The mystery of the spices unlocked!

The spice thing going on in your very own kitchen right this very instant can be overwhelming;  How long do I have before my spices go bad?  Should I buy a small or a big bottle?  Should I use fresh or dried?  Which brand is better?  How should I store them?  There always seems to be questions about them.  I used to get wrapped up in all of that, then I attacked my spice anxiety head on and learned to look at the whole thing simply.

First of all, no matter what you hear about the shelf life of herbs and spices, your sense of smell and taste can help you quickly figure it out.  If your in a quandary over a jar you just found hiding in the dark recesses of your cupboard, open up the jar and smell it.  If the smell is strong, most likely the spice is still good.  Taste the spice to check for old musty taste.  If your jars are stored on a dark shelf away from extreme heat, and kept tightly closed, you have a long time before you have to worry.  It's not like old jars of spices go rancid and become poisonous, but using a spice that is way too old can ruin your sixteen step Paella that your party of ten has been salivating over.

Generally, I stock those spices that I use most and rarely buy them in large containers except the spices that I call "staples" in my kitchen, such as granulated garlic, dried parsley, onion powder, red chili powder flakes, seasoning salt, sea and kosher salts, black and white peppercorns and italian seasoning. Those are much more cost effective in the larger containers.  I pick them up at Sam's Club except for the salts.  My biggest trick in saving money buying spices lies in purchasing them at my local small mexican food store.  I have a few stores to choose from.  Overall, they are pretty standard in their inventory with a few exceptions.  When I need to purchase Star Anise for example, only one of the three stores carries it.  The beauty is, these spices are sold in small bags.  For me, these bags are just big enough to last a couple months...there is no time for them to possibly grow too old to use.  When I get them home, I store them in old recycled spice jars. The other great thing is that spices sold this way are so darn cheap.  I have even seen Saffron in one of these stores.  The spice brands sold in the major grocery stores these days are getting more and more expensive.  If you haven't spice shopped this way, you need to know that sometimes the labels are either in spanish or worded differently than in a regular grocery store. For instance Bay Leaves may be labeled as Laurel Leaves or Hojas de Laurel.

Now here is where the fun comes in.  I use coffee grinders to quickly and instantly pulverize whole spices whenever possible.  The flavors are more alive and vibrant this way.  I have one for savory spices, one for sweet spices and one for my dried chilies.  There is nothing like the flavors of fresh ground cumin seed or coriander seed or whole cloves.  Grinding whole dried chipotle chilies makes such an amazing difference over pre ground product.  It's sort of like grinding coffee beans, once you start, its hard to go back to pre-ground...it's just not the same. This method even allows me to create spice combinations for Mole's and other flavor intensive dishes.  I just throw all the whole ingredients into a grinder and everything is ground to a powder at once.  I grind half a slice of bread afterwards for cleaning out the remnant spices.  It works like a charm.

With fresh herbs, the trick is to wrap them in paper towels and store in your refrigerator in Ziploc bags.  Their shelf life goes way up and no more discovering gross green gooeyness in your bag of curley parsley you bought three weeks ago.  Growing your own spices is a culinary treat and at the end of their seasons, simply prune what is left and dry in your kitchen on cookie sheets and store in Ziploc bags.  There are a few spices that no matter how you slice it make a big impact in your cooking used fresh but only marginally when used in their dried forms, such as Basil and Cilantro.


Sometimes I get into a spice snob mode and purchase online from Penzeys Spices http://www.penzeys.com/ .
I only mention them because they are like the "Viceroy" of spice companies.  You won't be saving money this way, but they will have any spice you can think of or desire.  The benefit to Penzey's is you have a whole choice in sizes of containers and bags that the spices come in and the quality and flavors are always top of the line.  I have to shop on-line here in New Mexico, but walk in stores are sprouting up in many states.  If nothing else, get onto their mailing list and get their free catalog that is mailed out several times, throughout the year. 

In closing all I can say is that If today's blog hasn't added some spice into your life well I don't know what! 

may your pepper corns always be peppery,

robert

The Texan that dished out discounts...

