Cracking The Spice Code

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Inner foodie unleashed! I made my first infused oil and my own oven-dried tomatoes.

Inner foodie unleashed! I’m learning how to use herbs & spices. Last night I made my first ever infused oil with fresh rosemary and garlic.

I love cooking. But lately my inner foodie is tired of following recipes. I want to create my own dishes but need to build up my food knowledge. I’m starting with herbs and spices, the Rosetta Stone of cooking.

Once you knowing how to use herbs and spices you’ll bring out the flavor in foods and send your taste buds into orbit.

The spice aisle at my local grocery store is a mystery to me.  Unlike my wine store, there are no guides to tell me what anise seed taste like or which dishes call for saffron. There are so many spices but I have no clue which ones go with fish.  Which herbs go well with asparagus? Do you use different spices if you fry or grill a burger? By cracking this code, I feel I can really unleash my creativity.

I picked up Herbs & Spices: The Cook’s Reference: a wonderful book covering about 120+ herbs and spices, and  loaded with great info on aroma, taste, buying, storing and instructions on how to cook with them.

I started this new adventure by infusing olive oil with fresh rosemary and garlic. I also made my own oven-dried tomatoes. Yes, these are very simple to do, but I had to start somewhere. Each baby step I take builds my confidence.

Adding olive oil to fresh rosemary and garlic. It takes about 3-4 weeks for the flavors to mix.

Adding olive oil to fresh rosemary and garlic. It takes about 3-4 weeks for the flavors to mix.

Rosemary-Garlic Infused Oil
Ingredients

  • Several springs of fresh rosemary
  • 8-10 cloves of garlic
  • bottle with airtight seal
  • extra virgin olive oil

Directions

  • Peal the garlic cloves and cut in half so they will fit into the bottle. Put the cloves in the bottle, making sure they are evenly distributed along the bottom.
  • Bruise the rosemary by rubbing or gently crushing the springs; place the sprigs in the bottle.
  • Add oil.
  • Close the bottle and keep in a cool dark place for 1-2 weeks.
  • Taste the oil and if you want a stronger flavoring, add more rosemary and garlic. Once infused, you can keep the oil in the refrigerator up to 2 months. The cold may make it cloudy, but that should clear up when it reaches room temperature.
Homemade oven-dried tomatoes add flavor to salads and sauces. I'm storing mine with olive oil and garlic.

Homemade oven-dried tomatoes add flavor to salads and sauces. I’m storing mine with olive oil and garlic.

Oven-Dried Tomatoes
Ingredients

  • 5-6 plum tomatoes
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • ¼ fresh ground black pepper
  • fresh herbs, like rosemary or thyme, (optional)
  • garlic cloves, chopped (optional)
  • extra virgin olive oil (optional)
  • Jar with lid

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 200 F.
  • Place an oven proof wire rack on top of a rimmed baking sheet.
  • Slice stem ends off of the tomatoes then cut each tomato in half lengthwise.
  • Place tomatoes in bowl and add in salt, pepper and herbs; mix well.
  • Place tomatoes, cut side up, on a rack.
  • Bake tomatoes in the oven for 5-6 hours (until wrinkled and shrunken). Cool completely on the rack.
  • Cut the tomatoes into strips or leave as is. If placing tomatoes in oil, add garlic and herbs to oil while tomatoes are in oven. Place tomatoes in a jar, and refrigerate up to 4 days. If not placing tomatoes in oil, store tomatoes in air-tight container in the fridge for several weeks.

Cooking Day! Prepping For The Week

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food prepWhen I go to my Weight Watcher meetings, I always hear people talk about how they don’t have the time to plan ahead and that causes them to make bad food choices.  Well, I use to think like that too.  I did the 16-hour daily grind. Sat in traffic for an hour to get home. Did drive thru or order pizza for dinner because my day was grueling.   I use to tell myself I just don’t have the time. But that was really a lie.  I just wanted easy…and I got fatter.

