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| Use fresh herbs from your herb garden or grocery store spice rack spices |
Spices are expensive, and they don't last forever. Some lose their potency for the flavor, and some get rancid. So don't buy one of those racks or pre-ready spinning table filled with spices in bottles. Who knows how long they've sat around.
You also need to learn which spices need what kind of care. Most spices need to be kept/stored away from direct sunlight. Inside a cupboard is good. Do not put spices in the refrigerator. The moisture will cause them to go bad. Some spices can be stored in the freezer.
You really only need a 12 spices to start cooking. As you become more educated about each spice and herb, you can acquire more. Here's a list of spices and herbs.
Basil: Also called sweet basil. With an aroma that is like mint and tea. Basil is available in leaf form. It is used as a seasoning for pizza, spaghetti sauce, sausage, soup, tomato juice, dressings, salads, and any dish where oregano would be used
Bay Leaves: They have a woody, astringent flavor with a pleasant, slightly minty aroma. Bay leaves should always be removed before food is served. Works well in soups, with meat and poultry dishes, pasta sauces, fish and is also used to flavor some desserts.
Black Pepper: Black pepper has a sharp, penetrating aroma and a characteristic woody, piney flavor. It is hot and biting to the taste.
Cinnamon: Cinnamon has a characteristic woody, musty, earthy, and sweet flavor. It is warming to taste. It is available whole, as cinnamon sticks, and ground. Used in spiced vegetable dishes, also in sweet dishes such as baking, pies, compotes, and also with meats, stews, vegetables and curries.
Garlic (Powder, Salt): It has a strong, pungent green flavor and is one of the most popular seasonings used today. Garlic can be conveniently purchased as fresh bulbs, dehydrated powder, minced flakes, and blends with salt. It adds flavor to almost any dish. Garlic is especially popular in Italian cuisine and throughout the Mediterranean region and Asia. Sprinkle to taste on hamburgers, lamb, chuck roast, steak, chicken, Italian green beans, zucchini, tomatoes and green salads. Use with sour cream or cream cheese for dips. Sprinkle on stuffed eggs. Use it sparingly to begin with and add small amounts until it suits your taste.
Onion (Flakes, Powder, Salt): Onions are an important flavoring in almost every country in the world. When combined with other ingredients, onion flavor is rarely overwhelming or assertive. Onions, pungent when raw and sweet in flavor when cooked, are an extremely versatile flavoring and can be used to accent nearly any kind of dish.
Oregano: Similar in flavor to marjoram, it is not as sweet and is slightly more pungent and bitter. Use oregano in your favorite ethnic dishes as well as in fresh garden salads, egg dishes, quick breads, rubs, and sauces.
Paprika: The brilliant red powder is the "garnish spice" contributing color and sweet pepper flavor. Hungarian paprika is characterized by a hotter taste, achieved in recent times by adding hot, red capsicum pepper to ground paprika. Sold in ground form. Used as a garnish for light-colored food such as fish, potatoes, eggs, and cheese dishes. A popular addition to many rubs, marinades and sauces. It is the principal seasoning in Hungarian goulash and often is used in French dressing. To retain its red color, paprika should be kept in the refrigerator.
Rosemary: Rosemary has a distinctive fresh, sweet, piney aroma and flavor. Rosemary is available in leaf form. Use with lamb, pork, potatoes, carrots, stews, sauces, marinades, fish, poultry, bread, on grilled or skewered meat and in roasted potato dishes.
Sage: Comes in whole, rubbed (crushed) and ground form. The herb is distinctively aromatic and fragrant with slightly medicinal, piney, and bitter flavors. It is used to flavor pork, pork sausage, poultry stuffing, veal, stuffing, and tomato sauces.
Thyme: It has a pungent and sweetly herbal fragrant. It can be used to improve the flavor of most dishes, especially slow cooked dishes.
White Pepper: White pepper has a similar but more earthy flavor than black pepper. Used in many dishes, sauces, rubs, and marinades. Experiment to decide how much you like.
That's it for today.