If there is one thing for certain, in the midst of this recession thing we have going on, there are at least a truck load of ways to save money.  The one's I am best at, involve the kitchen place.  From making large quantities of loaves of bread for freezing to canning the harvest from your own garden to making certain not to pay full price for the gadgets we need to stock our kitchens. 

I have shopped at Ross Stores for well over a decade now...one of my best Ross stories goes like this:  One morning, I arrived at the Ross store in Santa Fe, just as the store had opened.  As I entered, I noticed this tall guy walking around with a tailored suit on, giving commands to the staff in a big Texas drawl.  Scenarios such as this are far from the norm in a Ross store, at least in my experiences.  I had been to a whole lot of em too!  (when I traveled for a software company out of California, whichever State I was in, I made certain that I headed for the local Ross store if there was one).  Not to stereotype, but the average Ross employee doesn't really want to give out assistance.  They are usually just stocking more stuff on shelves, or causing long lines at the check out stands (but the savings are worth it)

So on this day of the suited texas man, I head back to the kitchen department as usual, looking for big oversized dinner plates.  Immediately these cool oversized hand painted rust colored plates catch my eye.  There is a stack of eight, I turn one over, no price tag.  I turn over another no price tag...not a common thing in a Ross Store...(those employee's are always using one of those price sticker gun things too...)  Suddenly the suited man walks by and barks out in his drawl "can I help you buddy?" When I got over my shock, I held up one of the plates and said "these must be free...there is no price on any of em." I did my best to keep a humorous tone.  Then the texan says "How much you want to pay for those...how bout a couple bucks each?"  I snatched all eight up into the cart, then as he was standing there I noticed the two matching serving platters...please have no price tag on the bottom I thought as I flipped one.  No price tag.  "Same price on these platters too?"  "You got it!"  Ok...so then I thought...is this some crazy disgruntled employee or something.  Turned out, this guy owned all the Rosses in Northern New Mexico and a few  more in Texas.  He just liked to do hands-on visits to his stores now and again.  Those dishes could easily go for 15 to 20 dollars each!  Eight large 13 inch dishes with two huge matching platters came to 20 dollars total.  Hard to beat that deal except at estate sales I suppose. 

I haven't paid full price for Kitchen stuff in years. Both of my stainless steel pressure cookers came from Ross as well as my pasta machine and numerous utensils.   Very recently, TJ Maxx Stores have impressively stepped up their game in their Kitchen departments and they are actually outdoing Ross in quantity and selection.  Tuesday Morning stores are interesting.  They are like a "high end" discount store.  They stock a lot of kitchen appliances but, you will pay a tad more there than the other stores. Recently, I picked up a 7 quart digital crock pot there that was real cheap...I think it was because it was red.  I don't include Target in this group of stores except for in one area.  Target has amazing end cap sales always going on. I get the feeling it's their quick solution to clear shelf space for new inventory. I picked up two extremely cheap electric fondue pots, that were at the time still selling in other stores for a great deal more.  Check out these end cap shelves around the kitchen wares department, Target too, has stepped up to the plate with the quality and quantity of selection. 

If  you have already joined the ranks of the discount store shopping club, you already know all of this.  There are rules to follow in scoring with the savings:

1)  You must be sure to visit these stores at least twice a week.  A nearly empty shelf one day can be overflowing with pasta machines the next.
2) If you see something that you just won't be complete without, SNAG IT!  Don't wait on it, many of the things you see there are one time only items and it will be gone as quick as you blink an eye.
3) Don't be afraid to ask for further discounting if something is obviously damaged but usable, such as the time I found a huge enameled cast iron dutch over, but the outer paint had a few chips in it.  I got an additional 20 percent off the already low forty five dollar price.
4)  Find the final clearance aisles were sometimes the savings are almost scarey, but sometimes the things you will find in these aisles are downright scarey!
5)Try to go just as the store opens, you'll have a better selection.
6) Look for the tall texan in the suit  : -)

happy savings y'all

robert

Bacon in a bottle

Just after Thanksgiving,  Aaron and I were eating lunch in a train car diner in Lamy, New Mexico with a couple of friends whom had picked us up where Amtrak had left us off after arriving home from California.  For those that live in New Mexico, I highly recommend the Lamy Station Cafe http://www.lamystationcafe.com/talladega.html  It's worth the good food and the ambiance this authentically old dining car from 1950 provides.  The owner is a fellow foodie and fellow ex Southern Californian...she genuinely cares about what comes out of the kitchen. 

