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Grinding Poppy Seed for Hamentashen

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masha

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Mar 6, 2008, 9:46:55 PM3/6/08
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Almost every recipe for poppy seed filling I've ever seen calls for
grinding the poppy seed first. I've tried coffee grinder (they went
right through unprocessed), mortar and pestle (they jumped out of the
mortar when I tried to crush them) and food processor/blender (they
took on a static charge and attached themselves, whole, to the sides
of the container.

Is it really necessary to grind them? Does it make a difference in
the texture of the filling? Does it change the flavor of the finished
filling? Is there some way to grind them that actually works?

HELP!

maxine in ri

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kir...@gmail.com

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Mar 7, 2008, 11:59:10 AM3/7/08
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Try a blender.

Zeppo

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Mar 7, 2008, 11:50:30 AM3/7/08
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"masha" <wee...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:d0c50490-437c-4ead...@m36g2000hse.googlegroups.com...

> Almost every recipe for poppy seed filling I've ever seen calls for
> grinding the poppy seed first. I've tried coffee grinder (they went
> right through unprocessed), mortar and pestle (they jumped out of the
> mortar when I tried to crush them) and food processor/blender (they
> took on a static charge and attached themselves, whole, to the sides
> of the container.
>
> Is it really necessary to grind them? Does it make a difference in
> the texture of the filling? Does it change the flavor of the finished
> filling? Is there some way to grind them that actually works?
>
> HELP!
>

Maxine,
I haven't done this in several years (since I lost my Bubbe's recipe) but I
mixed a small amount of lecvar with the poppy seeds then processed them in
my food processor. It gave the blade some traction and ground them pretty
well.

Jon

W. Baker

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Mar 7, 2008, 2:16:03 PM3/7/08
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masha <wee...@gmail.com> wrote:
: Almost every recipe for poppy seed filling I've ever seen calls for

: grinding the poppy seed first. I've tried coffee grinder (they went
: right through unprocessed), mortar and pestle (they jumped out of the
: mortar when I tried to crush them) and food processor/blender (they
: took on a static charge and attached themselves, whole, to the sides
: of the container.

: Is it really necessary to grind them? Does it make a difference in
: the texture of the filling? Does it change the flavor of the finished
: filling? Is there some way to grind them that actually works?

: HELP!

: maxine in ri

My moher never ground the oppy seed. She made her "east Cake" filling
using whole poppyseeds adn honey. Unfortunately, she did not pass that
recipe on to me, so I can only go by remembering watching her. She would
cook the seeds in some honey on top of the stove for a while and then use
it to fill a jelly roll style cake made with the yeast dough. The texture
is qite different, with gritty texture and the little seeds can find all
kinds of crevasses in your teeth and gums. They are also often not well
digested, so don't be alarmed.

Mother never liked the commercial hamantaschen make with gound poppy seeds
and she didn't trust how much was poppy seed and how much filler. She
used to go to the store, Paprika Weiss, a Hungarian specialty shop on the
East Side of Manhattan for any old New Yorkers on this list.

I havn't made any poppy seeds in may year, but I used to try her method
with varying success. Cooking quite a while does not really soften them
much.

Wendy Baker

masha

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Mar 7, 2008, 2:35:18 PM3/7/08
to
On Mar 7, 11:50 am, "Zeppo" <zepp...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> "masha" <weed...@gmail.com> wrote in message

>
> news:d0c50490-437c-4ead...@m36g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
>
> > Almost every recipe for poppy seed filling I've ever seen calls for
> > grinding the poppy seed first. I've tried coffee grinder (they went
> > right through unprocessed), mortar and pestle (they jumped out of the
> > mortar when I tried to crush them) and food processor/blender (they
> > took on a static charge and attached themselves, whole, to the sides
> > of the container.
>
> > Is it really necessary to grind them? Does it make a difference in
> > the texture of the filling? Does it change the flavor of the finished
> > filling? Is there some way to grind them that actually works?
>
> > HELP!
>
> Maxine,
> I haven't done this in several years (since I lost my Bubbe's recipe) but I
> mixed a small amount of lecvar with the poppy seeds then processed them in
> my food processor. It gave the blade some traction and ground them pretty
> well.
>
> Jon

