Making your own mulling spices isn't just a good rainy-day activity -- it's also a great way to experiment with seasonal flavors.
Posts with tag nutmeg
Spice ID Quiz
Know your fennel from fenugreek? Coriander from cardamom? It's the spiciest quiz ever from Slashfood.
Spice ID Quiz
Both leaves and seeds of this plant are employed as seasoning in Indian food, and the seeds are used to flavor artificial maple syrup.
- Sarsaparilla
- Nigella
- Fenugreek
- Carom
It just wouldn't be real rye bread without...
- Caraway
- Fennel Seed
- Poppy
- Cumin
The signature herb overtone of gin is...
- Galangal
- Fennel
- Pimento
- Juniper Berries
The leaves of this plant are snipped and used as the herb cilantro, but the seeds are a seasoning known as...
- Cumin
- Coriander
- Cardamom
- Curry
This spice is the inside part of the Myristica tree seed -- not to mention darned tasty in baked goods and sprinkled on winter beverages.
- Mace
- Cumin
- Nutmeg
- Ground Allspice
This wee, nutty spice is smashing on a roll or paired with a tart lemon pastry
- Allspice
- Poppy Seeds
- Cardamom
- Mustard Seed
These long, cured pods, often used to flavor desserts, are members of the orchid family.
- Vanilla Beans
- Cardamom
- Saffron
- Galangal
This strikingly-shaped fruit is a core element in Chinese five-spice.
- Sumac
- Galangal
- Telicherry
- Star Anise
This spice, made by grinding dried berries, adds a lemony taste to juice and Middle Eastern cuisine.
- Mahlab
- Fenugreek
- Rue
- Sumac
This Indian spice is valued as much for its vibrant hue as it is for its flavoring properties.
- Turmeric
- Ras al Hanout
- Ginger
- Asafoetida
This spice is often cited as the most expensive on the market, due to the difficulty of harvesting it.
- Grains of Paradise
- Sassafras
- Mahlab
- Saffron
These dried berries are, monetarily speaking, the most traded spice on the planet.
- Mustard
- Cardamom
- Black Pepper
- Cumin
Remember the previously mentioned Myristica tree seed? This is the outside seed casing, all ground up.
- Mace
- Galangal
- Ginger
- Camphor
We're awfully sorry that we can't present this quiz in Smell-O-Vision, but still we must ask -- can you identify this common ground-bark spice by sight alone?
- Mace
- Nutmeg
- Cinnamon
- Allspice
The green version of this pod is an essential flavor component in Chai tea.
- Ginger
- Cardamom
- Tonka Bean
- Cumin
From left to right, these are...
- Cumin, Anise
- Celery Seed, Dill
- Fennel, Cumin
- Dill, Anise
This Thai cuisine staple is also purported to possess aphrodisiac qualities.
- Ginger
- Galangal
- Horseradish
- Asafoetida
This pungent, earthy seed is valued for both culinary and medicinal use.
- Black Cumin
- Fennel
- Black Cardamom
- Grains of Selim
Chewing this spice is said to improve and sweeten the breath.
- Dill
- Anise
- Fennel
- Celery Seed
Dried peppers are ground to make this spice, which is widely used in Hungarian and Spanish cuisine.
- Telicherry
- Wasabi
- Ras al Hanout
- Paprika
Swedish magazine typo causes four to be poisoned
Gallery: 5 Surprisingly Poisonous Foods
According to canada.com, it seems that a simple typo in a Swedish magazine led to four people being poisoned. See, a recipe for apple cake was posted, and "Instead of calling for two pinches of nutmeg, it said 20 nutmeg nuts were needed." The error was spotted after printing, letters were sent to subscribers, and inserts were added to store issues. But these warnings didn't reach everyone. One group of people still tried out this horrifically over-nutmegged recipe, and the four suffered poisoning symptoms like dizziness and headaches.
How can anyone choose to make that recipe and not question that amount, or not be turned off by it? One sniff of nutmeg is hint enough that it's way too strong to imagine 20 nuts in one cake. So, even if you don't come to the conclusion that there was a typo, one would think that the recipe would just seem, well, gross. I can only imagine that those who ate it have taste buds that don't measure sickening amounts of nutmeg.
Brandied grapes
Once in a while you come across the type of recipe that you never would have thought of before. That's how I feel about this recipe for Brandied Grapes, from one of my favorite food blogs, Noshtalgia.
I'm not a big fan of brandy as a drink, but the marinating of grapes overnight in brandy (and also cinnamon and nutmeg) certainly intrigues me. Oh, and did I mention you serve it with sour cream on the side? I can't even begin to image what this tastes like. Full recipe after the jump.
Lucy's Brussels Sprouts
My parents had Thanksgiving dinner with some old friends this year and after the meal was over, my mom called me to rave about the Brussels Sprouts that Lucy, the friends' daughter, had made. Lucy has two young sons and had made these sprouts in the hopes that her boys would eat them. She put a lot of effort into them, removing each leaf from every small sprout head in order to get a kid-friendly consistency. When she gave my mom the recipe, she stressed that one does not have to go to such labor-intensive lengths in order to make this dish.
