Saturday, April 23, 2016

Note Worthy Spice Blends


One key element to making a great meal is cooking with herbs and spices to achieve rich flavors and aromas that delight your senses. So lets create amazing culinary blends from around the world using herbs already in your spice cabinet.

Cinnamon, chili’s, cumin, fennel, ginger, mint, oregano, and turmeric are just a few that aid digestion. You have a garden/medicine cabinet in your kitchen making preparing your meal so much more fun.

When cooking with all herb and spice blends it’s best to start with a basic recipe then adjust it to taste. The more you learn about herbs and spiced the more flavorful your meals will be.

Herb and spice blends are at their best when fresh; use your senses to check for vibrant color and aroma, and make smaller batches you can store in airtight containers for 2-4 months.

To give your blends the most robust flavors, roast all seeds in a dry skillet and cool before grinding them into a powder.

Fresh Herb Blends
Classic French: Ads subtle flavors to omelets and salads; use as garnish to finish vegetable dishes, or to flavor chicken and fish. Use a combination of three on more finely chopped herbs. Choose from basil, chervil, chives, dill leaf, fennel leaf, parsley, and tarragon.

Middle Eastern: Use finely chopped to garnish or flavor rice, salads, vegetables, and meat dishes. Combine your choice of cilantro or dill, parsley, mint, and a dash of Aleppo chili or red pepper flakes.

Bouquet Garni: A traditional French seasoning made from fresh herbs tied into a bundle and added to soups and stews while cooking. Ingredients include bay leaves, celery leaves or lovage, parsley, thyme, and a dash of cloves. For a more savory bouquet garni add your choice of basil, rosemary, sage, or tarragon.

Dried Herb Blends
Herbs de Provence: A fragrant dried herb mixture from southern France known for its lavender inclusion, and ingredients vary according to what is available. Sprinkle on meats to grill, chicken, and roasts, before cooking. Mix basil, fennel, lavender, oregano, rosemary, sage, and summer savory.

Italian Herbs: A versatile seasoning for spaghetti sauce and pastas, eggplant parmesan, stews, grilled chicken, stuffing, and on garlic bread and pizzas. Combine basil, marjoram, oregano, parsley, rosemary or sage, and thyme.

Warm, Spicy-Sweet Flavor Blends
Add these blends to roasted meats; stir fries, potatoes, and grain pilafs. You can use them as rubs for barbeque. Sprinkle them on carrots, sweet potatoes and squashes, and even spice cakes and cookies. Just a pinch makes any dish an aromatic delight.

Charmoula: A North African rub used for grilled fish. Blend ground cumin, ginger, sweet paprika, sea salt, turmeric, and white pepper.

Chinese Five-Spice: A primary Chinese blend also used in other Asian and Arabic cooking. It’s best as a rub for fatty meats like chicken, duck, ribs, and seafood. Blend equal parts ground aniseed and Sichuan or black pepper, then add ground cinnamon, cloves, and fennel seed.

Curry Powder: An Indian spice blend usually made fresh daily. It gives kick to all kinds of marinades and sauces, curries, lentil soups, salad dressings, and stuffed eggs. Blend ground black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, ginger, nutmeg, and turmeric.

Garam Masala: A standard Indian blend that gives an enticing aroma to chicken, lentil, and vegetable dishes. Gather cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, cloves, cumin seeds, nutmeg, and black peppercorns. Grind spices and combine to blend.

Quatre Epice (four-spice): A French blends for charcuterie, ragouts, soups, pot cooked dishes, and vegetable preparations. Combine ground allspice, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and white pepper.

Spicy and Hot Blends
Berbere: An extremely aromatic and hot Ethiopian spice mix used to flavor meat and vegetable dishes. Combine ground black pepper, red chili pepper, allspice or cloves, cinnamon, and ginger.

Chili Powder:
Use for curries, dips, meatloaf, pasta dishes, rubs for southwest dishes, and stews. Mix ground cumin, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and dried oregano.

New Mexican Chili Powder: Use for chili, enchiladas, and stews. Grind and mix ancho chilies, chili de arbol or chipotle, and red New Mexican chilies; then add cumin, and Mexican oregano.

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Saturday, April 9, 2016

Sensuous Senses



Sensuous Senses Eau de Parfum oil is designed to delight your senses and provide safe daily use with no synthetics; it fragrance has a floral character and sensual aura, and it leaves you feeling beautiful. Our Sensuous Senses bubble bath, lotion, and massage cream are formulated to awaken your senses and provide daily comfort; they hydrate and revitalize your skin, leaving it feeling luxurious.

No Ordinary Chick essential oil synergy products and more are available at
www.noordinarychick.com

#aromatherapy #bubblebath #eaudeparfum #essentialoil #fragrance #livinggreen #lotion #massagecream #noordinarychick #sensuoussenses

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Deviled Eggs for a Spring Treat

Spring, and Easter, and eggs, oh what a treat! We love eggs any way; but deviled eggs are always a particularly nice treat, they just seem special. They are easy to make… well maybe except for peeling the eggs if their too fresh, but the rest is a breeze.

Just hard boil your eggs; cool, and peel. Cut the eggs in half removing the yolks to a bowl, and whites to your favorite plate for serving when filled.

*We find using a fork to work the yolks until they are a crumbly meal before adding the rest of the ingredients attains the best texture for the filling.

For the yolk filling we like a bit of the classics finely chopped celery and scallions, then we add our personal fresh herb flair, chopped chives, flat leaf parsley, oregano, and thyme. Shake in a bit of celery salt, granulated onion, sea salt and ground black pepper to taste, and a dash of paprika. Now add a heaping tablespoon of your favorite mayonnaise/nayonaise (to taste) and a dash of Dijon mustard, blend the ingredients well.

Fill the egg whites with rounded teaspoon fulls of your egg filling, evening out to finish. You can serve them a bed of greens, sprinkled with more fresh herbs, or paprika, or even just plain!

For Mediterranean style eggs add chopped capers… or a sweet and savory twist, chopped sweet or dill pickles. Any way you make them, we hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

They stay in the refrigerator 3 days as long as they’re well covered.

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