Roasting and Grinding Whole Spices

Roasting and Grinding whole spices is all the rage among chefs today. I don't have cable, but when I babysit for my youngest grand babies, when they go to bed the cooking channel goes on, Even though most of there recipes are not CHIP approved, I always manage to gleam something from the shows.

The benefits of roasting whole spices.

1-One whiff of fennel roasted, or any other spice will tell you why.
2-Whole spices retain there flavor way longer then ground. Plus you get the benefit of the nutty earthy flavor with roasting.
3-Put whole spices in a dry skillet, and toast for several minutes, shaking the skillet until the flavor bursts out.
4-Grind toasted spices in coffee grinder or use a Pestle and Mortar to pulverise.
This is oh sooooo good.

1-Roast fresh peppercorns: green, black, pink and white. After grinding, mix together.
2-Try cumin seeds
3-Fennel seeds
4-Cinnamon-(oh my gosh, you will never go back to purchasing ground cinnamon after trying this.)
5-oriander-are the seeds from cilantro
6-Whatever you can find in whole seeds, try roasting them.

I have always used fresh ground pepper. Now I am roasting my fresh ground pepper before grinding.

After grinding, put ground spices in a tight fitting class jar. Baby Food Jars work wonderful. Be sure to mark and keep in a cool, dark place. I keep them in the frig.

Have fun grinding. It is oh so cool, and adds so much flavor to your food.