The Spice of Life -- Literally
I just love spices. Rows and rows of small glass jars, all neatly lined up (or sort-of lined up, anyway) in the pantry, each with a cool name, a great smell, and a thousand uses!
Making your own spice blends is a lot of fun, and very easy! In cooking anything at all, you need a certain amount of skills and practice. Making a spice blend, however, is even more fail-proof than making toast or boiling water! You only need measuring spoons, and a clean spice jar! Here are some easy spice blends to make:
Ras El Hanout
Pumpkin Pie Spice
Za'atar
The first on this list, Ras El Hanout, is used in Morocco. You can add it to tagines, meat, couscous, and all kinds of things! I used it to make kefta, and a hot chickpea "salad," and was thrilled with the results. The kefta recipe is below, and at some point I think I'll share my recipe for the chickpea dish. (Note, I added some of the spice mix directly to the meat when I made kefta, and not just to the tomato sauce. Also, you can leave out the ginger if you like-- it will still taste great!) Like any spice blend, the ingredients and ratios can vary a bit, but here is the recipe I used:
Ras El Hanout Recipe
Kefta Recipe
By this point, there is no one in all of America who has not had some kind of pumpkin spice experience. I know you can buy a jar of pre-mixed pumpkin spice, but if you have all the ingredients, it's so much cheaper and easier to make yourself! I actually am not a huge fan of pumpkin pie, but I like to put some of this in with my coffee grounds when I brew my morning Joe. I looked at mainly two recipes online, and combined them to make my pumpkin pie spice. I don't actually remember which recipes I used, but this recipe has all the ingredients I used:
Pumpkin Pie Spice Recipe
Za'atar is also incredibly easy, and can be made with as few as four ingredients! The recipe I used is from the cookbook Around the Table with the Catholic Foodie, but I found a very similar recipe online. I substituted Himalayan pink salt (since that's the only coarse salt I had), and you can definitely use dried thyme. You probably won't find sumac at your local Walmart or other grocery chain, but you can find it at halal grocery stores, and probably at most international supermarkets. Sprinkle some of this into a shallow dish of olive oil as a great dip for bread!
Cookbook: Around the Table with the Catholic Foodie: Middle Eastern Cuisine
Za'atar Recipe
I have not given up on my dream of making my own special curry powder blend, but I am not sure when it will be realized yet. I still need a lot more practice before I am able to start making my own Indian spice blends. What I also need to do sometime is figure out how to write a recipe for my coffee spices... Because I don't ever measure when I put spices into my coffee. I don't always know what I'll even put into my coffee. Sometimes it's cardamom, sometimes it's allspice and cinnamon and nutmeg... I never know. I will need to perfect it, though, so I can share! What I can tell you is that I typically use one or more of the following ingredients when I randomly sprinkle spices into my coffee (unless I'm just using pumpkin pie spice):
Allspice
Cardamom
Cinnamon
Cloves
Nutmeg
At any rate, get out there and make your own spice blends! As long as you do use them, it's totally worth it to have a well-stocked spice and herb cabinet, because they last for such a long time and make such a big difference in your cooking.
Making your own spice blends is a lot of fun, and very easy! In cooking anything at all, you need a certain amount of skills and practice. Making a spice blend, however, is even more fail-proof than making toast or boiling water! You only need measuring spoons, and a clean spice jar! Here are some easy spice blends to make:
Ras El Hanout
Pumpkin Pie Spice
Za'atar
The first on this list, Ras El Hanout, is used in Morocco. You can add it to tagines, meat, couscous, and all kinds of things! I used it to make kefta, and a hot chickpea "salad," and was thrilled with the results. The kefta recipe is below, and at some point I think I'll share my recipe for the chickpea dish. (Note, I added some of the spice mix directly to the meat when I made kefta, and not just to the tomato sauce. Also, you can leave out the ginger if you like-- it will still taste great!) Like any spice blend, the ingredients and ratios can vary a bit, but here is the recipe I used:
Ras El Hanout Recipe
Kefta Recipe
By this point, there is no one in all of America who has not had some kind of pumpkin spice experience. I know you can buy a jar of pre-mixed pumpkin spice, but if you have all the ingredients, it's so much cheaper and easier to make yourself! I actually am not a huge fan of pumpkin pie, but I like to put some of this in with my coffee grounds when I brew my morning Joe. I looked at mainly two recipes online, and combined them to make my pumpkin pie spice. I don't actually remember which recipes I used, but this recipe has all the ingredients I used:
Pumpkin Pie Spice Recipe
Za'atar is also incredibly easy, and can be made with as few as four ingredients! The recipe I used is from the cookbook Around the Table with the Catholic Foodie, but I found a very similar recipe online. I substituted Himalayan pink salt (since that's the only coarse salt I had), and you can definitely use dried thyme. You probably won't find sumac at your local Walmart or other grocery chain, but you can find it at halal grocery stores, and probably at most international supermarkets. Sprinkle some of this into a shallow dish of olive oil as a great dip for bread!
Cookbook: Around the Table with the Catholic Foodie: Middle Eastern Cuisine
Za'atar Recipe
I have not given up on my dream of making my own special curry powder blend, but I am not sure when it will be realized yet. I still need a lot more practice before I am able to start making my own Indian spice blends. What I also need to do sometime is figure out how to write a recipe for my coffee spices... Because I don't ever measure when I put spices into my coffee. I don't always know what I'll even put into my coffee. Sometimes it's cardamom, sometimes it's allspice and cinnamon and nutmeg... I never know. I will need to perfect it, though, so I can share! What I can tell you is that I typically use one or more of the following ingredients when I randomly sprinkle spices into my coffee (unless I'm just using pumpkin pie spice):
Allspice
Cardamom
Cinnamon
Cloves
Nutmeg
At any rate, get out there and make your own spice blends! As long as you do use them, it's totally worth it to have a well-stocked spice and herb cabinet, because they last for such a long time and make such a big difference in your cooking.
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