Anyone who tells you they don’t have minutes to spare for their own health is fooling themselves. They just haven’t made themselves a priority.

And in fact, planning for the week only takes minutes. Every Saturday I do a weekly menu-10 minutes tops! Then on Sunday I cook a few items for the week. Not only is this a time saver, it takes the guess work our of what I’m eating each day and ensures that I eat healthy, low carb foods. Today, I’m whipping up:

Cream of Broccoli Soup
Grilled Chicken Breasts
Lime Chili Wings
Curried Egg Salad
Lots O’Chopped Veggies (snacks!)

Just try starting off prepping a few items, like chopping veggies for snacks or grab and go lunches. It will make your life easier and healthier.

Recipes will be posted after I do some chopping. But here is the cream of broccoli soup:

Low Carb Cream of Broccoli Soup
Makes 6 1-Cup Servings
Carb Count: 4g (if you make it without cheese, 3g)
Ingredients
1 lbs Broccoli, cut into florets, stems trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 C Chicken broth (can substitute veggie broth)
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1 C Heavy Cream
1 C Sharp Cheddar Cheese (optional, buy why leave tastiness out?)

Directions
Combine broth, salt and pepper in a large sauce pan over medium-high heat; bring to boil. Add broccoli, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until broccoli is tender, about 10-15 minutes. Transfer soup to a blender. Blend at low speed to puree soup. You’ll want to do this in batches. Place pureed soup into a sauce pan. Stir in cheese. Bring back to simmer over medium-high. Whisk in heavy cream; simmer and whisk occasionally until thick, about 5 minutes. Serve.  This can store in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Kicking Chicken Up a Notch: Rubs!

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Image courtesy of Dan/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Dan/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I tend to use Sunday to cook for the week. Just makes it easier as I plan out my weekly menu. This week’s main staple: Chicken! Excited? Yeah, me neither. Since chicken can get a bit dull, and I’m making about 12 breasts, I have 2 rubs and a marinade I’ll be using on the chicken – 4 breasts per concoction. I find that I’m more likely to eat the chicken during the week if there is a bit of zip to the tasty goodness. Below are recipes for a blackened cajun rub and a moroccan rub that I discovered on the Atkins site. The amounts for each ingredient is what I use to make each rub in large batches. I started making the rubs in bulk so that I don’t have to constantly pull out all of the ingredients each time I want a rub. The batches can usually last about a month.

Rub 1: Blackened Cajun Rub
Good with beef, chicken or fish

1/2 C Paprika + 2 tbsp
1/2 C Dried Oregano
1/4 C Salt
1/4 C Garlic Powder
4 tsp Dried Thyme
4 tsp Cayenne Pepper

Place ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Set aside a small portion of the rub, enough for 4 chicken breasts.

Rub 2: Moroccan Rub
Good with chicken, lamb or shrimp

1/2 C Cumin + 2 tbsp
1/3 C Ground Coriander
1/3 C Salt
2 Tbsp Black Pepper + 2tsp
2 Tbsp Ground Ginger + 2 tsp
2 Tbsp No Calorie Sweetener (granular is better than powder)
4 Tsp Ground Cinnamon

Place ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Set aside a small portion of the rub, enough for 4 chicken breasts.

Applying The Rub
After you’ve cleaned your meat, pat it dry. Take the rub in your hands and being rubbing it onto the meat, making sure to coat all sides. Some of you might be inclined to drop the rub in a baggie add the meat and shake the bag a la Shake n’ Bake. You could, but I like to physically rub the seasoning on the meat. Its the best way to ensure the meat is fully coated and that you have enough rub mix actually on the meat and not just a dusting.

Once you have rubbed the mix onto the chicken breasts, place it in a large resealable baggie and add 1-2 tbsps of extra virgin olive oil. Let the bag ‘o meat sit for about 30 minutes, flipping half way through. You want the olive oil to coat the chicken. After 30 it’s ready for grilling or baking.