On this outing, I had ordered the baked beans as my side with my burger.  I took one spoonful of the beans and flavors exploded and suddenly me and my taste buds had to know the recipe...the owner was semi hesitant, so to make it easier on her, I began to call out some of the 'guessed' ingredients.  The main flavor that I recognized was Liquid Smoke.  I have used the product for years now, but I still meet people that look at me funny when I mention it in a recipe.  There are many good things about it.  It's not bad for you, and the process of making liquid smoke removes some of the supposed bad carcinogenic stuff that occurs  to food items that are actually put thru the smoked process.  The web will provide you with more information if you feel a need to delve further regarding this product. 

I use it in many applications in my kitchen.  I use it in making barbeque sauce, in marinades for my jerky, and often when I am feeling the need to be just a tad healthier, I substitute it for bacon.  I don't mean that I sprinkle some next to a couple of sunny side up eggs at breakfast.  There are recipes such as soups that call for bacon being cooked and then sauteing vegetables (sofrito) in the bacon fat as your base.  You can knock off a whole lot of the saturated fats in a recipe by eliminating the bacon.  In the right combination with other spices and such, you can acheive bacon-esque flavors.  I have seen several different brands of liquid smoke and within the brands there are flavors such as mesquite and hickory.  I don't have a preference.  If I am at a Mexican foods store in Espanola versus a Whole foods in Santa Fe the product will be different on each store's  shelf.  Usually they stock it along with barbeque sauces.   Ok so back to the beans in the 1950 diner car...I went home and pretty much duplicated the baked bean recipe using Liquid Smoke.  I was thrilled that it was one of those recipes that tastes so good with so little work.

1950 Diner Car Baked Beans

One small bag of dried navy beans

one red onion finely chopped

three cloves of garlic finely chopped

two bay leaves

1/4 cup brown sugar

three tablespoons liquid smoke (any flavor)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp onion powder

1 tbsp brown prepared mustard

salt and pepper to taste

In a dutch oven,

Saute the onion in a small amount of olive oil for 10 minutes over medium heat

add the garlic and saute for one additional minute

add the liquid smoke, the vinegar, the mustard, the brown sugar, the onion powder and stir to combine allowing to cook for one additional minute

add the bag of navy beans and pour in enough water to cover an inch beyond level of

beans. 

Add bay leaves

Cover pot and cook in center of oven at 225 degrees for 6 to 8 hrs

Check for doneness at 6 hours

add salt and pepper to taste when done and remove bay leaves

You can do this recipe in a crock pot too, but I prefer to slow cook my beans in a regular oven at 225 degrees because there is not a need to presoak them and the end result tends to be a much thicker soup than when I cook them in a crock pot.  The Low setting of a crock pot is about the same temperature, but I think there is something about containing the beans in a cast iron dutch over that enhances the cooking process for the beans.  It is just what I have found through experimenting in my kitchen. 

happy tooting!

robert

Working under pReSsUrE

Nine years ago, Aaron's parents had us to dinner and made this perfectly moist and tender pot roast with fall-apart deliciousness.  Of course I wanted to know the manner in which they had produced such delectableness. Thus I was introduced to the world of the pressure cooker.  Since that time, I have found out that many New Mexican's use them for a variety of time saving meals.  When I first found out that you could pressure cook pinto beans to perfect doneness in 45 minutes I was skeptical.  It blew me away when they were done in such quick time compared to many hours slow cooking on a stovetop.  Then there's St. Patrick's day...Corned Beef in one hour!  Being hispanic, I was raised eating cow tongue...let me tell you for those that just got screamish, its absolutely one of the most tender flavorful pieces of meat you could ever eat and it's cheap!  Doneness in one hour is unheard of in hispanic households that don't use pressure cookers.  I even have this goat recipe that would take all day to get the meat even close to palatable, but again in one hour you have tender delicious meat.  Oh and there's the ability to cook a complete whole thawed chicken in 10 minutes....the prep steps take longer but it really is done that fast. 

