My cupboard is full of spices and spice blends. I buy them from all over... New Orleans, Kansas City, St Louis, Omaha, flea markets, tiny shops, grocery stores, strip malls, huge outlet stores, and of course, the internet.
I am always, always (<<that means A LOT!) buying new spices or blends in search of the 'perfect' one. Many have been tossed out because they were too tangy, too bland or had a flavor that I just couldn't use or get used to.
I also put spices and blends on everything. Meats, fish, poultry, in soups, casseroles, and salads, on sandwiches and vegetables, even popcorn.
I've bought from
Columbia Spice Imports
Urban Accents
Head Country
I could just go on and on, but that's a lot of work, and I'm on staycation. A lot of the time I am disappointed. Having the expectation that it will taste a certain way and then it doesn't. I've held on to many a spice hoping that some day I'd use it for 'something!' But there it sits. Taking up room. So every year or so I purge. I literally have to because I have no more room for any more jars! Not only do I keep them in the kitchen in a huge double upper cabinet, but also on the door of the spare fridge in the bedroom pantry. I even have some in plastic bins in the pantry-those are the ones I like and can't part with but I don't use them that often.
So when I find a spice that I instantly love the first time I taste it, I'm all giddy.
That happened today.
I am cooking some pork ribs in the oven at 200 degrees all day today. They are for tomorrow's supper. I like rubbing some kind of seasoning on them but usually they are too salty, too paprika-ey, too heavy on some spice...just a general all out failure. Jeff's usually the one that tends to dislike any strong flavored rub. He also doesn't like paprika or smoked paprika so I have to watch to make sure the seasoning isn't heavy on that. A lot of the time I have to 'doctor' the seasoning up...like add more brown sugar, more garlic powder etc.
I may have found the perfect rub. I don't know yet because I will have to see what the ribs taste like after cooking. I might be disappointed again. We'll see, but the flavor I tasted seemed to be what I have been looking for. Sweet, with the right about of spice.
Here it is.
Urban Accents Pork and Barbeque Rub
O.M.G.
Ingredients: Salt, sugar, garlic, onion, paprika, thyme, coriander, ancho, chipotle, parsley, cloves, soybean oil and allspice.
Sweet! Not too heavy on the paprika and the cloves and allspice really add some dimension. Love the way it tastes on my finger anyway. Finger lickin good. LOL
I am also a BIG BIG fan of their
Heartland Pepper and garlic
I use it a lot on whole chicken roasted in the oven. I ran out of the first bottle, ordered another online about a month ago and then found them at Hy-Vee and bought their last two jars. See, other people like the seasoning too. I'm stoked because this Hy-Vee has all the seasonings that are available online. Now I don't have to pay postage or wait for them to arrive! Yippy skippy!
Another one is their
Mesa Rosa Chipotle
I mix it with brown sugar and sprinkle it on popcorn.
This place Fireworks Popcorn used to have a popcorn seasoning called Southwest Sizzle. They no longer make it. Combining the Mesa Rosa with the sugar gives me the exact same flavor. Yay! I even add a little cayenne sometimes to make it more spicy.
You have to try Urban Accents, their customer service is top notch and I have yet to be disappointed in anything that I've bought and I've bought quite a bit from them. Maybe that's another pic! Ya think? Hahaha
For lunch I am making sizzling rice soup with chicken and shrimp.
Here's how I make the rice.
http://chinesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa121801a.htm
Works perfectly every time. I like the fact that I can store the baked rice for later. I searched the internet to find this easy way to make the rice. Some sites said that after cooking the rice, leave the rice in the pan that sticks to the sides and bottom then add some oil and cook it until golden. That works too I tried that. But it was a witch to clean the pan afterwards.
In my soup I use carrots, celery, sliced shallots, canned mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and sliced water chestnuts.
I make a broth that intensely chicken flavored. I boil the sliced chicken separately in some chicken broth so the meat particles don't cloud the soup. At the end I will add the raw chopped shrimp, cooked chicken and sesame oil to the broth that has the vegetables. Then swoosh, in will go the fried rice. Tastes just like our favorite soup at Tsing Tsao but mine has more veggies and chicken and shrimp! Oh my!
My soup turned out superb! So, so good. The sesame oil on the top just finished the whole dish. I have left overs for tonight's supper of roasted chicken and crusty bread dipped in olive oil with some bread dipping seasonings that I got from The New Orleans School of Cooking the last trip there. I bought the Tuscany Blend and Rosa Maria Blend. See? I'm a freaking spice seasoning NUT!
http://store.nosoc.com/spices-seasonings-and-mixes/
The Rosa Maria has Garlic, salt, rosemary, oregano, thyme, black pepper, parsley flakes and canola oil.
The Tuscany Blend has salt, corn syrup, garlic, basil, tomato, green bell pepper, soybean oil and parsley.
I'm thinking of using one of them on the chicken.
Bpal has this series of oils called RPG for Role Playing Games. It's one of my favorite series because the oils are resiny, dark and foreboding.
Here's what BPAL says on their site regarding this series:
http://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-category/rpg-series/
So far of this series I love Neutral, Cleric, and Rogue. I have some imps that I have yet to try.
Evil
Smouldering opium tar, tobacco absolute, green tea, black plum, kush, ambergris accord, ambrette seed, and costus root.
Yep, love it. The ambergris and green tea keep this one bubbly and lighter than the other RPGs I've tried, but it's still a deep scent. Keeper!
Mage
All mystique and thrumming power: gurjum balsam, Sumatran dragon's blood resin, olibanum, galangal, oleo gum resin, and frankincense.
Ut oh. I can tell I'm gonna like this one. Olibanum and frankincense are my friends.
Maybe not. LOL
In the vial it's super sharp, almost like there's pine in it. Off to wiki to see what Gurjum and galangal are...Galangal is somewhat like ginger, and wiki doesn't know what gurjum is. I will have to see what this smells like on the skin before I know if I like it or not.
Dwarf
Iron filings and chips of stone, Styrian Golding hops, and soot-covered leather.
Oooh, resin with rootbeer. I like I like.
Lawful
Rigid oak, blue chamomile, rhubarb, and fig leaf.
Eeeew. Rancid green. SUPER sharp. Another one that I will have to have it on my skin before I can decide if I like it or not.
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