HERBS AND SPICES WHEN TO USE THEM Please add more tips!

Claudia lamascolo
Claudia lamascolo 27 de Enero de 2011

Cooking spices for too long may result in too strong flavours.

For long-cooking dishes, such as soups and stews, try adding your herbs and spices an hour or less before serving. For best results try crushing the herbs before adding to your dish.

For shorter cooking dishes try adding dry spices earlier in cooking. Fresh spices and herbs should be added towards the end of cooking.

Unless the recipe specifically calls for it, don't use more than three herbs and spices in any one dish. Some Indian Recipes are an exception to the rule, as they often calls for 10 or more different spices in one curry dish. Unless it is a curry, you are planning to cook.
Try replacing herbs and spices called for in recipes with something different such as Marjoram instead of Oregano, Savory instead of Thyme, Cilantro, instead of Parsley, Anise seed instead of Fennel. Mixing herbs and spices will provide you with a new creative art in food preparation its opens up a whole new door for seasoning foods!

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Shirley
Shirley Domingo, 30 de Enero de 2011 a las 12:02 PM
Re: HERBS AND SPICES WHEN TO USE THEM Please add more tips!

Would love some more tips on specific spices. Like whats used best in which recipe.

Amos Miller
Amos Miller Martes, 01 de Febrero de 2011 a las 02:58 AM
The Rule of Seven

Hi, Shirley - Before I throw any ideas your way, I want to share my cardinal rule regarding herbs, spices, condiments and specialty food items.

This may seem harsh but my basic rules, always, is this:
if a recipe appeals to you enough to want to make it, then, the first time you make it, FOLLOW THE RECIPE!

If you want to try a recipe for a lobster risotto, DO NOT follow the recipe by substituting canned tuna and Basmati rice. Tuna and basmati may make a stellar dish, but it will not be a lobster risotto.

All too often I see recipes that suggest that certain elements are "optional". It is my probably snooty conviction that a cook can ADD to a recipe if you sense or know the addition will possibly enhance the dish - but why on earth would you leave out or substitute a component on your first attempt at making a new dish?

I say one should search out all the necessary ingredients, get your mise en place, and make the dish the way the recipe says. If the recipe calls for hazelnut flour, saffron threads, pure vanilla extract, truffle oil or snails - obtain those items and make the dish. If, after using the items listed in the new recipe, you do not like the resulting dish, THEN you can eliminate, modify or adjust the components to your liking. Having experienced the reality of a recipe firsthand, you will then be qualified to pass judgment on the recipe and the dish. I believe that is what makes a good cook, a competent chef: simply, knowledge born of experience.

A long time ago, I learned an lifelong lesson: one must try any dish 7 times before one says "I'll never eat that again!" I always gagged on tripe and vowed after about the 5th attempt at eating it in different guises and in cultures, that I would never eat it again. Then I tasted a fine menudo! Bam! I found a way to enjoy tripe: in the broth of menudo. I learned an important lesson about dishes I did not like and what I came to call The Rule of 7.

1) Maybe the chef was not up to par that day; 2) maybe the chef wasn't there that day; 3) maybe the components weren't as fresh as they should be; 4) maybe the chef substituted one or more components from the recipe to the detriment of the dish; 5) maybe it was a poor recipe; 6) maybe I was not ready to eat the dish; 7) maybe I was suffering from a false or preconceived notion about the dish or a component of the dish. There are probably more, but these are my 7.

See all the possiblities that loom when we sit down to try something new? And that is why I urge any aspiring or fellow cook to follow the recipe exactly as it is written, with all ingredients, in careful measure, for the stated durations of preparation. THEN follow your Muse!

Amos Miller
Amos Miller Martes, 01 de Febrero de 2011 a las 04:36 PM
EDIBLE FLOWERS

Simply, the following flowers can be used to ehnace presentation and, even better, they can be consumed without worry.

There are many edible flowers, among them are borage, calendulas (an acceptable substitute for tumeric, as are safflower petals), dandelions (yes! Those "weeds" in your front yard), fennel, geraniums, nasturtiums, rosemary, roses, salad burnet, violets, and
orange blossoms.

You can buy most of these in better stores, and you can gather many from the field. However, you want to be sure the flowers have not been subjected to chemical sprays.

Wash the dust from them and cut away all green stems right up to the base of the flower. You can put the flowers in a plastic bag or a bowl of water to keep them chilled and crisp until you are ready to plate. Use them sparingly, that makes them special. You can use the whole flower or you can mince the petals to garnish canapes, appetizers, in salads, in beverages, on soups, eggs, finish vegetable dishes, to contrast with browned meats and to brighten desserts.

Just choose, bright, blemish-free blooms. Now, add some Flower Power to your meals!

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