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Experimenting with Spices

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Erin

Erin

Ideal_Rock
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Nov 24, 2004
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Since I''ve been eating healthier, and healthier, and my sister went vegan, I''ve been trying to learn more creative things to do with vegetables. Tonight it''s brussel sprouts. At Christmas I made brussel sprouts with a heavy cream sauce. Not tonight. I''ve seen a few recipes that call for nutmeg. Anyone try it? I can''t quite imagine what it would taste like, but the reviews seem to be good.

What are some of your surprisingly good spice combinations?
 
If we''re talking nutmeg, anything with a cheese sauce is fantastic with nutmeg (mac & cheese, etc). Not sure about brussel sprouts ... just go lightly with it and see if you like it. Brussel sprouts are really good with just some salt, pepper, and olive oil too.

I''m a huge cumin fan. I dump tons of it in mexican food and in curries. Love it.

I like adding red pepper flakes to a lot of things. Not to make it spicy, just to give it a little boost.

Don''t underestimate fresh parsley. It can really brighten up a dish.
 
Thanks El
Cumin is my salt and pepper, I swear I could put it on almost anything.
 
I love nutmeg on veggies!! My favorite flavors are sauteed onions and garlic with salt, pepper and nutmeg on ANY veggie.

I also like chili powder and oregano on potatoes and some veggies.
 
More a fresh herb, but I love, love, LOVE roasting root veg (parsnips and carrots particularly) with a tiny drizzle of honey, loads of fresh thyme, and salt and pepper.

I''m also a huge nut for garam masala for roasting/braising chicken along with some curry powder and some tumeric.

Five spice (made of a combination of some of the following; star anise, cloves, ginger, fennel seeds, cinnamon, sichuan pepper) is great in a simple pork stir fry.
 
Oooh, it's so much fun to experiment with spices!

I have to say--I really dislike cumin, yet most of the dishes that attract me call for it in the recipe. Odd, huh?

I like to put rosemary, sage, and thyme on potatoes or plain pasta with a bit of butter or oil. I think those three make my favorite spice combo.
 
Nutmeg and dark greens is a classic combination. I just discovered this the other day - dill with carrots. Yuuuummmm! I like cumin and other chili spices on oven fries. My sis-in-law uses a ton of paprika on her grilled/roasted chicken. It''s really delicious.
 
Okay, this isn''t a spice, but I recently picked up some rice vinegar and have used it in my stir fry and tofu buckwheat noodle soups and it is delish! I learned the hard way that using too much will ruin the food, but just the right amount is delicious!

We also use lots of red pepper flakes, fresh minced ginger, cumin, fresh cilantro and fresh rosemary.
 
Nutmeg on your veggies is the norm where I was born... my mother used it on everything. On the dark green veggies as mentioned above, and also on greenbeans and cauliflower. I use it a bit more (ahem) judiciously (sorry, Mom!), but I use it enough to warrant owning a nutmeg grater. Several of the soups I make in the winter call for meatballs, and nutmeg is a must in the meat mixture!
 
Meg try Balsamic vinegars next. The depth and dimension you can achieve is incredible. Simple drizzle on an avocado will please your palatte! Cook it down to caramel sweet!

StarP, I use nutmeg in egg quiches. In manicotti or lasagne too. As the other posters said it great with cheeses. A grilled cheese sammy with crisp apple and fake veggie ham...a sprinkle of nutmeg can add that ...certain...what is that! You can get a whole nutmeg and grate it yourself. It is far more intense than most powders or bottled. Nutmeg is similar to all spice. Nutmeg is used in pumpkin pie...and is great also in oatmeal cookies. So you will find it often in dessert or sweet pastry. Orange flavor is complimentary companion to nutmeg or cinnamon too. Always sprinkled on egg nog!

I use alot of smoked things. Smoked paprika helps to make everything better. I have Smoked Chipotle chili pepper and use it with cumin etc. Smoked peppers are also great. They can take a can of pinto beans and provide that smoked flavor for your veggie sister. It will surprise her their isn''t meat in them! I make my own refried beans...cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, cayenne pepper and perhaps chipotle pepper.

