cooking @ home

We all love fresh herbs. And yes I too highly recommend them. But let’s face it. We can’t all just walk down the street or hop in the car and get fresh herbs every day. Sometimes not even every week and with a three to five day shelf life, very often life intrudes here in the real world enough, that by the time you’re finally ready to cook that put-off (and put-off and put-off) dish you’ve been wanting to do, you go in the fridge only to find wilted, blackened or spotted, but definitely unusuable herbs. So often, it’s the dried herbs and spices we lean on to get the job done. And you know what? There’s nothing wrong with that! We all do it.

Here’s some of my thoughts about those things that make food go round. Spices and liquor.

1. Onion salt, Garlic salt, anything spice that has added to it “salt” — with the exception of true, actual 100% salt — there’s only one thing you have to do. Which you must do … toss them out!! You want onion powder and garlic powder! It’s partly the health thing, but it’s as much the control thing. If a bunch of your spices are putting salt in, then how can you possibly control the salt intake or the salt amount in your dish? You can’t. So “powder”, yes; “salt”, no.

What about celery salt? There is no celery powder. Ok, one exception. Although really, just use salt and buy fresh celery, it’s cheap. But if you have to, one exception and use sparingly.

2. Any spices that have been sitting around forever — replace them!! You know what I’m talking about. The little white and red tiny tin of cinnamon and paprika at the back of your cabinet, the one’s from the Johnson Administration. Yeah. Out! Buy fresh ones. You’ll be glad you did.

3. Every time you go to the market grab a few new spices you’ve been wanting to try. Over time build up a nice stash, a spice “armory” where you can do almost anything. Then maybe pick a country, a region or type of cuisine … say Asian … pick up some soy sauce and some ground or powdered ginger (hey, yes you can use it in cookies for Christmas as well) and some dark Soy Sauce if you don’t have it already … maybe next time, get your some Chinese Five Spice Powder … next time, think Southwestern or Mexican and pick up some cilantro and some tabasco or hot sauce …

4. Cooking wine? Toss it out! Even before you toss out the dried spices with salt! Yuuuck! Simple rule: If you can’t drink it, do not not not cook with it! Never never never! It’s yet another way they sneak salt in. Another way you lose control. But worst of all, it tastes rotten. Anything that tastes horrible if you were to gulp some down, is going to taste that way when you put it your cooking. Simple.

One wine I can’t live without: Marsala. You want to perk up pork chops? This is it. You may never do a pork chop without this after you’ve had it. Plus it’s good with steaks. And Chicken Marsala is definitely among my (many) favorite meals.

5. And while we’re at the market pick up some liquor along with your wine. Don’t drink alcohol? No problem. It’s still a very often used ingredient in cooking and heat burns it off.

Most of you need no convincing, but for those who might … Don’t you have extracts in your kitchen? No doubt even if you don’t bake you probably have vanilla extract. So what are extracts exactly? Concentrated flavorings either diluted with alcohol or fermented (aka pretty much started out as alcohol) from berries, fruits, roots, beans of the type of extract. If that doesn’t convince you alcohols are a major part of the seasonings of cooking, then nothing will. Well, at least until you actually taste the difference yourself (for you first timers).

You’ll need Rum for Caribbean foods as well as in Italian and American cakes and cookies. Tequila of course for some Mexican dishes. (Tequila and lime chicken is yum.) Even chain restaurants like Bennigans have gotten in the act with such entrees such Jack Daniels sauce atop steak.

Heck I use Godiva chocolate liqueur in chocolate chip pancakes (though admittedly cream de cocoa would be a lot cheaper – but I happen to have the Godiva, so what the heck!) This is unusual because normally I substitute Triple Sec for Grand Marnier. (Why? Same reason I don’t use filet mignon in a beef stew.) So yes, swinging “upscale” with the Godiva is only because it’s on hand.

What else? Hmm, just the other day I splashed some Southern Comfort and some sugar on top of fresh strawberries while making the topping for an Italian cheesecake. Turned out to be a nice choice. Couldn’t even taste it, yet it gave the sauce an added character that was definitely appreciated.

To sum up, yes, use fresh when you can. But there’s nothing wrong with dried — unless it’s been sitting on your shelf 10 years.

Experiment! Buy one or two of what you might consider more unusual spices every shop and built up your spice arsenal. Never buy dried spcies with salt in them, and same goes for so-called cooking wine. There is no such thing as “cooking wine”, remember that; there is simply “wine”. And while you’re add it get some stronger liquor for your cooking too. Without seasonings dishes are blah. With the same old four or five seasonings only, you’re doing yourself a disservice.

So, boost up that spice arsenal and you’ll be making Cajun one day and Greek the next. And you’ll also take your normal every-day “same old” dishes and “up them” to a new level.

5 Responses to “Shake Up Your Spice (and Liquor) Cabinet”