Time to share some wisdom about SPICES.
A well-stocked spice rack is an essential tool for turning common ingredients into unique and interesting meals. Cooking at home is a lot more fun when you can completely customize your favorite dishes. You can cook essentially the same meal many times, and just mix up the spices.
In my opinion, the essentials are:
Ground black pepper (just about everything)
Salt (of course)
Basil (for italian, savory dishes, and stir fry)
Ground Cumin (for mexican and indian dishes)
Oregano (italian and savory)
Thyme (italian, savory, soups)
Ground cinnamon (savory, curry, and desserts)
Ground Allspice (caribbean, savory, indian)
Curry Powder (indian, curry, and salads)
Cilantro - fresh or frozen (indian, mexican, stir fry, curry)
Of course, there are plenty more spices, but these are great staples which I always have on hand. Allspice in particular is handy, since it tastes something like a mix of cloves and cinnamon, but is usually cheaper than cloves. You can use it as jerk seasoning or in place of curry powder in some dishes. It adds a really interesting pizazz to boring ground beef recipes.
You can save yourself some time by investing in some spice mixes. Italian spice blends usually consist of basil, oregano, thyme, sage, marjoram, and perhaps rosemary. If you don't use all those spices very often, it's best just to buy the mix. Some handy all-purpose mixes are Old Bay (for seafood), Seasoned Salt, and Garlic Salt. Powdered buillon makes a nice seasoning as well.
Shelf Life
Spices have a shelf life which varies, but usually ground and dried spices begin to lose flavor at 6 months. Whole spices retain flavor much longer, but you have the added hassle of grinding them yourself. Some spices simply don't dry well at all- avoid dry parsley, cilantro, chervil and the like. These leafy greens don't retain flavor when dried. Instead, buy them fresh, then chop and freeze them for later. The spices I listed at the beginning, as well as mint and sage, tend to retain their flavors pretty well when dry, so they are exceptions.
Heat reduces shelf life of spices, so store them away from the oven, toaster, dishwasher, and the like. Sunlight causes them to decay as well, so buy tinned spices or move them into opaque containers. Store spices in airtight containers, or zip baggies.
It seems that in many cases, you're paying a premium for the spice container. I've gotten great deals on spices in the kosher and international section of the grocery store. These are usually sold in plastic bags or jars. They're the same in flavor as the spices in fancy glass jars, but much cheaper. Just make sure you transfer them to an airtight container when you arrive home. Save your old glass jars to re-use for the cheap baggie spices.
Any more spice advice? Let me know in the comments.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Know thy Grocery Stores
Not all grocery stores are equal. Many people will swear by all kinds of different ones. There's also the endless comparison shopping about which store has the lowest overall prices. Its hard to know which is 'best' overall to shop at. Where I live, there's at least 5 grocery stores that are all under 10 minutes from my house. That's a lot of selection.
Whether or not one store is the best or not really isn't the question I think. Most stores will have an advantage of some kind over the others. Here where I live, Food lion has really cheap red meat (gotta get the free MVP card, but whatever). Krogers here has awesomely fresh and cheap sea food ($5 per lb of shrimp!). Wal-Mart has the best deli in town hands down (half the price, and better flavor - a real pity since I refuse to shop there). I haven't checked the new Piggly Wiggly but I need to. Same goes for the Publix that's about to open up.
My point? I've found it much better to shop at all these stores, planning what I will buy and eat based on their individual strengths. I never run to more than one per trip, that's wasteful of my time and gas. Another aspect of rotating stores is that I can keep abreast of all their different store fliers. The store fliers are gold. That's pretty much the add for the store's loss leaders. I've ranted on this before however.
So look around and find your store's strengths. Its to your advantage.
Whether or not one store is the best or not really isn't the question I think. Most stores will have an advantage of some kind over the others. Here where I live, Food lion has really cheap red meat (gotta get the free MVP card, but whatever). Krogers here has awesomely fresh and cheap sea food ($5 per lb of shrimp!). Wal-Mart has the best deli in town hands down (half the price, and better flavor - a real pity since I refuse to shop there). I haven't checked the new Piggly Wiggly but I need to. Same goes for the Publix that's about to open up.