"when" you add spices can alter their flavors as well. For example, when making a sauce, add the spice quickly after the oil or saute medium it brings out a more robust flavor than adding it on top later. I have a mortar and pestle and have found many herbs and spices change when they get smushed and cracked before heating. Sort of like garlic...you have fresh, sauteed, roasted, stewed...still garlic, but oh so different. The same with spice and herbs. Fennel is a little seed that is often found in sausage ( I am a veg head...but I do remember that flavor when I wasn''t)...you can add fennel whole, but it is so much more incredible smushed. Or pan roasted whole. Anise and fennel are similar to me...I add fennel to a lot of Italian tomato dishes.

Oh, BAY LEAVES ARE A MUST! I use them in every tomato dish. You just place them on top and allow them to simmer in...you remove the leaf after cooking...but the bay leave rounds off your flavor...not sure I am expressing that correctly...but you have to try them.

Mustard is a great go to I use. In powder form you can add to potatoes, grilled veggies, and cheese sauces.

The best spice advice I have...is buy the best! Those off brands are wimpy and weak and not worth the trouble!

Here is a great link...McCormick
 
I hate fennel. Hate it hate it hate it. Nothing ruins a dish for me like discovering is has fennel lurking.

Anyway, off that soapbox.

A really great resource for learning about spices is http://www.thespicehouse.com. Even if you don''t buy from them (although their stuff is absolutely fantastic and everyone should order lots of stuff), they list the properties of each herb and spice and provide a whole boatload of recipes using said herb or spice.

If anyone likes spicy food, try the Vulcan''s Fire Salt. Oh my sweet happiness.

(I have no affiliation, I just like to go there and taste stuff)
 
Silly Berry, I have noticed those who dislike licorice hate fennel and anise. Do you like black licorice?

Hubby can't stand cilantro. He says it tastes like soap. I thought he was nutts, it is the furthermost from soap to me. Then years later, there was some study done that involved haters of cilantro. They found that these people have a certain gene...a certain gene that inhibits the flavor and makes it go all WONKY into soap! linky This text explains it has to do with sense of smell. I didn't watch the video the link sends you to, only read the text.

Perhaps there is a fennel study as well? Have you ever tried the fennel bulb? Roasting it like a root vegetable?

Don't worry sillyberry, I won't fennel you when you come over! Promise. But you can't get cilantro here either.
 
Okay, last night I made stemed brussel sprouts - EVOO, salt and pepper. Took it to my seat and sprinkled nutmeg on three.
I could eat it, but I prefered it without it. Probably won''t do it again. Maybe I used too much? It should have been added during the steaming time? I guess I always associate nutmeg with sweet foods.
 
CB, count me in as another cilantro hater. BLEGH! Oddly enough though I don''t mind coriander which is the seed of the cilantro plant.
 
My trick is to use citrus in place of salt where I can in recipes (either juice or zest or ground peel).

I also really like the hot Mexican-style chili powder on veggies and chicken breast.

Penzey''s has a lot of great premade spice mixes that I use in salads and on sandwiches. I think they have a Web site.
 
Date: 3/9/2010 8:40:04 AM
Author: CasaBlanca
Silly Berry, I have noticed those who dislike licorice hate fennel and anise. Do you like black licorice?


Hubby can't stand cilantro. He says it tastes like soap. I thought he was nutts, it is the furthermost from soap to me. Then years later, there was some study done that involved haters of cilantro. They found that these people have a certain gene...a certain gene that inhibits the flavor and makes it go all WONKY into soap! linky This text explains it has to do with sense of smell. I didn't watch the video the link sends you to, only read the text.


Perhaps there is a fennel study as well? Have you ever tried the fennel bulb? Roasting it like a root vegetable?


Don't worry sillyberry, I won't fennel you when you come over! Promise. But you can't get cilantro here either.
Click to expand...

My DH says the SAME thing about cilantro! He can't stand it! I've learned I only get to use it in my homemade salsa, because he won't touch that.

These suggestions are great! I recently discovered the difference between using fresh and dried parsley - it really makes a difference. I once made my baked potato soup and it tasted good, but a little off; well, the next day, I remembered I forgot to add the bay leaf before setting.

