Spice Blends And Rubs
(to use yourself or give as gifts)
A word about herbs and spices before you begin: While the magic of dried herbs and spices is that they can remain flavorful for long periods of time (which is how they managed to travel by very slow means along the spice trail from China to Europe), they do not remain good forever. If you have spices or herbs on your spice shelf that are already more than 1 and a half years old, don't use them for this project. Green herbs go dusty the fastest (if they have browned, toss them), ground spices are next-they will lose flavor as they age, and the whole seeds will last the longest unless they have a high oil content as sesame seeds do.
I suggest keeping only small quantities on hand of herbs and spices you don't use often. When you need some, buy from the bulk herb section of the store. If your store doesn't have such a section, then you're shopping at the wrong store. Enough said.
I suggest keeping only small quantities on hand of herbs and spices you don't use often. When you need some, buy from the bulk herb section of the store. If your store doesn't have such a section, then you're shopping at the wrong store. Enough said.
Herbed Salt:
My own recipe
My own recipe
To make herbed salt you will need:1/2 cup coarse sea salt
1/2 cup fresh rosemary
1/4 cup dried thyme
1/4 cup dried oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder (optional)
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Chop the rosemary superfine. The fresh herb will dry as it is kept in the salt mixture, but you want to make sure the rosemary is very small because when rosemary is dry it can be tough, tough herbs on food is similar to eating sticks of wood. I would not recommend using rosemary that is already dried.
Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
How to use it in cooking: sprinkle it on potatoes, drizzle with olive oil, and roast in the oven at 375 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour (until the outside of the potatoes are roasty and the insides are tender.) Turn a couple of times during cooking.Herbed Mustard Powder
My own recipe
What you will need:1 cup of dried mustard
2 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Put all ingredients in a bowl and stir until well mixed. How to use the mustard powder:Add 1 to 2 tbsp of the herbed mustard powder to 1 cup olive oil and 1/3 cup red wine vinegar. Emulsify with a whisk or an immersion blender, then let the dressing sit for ten minutes before using.
Curry Powder
From Madhur Jaffery's book "World Vegetarian"
From Madhur Jaffery's book "World Vegetarian"
You will need:2 tbsp whole coriander seeds
1 tbsp whole cumin seeds
2 tsp whole peppercorns
1 1/2 whole brown mustard seeds
1 tsp whole fenugreek seeds
5 to 6 whole cloves
3 dried hot red chilis, crumbled
1 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
Put a small heavy sauce pan on the stove on medium heat. As soon as the pan is hot add all the spices except for the turmeric. When the spices emit a light aroma, they are done, take them off the stove. For God's sake, don't keep wondering what constitutes a "light aroma" for seven more minutes...like I did. You will over roast them. When you smell that light aroma add the turmeric and stir in for 10 seconds. Remove from heat, put on a plate to cool.When the spices have cooled off, put them in a spice grinder and pulverize them.
This is great for any kind of curry dish you wish to make. I believe Madhur because she has beautiful teeth.
Barbecue Spice Rub
Based on a Cook's Illustrated recipe
Based on a Cook's Illustrated recipe
Ingredients:4 tbsp sweet paprika
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp ground cumin
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
2 tbsp table salt
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp ground black pepper
1-2 tsp cayenne pepper
The original recipe calls for a tablespoon of ground white pepper, but I don't believe in white pepper so I omitted it. If you like white pepper, add some. I also didn't have any dark brown sugar so I used regular brown sugar. If you have the dark or are going to the store-get some. I think in a barbecue recipe the darker sugar will add some depth to the rub.
Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix the bejeezus out of it.
How to use: use about 1 tablespoon of the mixture per portion of poultry or meat. Rub into the meat (or tofu, if you're me) and let sit for one hour before grilling to give the spices a chance to penetrate the food first.
I used plastic bags that I got from a bulk herb store called SF Herb Co. online. You can also find bags like this at any place that sells candy making supplies. The bigger JoAnne's stores usually have something like this. In a pinch, you can find some good zip-lock bags at bead stores (the regular zip locks are too big).
I first closed the bags shut with double stick tape (for extra security) and then stapled my labels on. To make the labels I used Microsoft word and the font is "Harrington". If we can figure out how to link to a PDF file I will provide a link to the document I used to make these labels.
I was going to show at least a couple of ways to present a gift of herb blends, but I just won't have time. Plus I am trying to deal with this searing pain in the muscle right underneath my shoulder blade and so if you don't like how I've presented it here, you can kiss my grits. I laid out the herbs on a vintage plate I had sitting around that I had gotten at a garage sale, and tied them in place using wide pinked fabric from Moda, and tied on measuring spoons.Someone will win this prize when I do the drawing in a few days.
Note: I misspelled "Barbecue" on my labels and I will change it in my file, but whoever gets the spice blend prize will have to live with the fact that I am forever misspelling it. I much prefer to spell it with a "q". Because there just aren't enough uses for qs.
Labels: "how to", food related gifts, holiday crafts, spice blends, spice rubs, spices, tutorials