My point? I've found it much better to shop at all these stores, planning what I will buy and eat based on their individual strengths. I never run to more than one per trip, that's wasteful of my time and gas. Another aspect of rotating stores is that I can keep abreast of all their different store fliers. The store fliers are gold. That's pretty much the add for the store's loss leaders. I've ranted on this before however.
So look around and find your store's strengths. Its to your advantage.
Food cravings
Ever crave a particular food? This neat article talks about common food cravings and what dietary replacements there are. I'm not sure I agree with everything on this list, but its a pretty neat read none the less. Props to life hacker for the original link.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Eggy in a basket
So I tried to make Egg in a basket the other morning. This was a generally successful endevour, albeit a less than perfect one. I didn't realize until I put the eggs into the toast that flipping them would become more or less impossible. The resulting low-heat cooking made for very very dark bottoms. Not burned really, but as close to such a state as would need a psychic to find the line between. Not sure where I went wrong, maybe I just took the lid off of them too often in my insecurity driven observations.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Eggy Mythology
Back in the 1970's, many studies showed that eggs have high cholesterol. In most people's minds, cholesterol = clogged arteries = bad. Anyway, it is a common misconception that eating eggs regularly is a road to high cholesterol. In the mean time, many people dismiss a healthy and cheap cooking material.
Take a look out there. In the last 10 years, there have been numerous studies that show how dietary cholesterol (ie- cholesterol we eat) is only a very minor factor in determining blood cholesterol levels. In terms of blood cholesterol, the body makes the vast majority of it, irrespective of dietary intake. What does affect blood cholesterol majorly is eating saturated fats. Another fun fact is that most of the fat found (70%) in eggs is unsaturated.
So there you go, yay eggs.
Side notes:
-Go here for a handy nutrition chart on what's in the average egg.
-Some people (a very small % of the population) have a higher than normal sensitivity to dietary cholesterol, said people do need to control their intake of eggs and pretty much all other forms of dietary cholesterol.
Take a look out there. In the last 10 years, there have been numerous studies that show how dietary cholesterol (ie- cholesterol we eat) is only a very minor factor in determining blood cholesterol levels. In terms of blood cholesterol, the body makes the vast majority of it, irrespective of dietary intake. What does affect blood cholesterol majorly is eating saturated fats. Another fun fact is that most of the fat found (70%) in eggs is unsaturated.
So there you go, yay eggs.
Side notes:
-Go here for a handy nutrition chart on what's in the average egg.
-Some people (a very small % of the population) have a higher than normal sensitivity to dietary cholesterol, said people do need to control their intake of eggs and pretty much all other forms of dietary cholesterol.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
A bag of bread is food for a week!
Toast. Toast is one of life's wonderful gifts. It's cheap, and there are so many different things that you can do with just toast. A lot of people think toast = boring. Not so my friend, not so. So, I'm going to give you some of my favorite toast recipes which are all quick and cheap, yet filling.
Eggs in a Basket
This recipe is one of my favorites. I actually learned this from my younger sister, and have subsequently enjoyed it many times! This is an easy way to make breakfast for a lot of people, as it's very simple to multiply the ingredients used!
Ingredients
1 Piece of Toast (lightly browned)
1 Large egg
1 T of butter or margarine
Salt and Pepper
1.) Cook toast to preferred darkness. (I think that light brown works best.)
2.) Cut a hole in the middle of the toast with a small juice glass. Save the piece you just cut out.
3.) Heat a skillet to medium heat. Melt butter onto it.
4.) Place toast in skillet, crack egg into the hole you just made.
5.) Cook egg to preference. (This shouldn't take too long.)
6.) Serve with the toast core. Salt and pepper to taste! (Tabasco is a good seasoning for this too!)
Beans and Toast
This recipe hails from Great Britain, one I gleaned from my good friend Oli in my time in Japan. This is a good students'/lazy person's breakfast.
Ingredients
2 Pieces of Toast
1 16. oz can of baked beans (you can change up the flavor/brand for variety!)