I've only recently begun to really get into spice combinations. I grew up with parents (my dad) who won't eat anything with ANY spice. I mean he won't eat pasta if garlic has been added to the sauce!
32.gif
He's Italian!

Does anyone have any good books to recommend, where I can learn more?
 
Date: 3/8/2010 3:54:31 PM
Author:Starset Princess
Since I''ve been eating healthier, and healthier, and my sister went vegan, I''ve been trying to learn more creative things to do with vegetables. Tonight it''s brussel sprouts. At Christmas I made brussel sprouts with a heavy cream sauce. Not tonight. I''ve seen a few recipes that call for nutmeg. Anyone try it? I can''t quite imagine what it would taste like, but the reviews seem to be good.

What are some of your surprisingly good spice combinations?
Click to expand...

SP- seeing that I am...how do you say...Domestically Challenged? I would not be one for a great recommendation. I do, however, have a bit advice from a huge fail I had recently. Salt isn''t great in place of sugar when making cookies. Not really.


Seriously, though, I have been slowly been working towards being more healthy. I got "Raw for Dummies" and it has some of the most AMAZING recipes in it. Even if you aren''t going raw or vegan, it has some great ideas for fresh veggies and flavors
 
I love cilantro! It just tastes so fresh. Nom nom nom.

I like to use sage in stuff, as well, and I put garlic in EVERYTHING.
 
Nutmeg tip here, I use it in white sauces, some veggies with butter and rice pudding. I prefer to buy actual nutmegs and grate them myself, the flavour is superior to preground nutmeg, plus the nutmegs keep for a long time.
 
Casablanca, I hate fennel, anise, black licorice, ouzo, absinthe...so yes, it is that flavor profile that just doesn''t do it for me. I can normally avoid it, but I hate finding fennel in things like meatballs (why Potbellys, why?). I have never tried roasted fennel - maybe if I''m feeling adventuresome one day.

I appreciate you not fennelling me. :)
 
Date: 3/9/2010 10:47:03 AM
Author: ladypirate
I love cilantro! It just tastes so fresh. Nom nom nom.

I like to use sage in stuff, as well, and I put garlic in EVERYTHING.
Click to expand...
Ditto to all of this.
I LOVE cilantro. I make rice and beans for dinner twice a week and I put *so* much cilantro into the rice that sometimes DH says "Why don''t you just gnaw on the cilantro?" Good thing he likes it, too.

I also love sage and garlic. I''ve been known to just garlic cloves whole, but (mostly) only when I was young. Hey--I was raised vegetarian, it took creativity to make tofu and sprouts taste good.
 
I do a rub of sorts with chipotle chili powder, onion power, garlic powder, salt and brown sugar. But I will use it on anything and everything! I''ve been known to stir it into my grits. Yum! It''s the spicy-sweet combo that gets me.
 
Starset my husband makes a walnut sauce with a little brown sugar on it, and pours it over lightly steamed brussel sprouts. I also think that brussel sprouts taste very good sauteed in olive oil, sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Yes, if you add nutmeg, got to cook it in the sauce; sprinkling it over the vegetables plain does not sound good!
 
Date: 3/9/2010 8:40:04 AM
Author: CasaBlanca
Silly Berry, I have noticed those who dislike licorice hate fennel and anise. Do you like black licorice?

Hubby can''t stand cilantro. He says it tastes like soap. I thought he was nutts, it is the furthermost from soap to me. Then years later, there was some study done that involved haters of cilantro. They found that these people have a certain gene...a certain gene that inhibits the flavor and makes it go all WONKY into soap! linky This text explains it has to do with sense of smell. I didn''t watch the video the link sends you to, only read the text.

Perhaps there is a fennel study as well? Have you ever tried the fennel bulb? Roasting it like a root vegetable?

Don''t worry sillyberry, I won''t fennel you when you come over! Promise. But you can''t get cilantro here either.
Click to expand...
Interesting! I wonder if they''ve done a study regarding pickled ginger tasting like soap. Because it does to me and I can''t get past it, though I love fresh ginger.
 
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