Spices: Help me use them

Cafe Society
1

Yep, it’s me again posting Yet Another Cooking Thread. But I’m getting bored by the old stand-bys and I want to branch out a little. (The pies turned out great, BTW, and I plan to try homemade ravioli today or tomorrow.)

So here’s the thing: I bought a spice rack. While I’d rather have bought spices as I need them, it came with some. The rosemary is nice for roasts and oregano I can use in spaghetti sauce. I filled one of the canisters with multi-coloured peppercorns. (They didn’t come with the kit, but I like to use them for steak au poivre.) Crushed bay leaves go in stew. Mustard seed? My mom used to make potato salad. She said her ‘big secret (ha ha)’ was that she soaked the mustard seeds in vinegar before putting them into the salad. I can try making potato salad sometime. There are parsley flakes. I’d rather use fresh, but I can use those for baked fish. But what recipes can you give me so that I can use the rest?

Mint (other than the obvious mint tea)
Corriander
Basil
Caraway seeds
Marjoram

And recipes using the stuff I already use are welcome as well.

2

I recommend the Penzey’s spices site. They list every spice they sell with a bit about each and where it can be used, including ones you’ve never heard of (ajwain seed) or been confused about – I, for one was never sure of the difference between nutmeg and mace until I found this site. They have a lot of spice blends, and you can ignore those, but the single-spice entries are a goldmine of information.

It looks like their closest store to you is Portland, but you don’t have to actually buy from them to find their site useful. If you sign up for their catalog, you get four a year, each with a bunch of recipes.

ETA: Never noticed before. The site has the recipes as well.

3

[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.]
Yep, it’s me again posting Yet Another Cooking Thread. But I’m getting bored by the old stand-bys and I want to branch out a little. (The pies turned out great, BTW, and I plan to try homemade ravioli today or tomorrow.)

So here’s the thing: I bought a spice rack. While I’d rather have bought spices as I need them, it came with some. The rosemary is nice for roasts and oregano I can use in spaghetti sauce. I filled one of the canisters with multi-coloured peppercorns. (They didn’t come with the kit, but I like to use them for steak au poivre.) Crushed bay leaves go in stew. Mustard seed? My mom used to make potato salad. She said her ‘big secret (ha ha)’ was that she soaked the mustard seeds in vinegar before putting them into the salad. I can try making potato salad sometime. There are parsley flakes. I’d rather use fresh, but I can use those for baked fish. But what recipes can you give me so that I can use the rest?

Mint (other than the obvious mint tea)
Corriander
Basil
Caraway seeds
Marjoram

And recipes using the stuff I already use are welcome as well.
[/QUOTE]
With all due respect, Johnny, you’re going backwards. You shouldn’t choose spices first and then choose dishes. Choose the dishes first. What do you like to eat? Then choose the spices.

4

IIRC, Basil is good for chili and stuff like that.

5

I use basil in tomato sauces, with mushrooms and ground beef. It works out pretty well.

6

[QUOTE=guizot]
With all due respect, Johnny, you’re going backwards. You shouldn’t choose spices first and then choose dishes. Choose the dishes first. What do you like to eat? Then choose the spices.
[/QUOTE]

The thing is, he didn’t choose the spices. He chose the spice rack.

In fact, you MIGHT even go so far as to say… the Spices chose Him.

Or, I guess you might not be as dramatical about it as I like to be. :smiley:

Point is, he’s got the spices, and now he’d like to find some good tasty ways to use them. :slight_smile:

7

Yep, for basil, think Italian. Anything tomato-based will probably suit it very well.

Coriander - ground, seed or leaf? Probably ground, at a guess. A staple of curries, Indian & middle eastern recipes. If you want to experiment, fry it with chillis along with some beef to make the basis for a spicy aromatic stew, for instance, and you’ll get the flavour spreading into the meat and also the rest of the dish.

Caraway seeds - I’ve only ever used them once, and I’ll be buggered if I can remember what for.

Mint - meh. In my opinion :slight_smile:

8

[QUOTE=guizot]
With all due respect, Johnny, you’re going backwards. You shouldn’t choose spices first and then choose dishes. Choose the dishes first. What do you like to eat? Then choose the spices.
[/QUOTE]

That’s true. I didn’t want the spices. I wanted the rack and little canisters.

Seeds. I thought about curry. I have the Indian cookbook I mentioned a couple of months ago, but I haven’t had a chance to try anything yet. What kind of chilis? If I’m cooking with chilis they’re usually Thai or serrano.

9

Seeds? Time to buy a spice grinder, or at least a mortar & pestle! That’ll make good use of them mustard seeds, too. In both cases, dry roast them for a couple of minutes on a griddle or any heavy pan, let them cool and grind them. Far better flavour than ready-ground stuff.

Whatever chillis you want! I’m not good on varieties, I tend to gamble a bit heat-wise, and am happy to bite off a small chunk to taste the flavour (the emphasis is on small). For what I described, anything with a decent amount of flesh which can be diced up finely would do the job. Experiment (wait, I already said that, didn’t I? :smiley: )

10

I always throw basil and marjoram in my spaghetti sauce. :slight_smile:

I don’t even think I have the others listed in my spice rack.