I'll give that a try. Thank you.
maxine in ri

Nunya Bidness

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Mar 7, 2008, 5:39:18 PM3/7/08
to
masha wrote:
> On Mar 7, 11:50 am, "Zeppo" <zepp...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> "masha" <weed...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>>
>> news:d0c50490-437c-4ead...@m36g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
>>
>>> Is it really necessary to grind them? Does it make a difference in
>>> the texture of the filling? Does it change the flavor of the finished
>>> filling? Is there some way to grind them that actually works?
>>> HELP!
>> Maxine,
>> I haven't done this in several years (since I lost my Bubbe's recipe) but I
>> mixed a small amount of lecvar with the poppy seeds then processed them in
>> my food processor. It gave the blade some traction and ground them pretty
>> well.
>
> I'll give that a try. Thank you.
> maxine in ri

Last time I had to grind fine seeds I used an espresso grinder- Also
called a Herb Grinder (and 2x the price). Nice little electric
mini-processor, great for seeds like sesame, mustard, celery, poppy,
etc., and dry herbs or spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, dried garlic (from
chopped to powder), or nuts, and of course, coffee. You can process to
coarse or fine, but it does go from one to the other very, very quickly.

You can get one at most coffee supply shops.

/Charon the Lurker

Wayne Boatwright

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Mar 8, 2008, 11:58:31 AM3/8/08
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On Thu 06 Mar 2008 07:46:55p, masha told us...

> Almost every recipe for poppy seed filling I've ever seen calls for
> grinding the poppy seed first. I've tried coffee grinder (they went
> right through unprocessed), mortar and pestle (they jumped out of the
> mortar when I tried to crush them) and food processor/blender (they
> took on a static charge and attached themselves, whole, to the sides
> of the container.
>
> Is it really necessary to grind them? Does it make a difference in
> the texture of the filling? Does it change the flavor of the finished
> filling? Is there some way to grind them that actually works?
>
> HELP!
>
> maxine in ri

Yes, IMO, it is absolutely necessary to grind the poppyseed to have the
right texture.

I use this grinder that I bought years ago when they supermarkets stopped
grinding poppyseeds in the stores. This is the real deal.

http://tinyurl.com/2wdrsh

Even if you only use it once or twice a year, it's worth the price and the
effort.

--
Wayne Boatwright
-------------------------------------------
Friday, 03(III)/07(VII)/08(MMVIII)
-------------------------------------------
Countdown till Memorial Day
11wks 2dys 2hrs 20mins
-------------------------------------------
A much-discussed alternative to
homogeneous big-bang nucleosynthesis
has been the first-order quark-hadron
phase-transition-inspired

bac...@vms.huji.ac.il

unread,
Mar 8, 2008, 3:03:01 PM3/8/08
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In article <d0c50490-437c-4ead...@m36g2000hse.googlegroups.com>, masha <wee...@gmail.com> writes:
> Almost every recipe for poppy seed filling I've ever seen calls for
> grinding the poppy seed first. I've tried coffee grinder (they went
> right through unprocessed), mortar and pestle (they jumped out of the
> mortar when I tried to crush them) and food processor/blender (they
> took on a static charge and attached themselves, whole, to the sides
> of the container.


Try the low-tech solution: place the poppy seeds in a plastic bag,
seal it, and then crush with a roller.

>
> Is it really necessary to grind them? Does it make a difference in

Yes, to release the flavor.


> the texture of the filling? Does it change the flavor of the finished
> filling? Is there some way to grind them that actually works?
>
> HELP!


BTW (and this is not a joke): if you ever need to take a urine test
for illicit drugs and you've eaten poppy seed filling, let them know!
It can mimic the chemical test for presence of opium. And all you
did is eat a few hamantaschen :-)

Josh

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