1.) Toast the bread to preferred level of darkness. For this recipe, I prefer the toast to be a bit darker and firmer.
2.) Heat beans. Add ketchup, mustard, pepper, or barbecue sauce for extra flavor.
3.) Pour beans over toast on a medium sized plate (deep enough to hold all the beans, hopefully.)
Toasty Cheese
Cheese on toast is well known, but this one is kind of my own invention. It kind of changes every time I make it. It also gets pretty messy and spicy.
Ingredients
2 Pieces of toast
1 Package of Jalapeño Jack cheese
1 roll of summer sausage
1 jar of spicy salsa
1.) Lightly toast the bread. It will be subjected to more cooking later in the recipe.
2.) Slice off about 4 1/3" slices of summer sausage per piece of bread. Arrange this on the bread so that they do not overlap.
3.) Cover the summer sausage in a light layer of salsa.
4.) Smother the bread in cheese.
5.) Put this on a small cooking sheet, and cook at 350F for about 10 minutes in a convection oven or a traditional oven.
6.) Let sit for 3 minutes, add more salsa to taste, and enjoy!
Eggs in a Basket
This recipe is one of my favorites. I actually learned this from my younger sister, and have subsequently enjoyed it many times! This is an easy way to make breakfast for a lot of people, as it's very simple to multiply the ingredients used!
Ingredients
1 Piece of Toast (lightly browned)
1 Large egg
1 T of butter or margarine
Salt and Pepper
1.) Cook toast to preferred darkness. (I think that light brown works best.)
2.) Cut a hole in the middle of the toast with a small juice glass. Save the piece you just cut out.
3.) Heat a skillet to medium heat. Melt butter onto it.
4.) Place toast in skillet, crack egg into the hole you just made.
5.) Cook egg to preference. (This shouldn't take too long.)
6.) Serve with the toast core. Salt and pepper to taste! (Tabasco is a good seasoning for this too!)
Beans and Toast
This recipe hails from Great Britain, one I gleaned from my good friend Oli in my time in Japan. This is a good students'/lazy person's breakfast.
Ingredients
2 Pieces of Toast
1 16. oz can of baked beans (you can change up the flavor/brand for variety!)
1.) Toast the bread to preferred level of darkness. For this recipe, I prefer the toast to be a bit darker and firmer.
2.) Heat beans. Add ketchup, mustard, pepper, or barbecue sauce for extra flavor.
3.) Pour beans over toast on a medium sized plate (deep enough to hold all the beans, hopefully.)
Toasty Cheese
Cheese on toast is well known, but this one is kind of my own invention. It kind of changes every time I make it. It also gets pretty messy and spicy.
Ingredients
2 Pieces of toast
1 Package of Jalapeño Jack cheese
1 roll of summer sausage
1 jar of spicy salsa
1.) Lightly toast the bread. It will be subjected to more cooking later in the recipe.
2.) Slice off about 4 1/3" slices of summer sausage per piece of bread. Arrange this on the bread so that they do not overlap.
3.) Cover the summer sausage in a light layer of salsa.
4.) Smother the bread in cheese.
5.) Put this on a small cooking sheet, and cook at 350F for about 10 minutes in a convection oven or a traditional oven.
6.) Let sit for 3 minutes, add more salsa to taste, and enjoy!
Saturday, August 4, 2007
The Great Chicken Experiment
My chicken of choice is usually the deli rotisserie chicken, since it's cheap and easy. But last week whole raw chickens were on super-sale so I decided to give this recipe a try. It's not fast, but it's cheap and pretty easy, so if you've got some time to prep and let it cook, it's a good bet.
Crock Pot Rotisserie Chicken
Ingredients
1 whole roasting chicken
olive oil
aluminum foil
Fancy Seasonings:
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon thyme
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 large onion, peeled and quartered (stuffed into chest)
1. Wipe inside of crock pot with olive oil.
2. Make four 2"-3" balls of foil, and place in bottom of crock pot.
3. Remove giblets/neck from chicken cavity and either use in another recipe or toss them out.
4. Wash the chicken both inside and out, and pat dry with paper towels.
5. Mix spices, and massage onto chicken inside and out. If you don't like to eat the skin, make sure you slip some spices underneath it to season the meat.