Often when I find out that cooks are afraid to try one...its fear based on the old fashioned pressure cookers of yesteryear.  Apparently they had a tendency to explode.  The new models of today are virtually explode proof with locking and pressure release buttons.  I upgraded to stainless steel from aluminum, just to be safe.  I own a small and a large pressure cooker.  Each having an easy slide lock button and a quick pressure release switch.  A pressure cooker recipe either requires quick pressure release or slow natural release.  If you have a pressure cooker that does not have a quick pressure release switch, you can hold the whole pot under cold running water and pressure will quick release just as the switch does and in some cases even quicker.  It's just a pain with all the heat of the pot and trying to keep your pot holder gloves dry as the water cascades off the top into the sink.  I am glad I have the option to do either with my cookers.   Brown rice and Barley are so fast that I don't ever use a conventional method with these long cooking grains.  Then there's a hot & steamy mouth watering beef stew that is perfect in the middle of winter that is ready in 45 minutes.  If I have sold you on this method of cooking then I suggest one of the online cooking stores, ebay or your local cooking store.  If you go to Walmart you probably will only find the basic aluminum model with no controls only a giggler valve that sits loosely on top of a spout.  They work fine, I had one for several years. If you go to a William Sonoma store, you will find a variety of sizes  and styles with different controls, but be ready to pay the higher price.  My two are Fagor brand.  Which I purchased from a Ross store, saving about half the price. If you delve deeply you can get the ones made in Spain.  I have one of those, but to be honest my other, made in China does just as good a job.  Whatever make and model you decide to purchase, just make sure you read the manual for operation and all precautions.  There! I covered my culinary behind just in case you end up with some experimental pretty goulash painted all over your kitchen ceiling...seriously, the only time I have ever heard of such happening was back in the sixties when the models weren't so cook friendly. You only have to remember to make sure the pressure is gone before you open the lid.  If you surf the web, you will find an endless assortment of pressure cooker recipes for everything from meats, to grains to desserts. 

I am including the recipe for the first thing I ever ate from a pressure cooker, I have made it over the years varying it now and then, but the basic is enough and it's fool proof.  I apologize to the vegetarians who may be reading this.  I will tell you when I do make vegetarian dishes, its so quick your meat free heads will spin.

Fall Apart Pressure Cooker Pot Roast

2 lb pot roast (for best results use a chuck roast)

2 tbsp Canola Oil

1 1/2 tsp salt mixed with 1/4 tsp pepper

2 medium yellow onions sliced

1 cup water

Heat oil in pressure cooker pot

thoroughly brown  all sides of roast (Use long tongs to make the job easier)

Sprinkle salt/pepper mixture over the roast

add onions and water to pot

cover and lock lid securely

at medium high heat cook until the first hissing sounds are emitted.

lower heat to medium and cook for 45 minutes. 

Remove pot from heat and allow pressure to release on its own.

Success in this recipe is based on making certain that the meat is browned very well and not beginning timing until the first hissing is heard. 

here's to quickies!

robert

For the Furry Ones...

Many of us have at least one of em...they greet us with penetrating eyes no matter what.  They are all about unconditional love...and they really mean it too!  Well, they do appreciate a treat now and then to keep the unconditional love thing fed. 

Today I focus on the love we have for our canine companions and the love they give us in return.  I am not as consistent as I should be in making this healthy treat for our three, but when I do, the level of excitement does seem elevated even though all excitement seems to be at the same "happy canine over the top level" for food and hikes and car rides and elk poop.  So make this healthy yummy biscuit recipe for your furry ones and get out the excite-o-meter and see if yours don't exude a higher level of happiness when you give them one or two or three or.......