The way we did it last night was to chop 2 pounds of sprouts into eighths (quarter them and then halve the quarters), which took some time but was worth it in terms of cooking speed. In a large skillet, I sauteed four thinly sliced leeks (they were fairly small leeks, total yield was about 1 1/2 cups) and two chopped shallots in a couple teaspoons of olive oil. Then the chopped sprouts went in, along with a sprig's worth of minced rosemary. When the started to get a little dry, I added about half a cup of chicken stock (there happened to be some around, otherwise I would have used water). Cover until soft. At the very end, add 1/4 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg and 1/2 a cup of cream or half and half. Lastly add salt and pepper to taste.
They were so good and while they felt a little decadent, they weren't overwhelmingly rich. I think these are going to end up on the table come Christmas dinner.
Maple lover's dream dessert: Nutmeg-Maple Cream Pie
My family is intensely passionate about quality maple syrup. There's none of that fake, cloyingly sweet pancake syrup in our houses. Only dark, grade B, deeply flavored maple. It's best bought in bulk from a local health food store, although Trader Joe's brand does in a pinch. I love using it to sweeten oatmeal and also have an oatmeal cookie recipe that incorporates it. On those occasions when my sweet tooth beckons and there isn't a bit of chocolate in the house, a small spoonful of maple syrup sates the sugar need nicely.
Knowing a little about this maple obsession of mine will help you understand why I am now totally fixated on the recipe Deb posted on Smitten Kitchen yesterday. She baked up a Nutmeg-Maple Cream Pie (and let's not get me started on my love of freshly ground nutmeg. I use it in nearly everything) that she dug out of the New York Times archive. She chose to bake it in a tart pan instead of a pie pan, which makes it look elegant as well as delicious. This is one that's going in the Must Make file for the very near future.
Fall Flavors: Fried Apples
Mmmm...apples. They remind me so much of fall (even though they're available year-round). It hasn't been very fall-like this week in my neck of the woods - it was almost 90 yesterday! - but any recipe that gets me in the mind-set for autumn is something I have to post about.
It's from the Cooking For 2 blog and it's a recipe for Fried Apples. Pretty easy, actually. I'm not really a fan of hot apple pie (I prefer ice cold apple pie), but I'm willing to give this a shot. Full recipe after the jump.
A microplane just for grating spices
I use my microplane to zest, grind and grate nearly every day (it would appear that I cook a lot). I started out with the basic one that came with no handle, just a flat strip of razer sharp teeth that take a nutmeg and turn it into aromatic pile of shavings. Then I moved up to the flexible set which I love because you can swap out different levels of grater blades quickly and easily (if you're tempted by that prospect, you need to act fast as this set has been discontinued). Now there's a new microplane that I've got my eye on, and it's a cutie. Designed for spices, it catches the shavings in its little case, which makes it deadly easy to accurately measure your amounts (instead of eyeballing it or trying to scrape it off the cutting board and into a measuring spoon). Best of all is that if you buy it from the Spice House, they'll throw in a whole nutmeg, cinnamon stick, ginger and turmeric root. Go forth and grate!
Thanks K.F.!
Liqueur Notes: Drambuie Liqueur
Drambuie Liqueur, also known as "Prince Charles Edwards Liqueur" is 40%abv / 80 proof and was first made on the Isle of Skye . Now it is made In Edinburgh, Scotland and in other areas. In the mid to strong range in liqueurs, with a medium body, this is a beautiful, rich, golden colored liqueur that both satisfies upon first glance, and draws you in for a taste. Because it has a nice alcohol level the aroma starts out a bit warm, with the smooth smell of Highlands Scotch that is buoyed up with touches of honey, nutmeg, and a complex and intriguing blend of other spices, possibly including mint, followed up with the barest hint of tangy citrus deep in your nose. Even as a child I have always enjoyed the flavors of honey and nutmeg, as well as the mild but penetrating aroma of saffron.
As I got older I fell in love with fine single malt Scotch whisky. I think this must be why I count Drambuie as my favorite liqueur. The taste of mellow and sweet whisky is first noticed on your tongue, and then you find the sweetness rounding out to a floral honey, which is complexly rounded out with a hint of nutmeg, saffron, and a slew of other aromatic, but subdued spices. The overall sensation is of warm, spicy, liquid gold that first shimmers on the tongue, then evolves to a brown velvet nectar that seeps down your throat and into your whole head, filling it with soft warmth.
The Drambuie story goes like this:
How about a Pumpkin-Ginger Cake on Halloween night?
Actually, the whole name of this dessert from HGTV is Pumpkin-Ginger Cake with Cinnamon-Bourbon Caramel Glaze. While you might want to leave out the Bourbon part (1/4 cup) for little Jimmy and little Kathy, the cake itself sounds great.
Cake:
1 box spice cake mix
1 box devil's food cake mix
two 16 oz. pumpkin
2 tbs. cloves
2 tbs. cinnamon
2 tbs nutmeg
whipped topping
Glaze:
1 1/4 sticks of butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup corn syrup
allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg
2/3 cup heavy cream
Continue reading How about a Pumpkin-Ginger Cake on Halloween night?
D is for Dauphinois: Gratin Dauphinois
Gratin dauphinois is, perhaps, the most satisfying side dish I know how to make. I first saw it in the August/September 2003 issue of Saveur. It caught my eye, as there were only six ingredients and the recipe was quite short. The first time I made it, I was still in college and one of my dorm-mates declared that we should make it daily just to have the smell of nutmeg and cream wafting through the room.
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