6. Stuff the onion loosely into the chest cavity.
7. Brush a thin coat of oil over the chicken.
7. Place the chicken, breast side down, on top of the foil balls. Do not add any liquid.
8. Cover and cook on high (this recipe does not work on low) for 4-6 hours (a 3 pound chicken takes 4 hours).
My 5 lb bird cooked 5 hours, and the meat was already starting to fall off the bone. The aluminum foil rack helps keep the meat moist but not mushy. Great recipe to start on a Saturday for dinner, and eat leftovers throughout the week.
Even if your rotisserie chicken is store-bought, you can use the leftovers to make the best chicken soup ever.
Homemade Chicken Stock
Ingredients
1 chicken carcass
about 6 Cups water
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Place the carcass in a pot, and just barely cover with water.
2. Heat to boiling, then reduce to medium-low and simmer for about 3 hours.
3. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Skim off fat with a ladle, grab any stray bits of fat with a paper towel.
To make homemade chicken noodle soup:
1. Add spices to the broth : 1 bay leaf (remove before serving), salt and pepper to taste, 1 teaspoon thyme
2. Toss in about 1 Cup of chopped veggies : carrots, celery, onion, peas, etc
3. Add 1/2 cup pasta of choice, small ones like macaroni work best
4. Boil 8 minutes or until pasta is cooked.
5. Add some leftover chicken meat, and serve!
It takes some time, but the taste of homemade stock is totally worth the effort :)
You can make a bigger batch by saving and freezing leftover carcasses, and simmering several at a time. Stock can also be frozen for later use in soups, casseroles, anyplace chicken broth/stock is called for.
Crock Pot Rotisserie Chicken
Ingredients
1 whole roasting chicken
olive oil
aluminum foil
Fancy Seasonings:
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon thyme
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 large onion, peeled and quartered (stuffed into chest)
1. Wipe inside of crock pot with olive oil.
2. Make four 2"-3" balls of foil, and place in bottom of crock pot.
3. Remove giblets/neck from chicken cavity and either use in another recipe or toss them out.
4. Wash the chicken both inside and out, and pat dry with paper towels.
5. Mix spices, and massage onto chicken inside and out. If you don't like to eat the skin, make sure you slip some spices underneath it to season the meat.
6. Stuff the onion loosely into the chest cavity.
7. Brush a thin coat of oil over the chicken.
7. Place the chicken, breast side down, on top of the foil balls. Do not add any liquid.
8. Cover and cook on high (this recipe does not work on low) for 4-6 hours (a 3 pound chicken takes 4 hours).
My 5 lb bird cooked 5 hours, and the meat was already starting to fall off the bone. The aluminum foil rack helps keep the meat moist but not mushy. Great recipe to start on a Saturday for dinner, and eat leftovers throughout the week.
Even if your rotisserie chicken is store-bought, you can use the leftovers to make the best chicken soup ever.
Homemade Chicken Stock
Ingredients
1 chicken carcass
about 6 Cups water
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Place the carcass in a pot, and just barely cover with water.
2. Heat to boiling, then reduce to medium-low and simmer for about 3 hours.
3. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Skim off fat with a ladle, grab any stray bits of fat with a paper towel.
To make homemade chicken noodle soup:
1. Add spices to the broth : 1 bay leaf (remove before serving), salt and pepper to taste, 1 teaspoon thyme
2. Toss in about 1 Cup of chopped veggies : carrots, celery, onion, peas, etc
3. Add 1/2 cup pasta of choice, small ones like macaroni work best
4. Boil 8 minutes or until pasta is cooked.
5. Add some leftover chicken meat, and serve!
It takes some time, but the taste of homemade stock is totally worth the effort :)
You can make a bigger batch by saving and freezing leftover carcasses, and simmering several at a time. Stock can also be frozen for later use in soups, casseroles, anyplace chicken broth/stock is called for.
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