Healthy Dog Biscuits

1 1/4 cups cornmeal

2 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried dill

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp dried mint

1 tsp dried oregano

1 1/4 cups water

1 beaten egg for glazing

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Blend all the dry ingredient and add the water and knead into a workable dough or use a food processor with the dough hook attachment.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll to 1/4 inch.

Cut with a cookie cutter (they will still eat em if you don't have a bone shaped one)

Prick with a fork for texture and decoration.

Brush top of cookies with the beaten egg and bake for 25 minutes.

Keep em in an airtight container....there are no preservatives after all.  Oh yeah, you can sample these yourself without any weird stigma attached because they are made of ingredients we humans eat all the time.

bow wow wow!

ciao!

robert

The Wild Mamas of Tuscany

Three Valentine's ago, my partner Aaron, surprised me with a night of cooking at a Santa Fe home with this wild group of 5 ladies that travel all over the world to share and teach the cooking of Tuscany and specifically from their region of Chianti.  The group was large but thankfully the home and kitchen were too.  There weren't many that were volunteering to get the hands on experience, so I kept my hands chopping, mixing, whipping and whatever else these women asked me to do in the kitchen.  When we finished preparing all the items on their menu, we sat down for a phenomenal mouth watering meal.  The topper was a case of fine Chianti from their very own vineyard...I think it was the best wine I had ever tasted.  The experience that night made me yearn for a trip to Tuscany, Italy for a real cooking experience where you live among them at a Bed and Breakfast and cook to your hearts content. Who knows?  I am in the preliminary planning for our tenth anniversary this year...Greece is coming to mind...but so is visiting that great group in Tuscany...we will see what pans out.   I am attaching the link to their website just in case your soul is aching for such an experience http://www.tutti-a-tavola.com/

Since that palate pleasing evening, I have been recreating several of the dishes we learned.  The one I make most, is a fantastic salad called Insalata di Chipolle e Rucola.  It's simple to prepare and yet it has this overwhelming sense of elegance with its bold complex flavors.  It's one to serve at dinner parties for absolute success.  The dressing is on the salty side, so you may have to adjust it if your on a low sodium diet... I can still recall what one of the mamas said when this was posed to her...
She chortled loudly and then In a very strong Italian accent she stated, "Oh you Americans are so worried about salt all the time."  Maybe we are?  I don't adjust the salt in this recipe because the flavor is intense and the salt is what brings the robust flavors all together in a marriage that will tantalize your taste buds...

Insalata di Cipolle e Rucola

8 red onions (equates to 1 onion per person - adjust accordingly)

Arugula leaves

Sliced Parmigiano Reggiano

Fresh ground black pepper

The Juice of a large lemon

1 tsp of sea salt

1 clove of garlic

Olive oil

For the quickest and best results I use a large heavy duty Mortar and Pestle to cream the clove of garlic and the sea salt.  Just make sure that the two ingredients are creamed together well.  Place this into a jar with a lid.  Add the juice of the lemon and drizzle about five tablespoons of olive oil into the jar and fresh ground black pepper to taste.  Close jar and shake well.  This in of itself is a wonderful salad dressing I have used on regular greens.  Refrigerate the jar of dressing.

This next step is the only time consuming part of the recipe.  I use a mandoline slicer and slice the onion very thin.  The ladies sliced a bit thicker but then it takes a lot longer to saute to the needed consistency.  Place all the onion into a large saute pan and saute using about 5 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat.  You need to saute the onion's till they are very soft but not browned, so make sure to continue to stir them thru the whole saute process.  As one of the woman said..."saute them till they resemble worms"

when done, poor half of the dressing onto the onions in a bowl and mix well.  Then chill in refrigerator.

Using a large flat display plate

Lay down a layer of the Arugula and then a layer of the sliced Parmigiano...I use a potato peeler to get long flat slivers.  Next add a layer of the cooled onion mixture.  Repeat the layers a second time, finishing with a top layer of Parmigiano.

This dressing is very intense.  You will think that it looks like you don't have enough dressing left in the jar, but it's just the right amount.  Just drizzle what remains over the top of the salad and serve.

I describe this salad as having an "alive" flavor. 