11

[QUOTE=GorillaMan]
Seeds? Time to buy a spice grinder, or at least a mortar & pestle!
[/QUOTE]

I have a ceramic bowl shaped like a Japanese rice bowl that has striations in the bottom (i.e., the bottom is rough) and a wooden pestle. Just the thing for grinding the peppercorns for the steak au poivre. It will be handy for the other seeds as well.

12

That sounds fine for the coriander. Cumin is much better ground fresh, too. Beware that a wooden pestle might be prone to retaining and transferring flavours, though.

13

Caraway seed is good in kraut or rye bread. I also like it in vinegar slaw. For more ideas using it, check out books or websites on German or Eastern European cooking.

14

[QUOTE=Raguleader]
IIRC, Basil is good for chili and stuff like that.
[/QUOTE]
Huh? Not in my kitchen. Italian food.

15

How to use mint and **corriander **. (I assume we’re talking about fresh leaves.)

In a blender, grind -

2 bunches mint leaves
1 bunch corriander
1 green chilli (optional, for a bit of heat)
a small amount of water

The resulting slurry should be thick, not runny.

Refrigerate. This is important.

Use as a faaabulously refreshing dip. Goes wonderfully with onion and potato fritters.

For a twist, use yoghurt instead of water. Gives it a great tang.

This is an Indian thing, by the way. We call it hari chutney (green chutney).

16

Drat. Just noticed you were talking about the dry spices.

Ah well.

17

[QUOTE=missred]
Caraway seed is good in kraut or rye bread. I also like it in vinegar slaw. For more ideas using it, check out books or websites on German or Eastern European cooking.
[/QUOTE]
I add caraway to my borscht. It gives it a nice Russian-y flavor.

18

I like to use marjoram in gravies and white sauces.
Coriander is pretty good in potato salad.
Basil, as others have said is necessary in italian recipes, but I also add it to deviled eggs or omelets.
Try rosemary on a roasted whole chicken. Rub it with butter first, delish.

19

[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.]
Yep, it’s me again posting Yet Another Cooking Thread. But I’m getting bored by the old stand-bys and I want to branch out a little. (The pies turned out great, BTW, and I plan to try homemade ravioli today or tomorrow.)

So here’s the thing: I bought a spice rack. While I’d rather have bought spices as I need them, it came with some. The rosemary is nice for roasts and oregano I can use in spaghetti sauce. I filled one of the canisters with multi-coloured peppercorns. (They didn’t come with the kit, but I like to use them for steak au poivre.) Crushed bay leaves go in stew. Mustard seed? My mom used to make potato salad. She said her ‘big secret (ha ha)’ was that she soaked the mustard seeds in vinegar before putting them into the salad. I can try making potato salad sometime. There are parsley flakes. I’d rather use fresh, but I can use those for baked fish. But what recipes can you give me so that I can use the rest?

Mint (other than the obvious mint tea)
Corriander
Basil
Caraway seeds
Marjoram

And recipes using the stuff I already use are welcome as well.
[/QUOTE]

I’d start with tossing the parsley flakes. There’s no good reason to use parsley flakes in cooking that I have found. Horrible, tasteless stuff.

I’m not a fan of dried mint, either, except for tea & stuff, so I won’t help you there.

Coriander. The obvious uses are in Middle Eastern and Indian cooking. Coriander & cumin are used together as a base for many dishes in these cuisines (falafel, curries, that sort of thing).

Basil. Dried basil also sucks. I’ll use it in a tomato sauce sometimes, but dried basil is pretty much pointless to me, only slightly more useful than dried parsley.

Caraway seeds. These go great with beef stew. And sauerkraut.

Marjoram. Once again, goes well in stews, mushroom dishes, fresh sausage, that sort of thing.

20

[QUOTE=aankh]
Drat. Just noticed you were talking about the dry spices.

Ah well.
[/QUOTE]

Yes, in the US, we call the fresh leaf cilantro and the dry seeds coriander. The two don’t taste anything alike.

Frankly, Johnny L.A., I’d throw out all the spices that came with the rack and head down to the bulk spice store. Unless they’re dated, they’re likely to be years old and dusty and nasty. Ground spices and leaves (like the basil and marjoram) only retain their essential oils and therefore their taste for a few months, tops. I don’t even fill my spice jars, because I can’t go through them that quickly - I’ll buy half a jar’s worth of most things (thyme, rosemary, oregano being the exceptions - I use enough of those to get through the jar before they go stale.)

If you’re really serious about good tasting food, you’ll also buy a spice grinder (or just a cheap coffee grinder, but keep it away from your coffee) and buy as many spices whole as you can, instead of preground. It takes only a few seconds more while cooking, but you’ll be amazed at how much more intensely things taste - when you grind them, you release all those essential oils that actually hold all the flavor. Unfortunately, essential oils are volatile (by definition), and they evaporate quickly. So a really intense fresh ground cinnamon will taste like sawdust in a few weeks. Use the jars to hold your small cinnamon sticks instead of cinnamon powder, and watch your reputation as a great cook take off.

Unlike pulykamell, I do use dried parsley flakes, but mostly as a psychological tool. If I’m feeling lazy, I’ll make a simple batch of rice or couscous in chicken broth, throw in a palmful of dried parsley, and it looks terribly impressive with no effort at all. I don’t actually want the *taste *of parsley, so I don’t use fresh, but diners see little green flakes and the food tastes better.