery and sauté them in the stockpot with a double portion of onions. Cut all the vegetables the same size so that the vegetables cook evenly. This is your mirepoix.
Sauté the mirepoix in a little butter or vegetable oil until soft. Use medium heat to just sweat the vegetables, not color them. If using tomato paste or chopped tomatoes, add them to the soft vegetables and cook for 5 minutes to eliminate the raw tomato taste.
Cover your sweated vegetables with enough cold water to cover the vegetables by a few inches.
Add in a bouquet garní made from bay leaves, peppercorns, parsley stems or other herbs.
Bring to a slow boil on medium-high heat; this may take 10-15 minutes. Lower the heat so that the broth is simmering and cover it to slow evaporation.
Start tasting the broth about 45 minutes in, keeping in mind that it will taste raw and watery until about 15 minutes before it's finished. Cool, strain and use in soups, stews or to poach meat, poultry or fish.
With a spice grinder on hand, you can buy spices whole so they retain their flavor longer, toast them whole if you like then quickly grind them with a couple of pulses of the grinder.
Use a mortar and pestle if you've got time and don't mind the elbow grease; otherwise an inexpensive electric coffee grinder is great for the task.
When you use a coffee grinder to grind spices, remember not to use it to grind coffee or cloves, since the flavors of both will haunt the grinder and taint the flavor of whatever it is you want to grind.
To clean the grinder and remove the flavor of other spices between uses, try grinding up some chunks of white bread or uncooked rice, which will clean out any traces of previously ground spices before your next use.
Reference: What is a mortar and pestle?
Reference: What is a spice paste good for?
Reference: Should I toast whole spices before grinding?