Buon appetito!

roberto



I am therefore I am a breadmachine

People always say "WHY!?" when they find out I have three bread machines.  I will tell you why I say! I then rationalize it by telling my story about how I fantasize that I have a maid in the kitchen mixing and kneading and baking fresh breads, when really the  reason I keep three is when I make a three braid loaf of wheat, pumpernickel & white flours it is an absolute breeze.  Making a three braid loaf by hand takes way too many steps and time...I did it one time, that was enough. Except for the times I get into one of those "I need some therapeutic hands on mixing, kneading and punching to get myself in balance again modes" I opt for the dough mode.  This fantastic little feature on a bread machine cuts so much time out of the fresh bread making process that it has been a long long long time since I have "needed to knead" by hand. Don't get me wrong, once in a great while I get into this space where I absolutely have to make the most complex half-a-day to complete recipe...but mostly I am all about the quality output with as few steps as possible. 

One of these saving time tricks is by using a bread machine...if you pick a good one, you will be happy with the results.  One of mine is even two decades old and it keeps on performing flawlessly...so much so that I went on E-bay and found a second one living in New York City that had minimal usage and so now I have two inexpensive work horses.  The third model makes two loaves at once.  Which can be handy when you want to present two types of bread at a special dinner party.  You can spend under twenty dollars for an older model or hundreds for the new fangled models.  So why all this bread machine banter on the first day of 2011?  Well with the economy as is...(it's state is still where it was last night in 2010 I believe)...it really is about cutting corners where you can.  I do a great deal of that in the kitchen.  Take sourdough bread for instance.  We love it!  But Sourdough seems to take the most bread (heh heh) out of your pocket no matter the brand.  Yes I have gone the sourdough starter route....its a novelty for a couple of weeks...then you forget and you feel guilty and before you know it your live culture is looking like something right out of a b-movie horror flick. 

I have this thing for "mock" recipes...when they are good I love to use em.  One of my favorites is my mock sourdough bread recipe.  I can simply place the ingredients into the bread machine on the dough mode...here is where the real trickery comes in.   I then form it into one of those rustic rounds like the ones at San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf or Pike's Place Market in Seattle...close enough anyhow. For the Pièce de résistance there are a couple last things I do to really make it look scrumptious (see below)  I have taken this to parties and had people rave about my sourdough bread.   So go to your store and price a loaf of sourdough bread, then try this recipe and do the math on savings.  This is a bread machine recipe so if your a home-made bread maven in the kitchen feel free to adapt this accordingly.  oh and I am not against using the bread machine fully through all it's cycles when I am short on time.  I also will set up the two work horses making bread at the same time and then freeze the loaves.  Bread is just not cheap anymore.  Baking and freezing your own bread is. 

So unless your on one of those carbo-less diets, enjoy making this mock sourdough bread.

Mock Sourdough Bread Machine Bread

1/2 cup plain nonfat yoghurt (at room temperature)

2/3 cups water (at bread machine's required temperature)

2 tbsp lemon juice (at room temperature)

1 tbsp butter (softened)

3 1/2 cups bread machine flour

1 tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

3 tsp yeast

If you are in a real hurry, you can quickly microwave the yoghurt, lemon juice and butter to bring to room temperature.  You don't want the cold temperatures to keep the yeast from doing its thing

Add the water, yoghurt, butter & lemon juice to bread pan

Next add your dry ingredients

Turn on bread machine using the dough mode, which usually is one hour

Watch the dough, you may need to add more flour or more water.  You want the dough to be just beyond wet and sticky...but just barely - make sure that
the dough is moving around in a round ball, freely within the pan

Remove dough to a cookie sheet covered in a silicone non stick sheet

It will be sticking to your hands somewhat...do this process quickly for minimal mess on your fingers

Form a round loaf and allow to sit in your microwave (for warmth) for 15 minutes

Brush the top with a well beaten egg

Take a sharp knife and quickly score the center in a criss cross, going about 1/4 of an inch deep

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes
For best results, let this bread sit out for at least an hour before slicing.

hot buns to all!
robert