Category: Herbs, Spices & Seasonings

Ahhh-mazing Fall Home Scent

This all natural recipe will have your home smelling like all the comforting scents of the Fall season with very little effort. Once it starts simmering it takes several hours for it to waft through your whole house, but once it does... it smells so great! You can make this either in a small crock-pot or on your stove top.

Homemade Cajun Seasoning

Cajun seasoning is generally a blend of 8 to 10 herbs & spices. It's extremely versatile easy to make & tastes so much better than commercially made Cajun seasoning you buy in the supermarket. Don't let the name fool you, Cajun seasoning can be used in many recipes such as soups, stews, sauces, dips, condiments & more. Use it on fish, meat, vegetables, mix it into ground beef for a great hamburger seasoning & it makes a great BBQ or blackening rub. When looking for ways to add Cajun seasoning to your repertoire, think about any dish in which you would use garlic & paprika.

Yield: 1/3 cup

Ras El Hanout – Moroccan Spice Blend

An excellent & versatile spice blend you can use on a variety of roasted meats & poultry, vegetables, in soups & stews and even on salads. Ras El Hanout, which means "top of the shop", is a traditional spice mixture from Morocco & can contain anywhere from 10 to 100 spices. This is my version, adapted from researching over 50 different Ras El Hanout recipes in various cookbooks & online. When you make this, just the aroma alone is going to make your mouth water!

Yield: about 4 ounces

Roasted Garlic

Garlic tastes fantastic when it's roasted, very different from raw garlic. I like to make a lot of it at once & store it in the freezer. That way, I always have it on hand to use in a variety of recipes, on pizza, in soups, spread it on bread or rolls... the uses are endless!

Homemade Curry Powder

Curry powder is actually a blend of up to 20 spices, herbs & seeds. Widely used in Indian cooking, authentic Indian curry powder is freshly ground each day & will vary dramatically depending on the region & the cook. This is my original curry powder recipe. Easy to make & tastes extremely better than the commercial curry powder you buy in the supermarket. Use in any recipe that calls for curry powder.

Yield: a little over 1 cup

Ginger, how to peel

With the price of herbs & spices ever increasing, you can't afford to waste anything. This technique for peeling fresh ginger is really easy & will just remove the skin, while leaving the precious ginger intact.