What spices do you like to use?

[mrsklamc]

And what dishes do you use them in? We are trying to expand our spice horizons.

 

[wishesuponastar]

Mine are not that exciting...garlic powder, oregano, salt, pepper. But I do want to get tumeric to make yellow rice which I add shredded chicken.

 

[mrsklamc]

Ha! We have some turmeric from an ill fated attempt to make mustard.

 

[rnorwo1]

Cumin! Love it, love it, love it....

 

[bellarella]

Rosemary: toss chopped potatoes with a bit of olive oil and rosemary and grill or broil. I also use it in sauces with mushrooms.

Basil: preferably fresh, in all sorts of dishes.

Tarragon: with poultry, especially for gravies.

Cumin: in spice rubs and mexican food.

Ginger: with pork or poultry. I also make ginger ice cream.

Saffron: In paella.

Thyme: too many things to mention.

Those are probably my top "go to" spices, but when I cook, I often "taste and smell" (taste the food then smell my spices).

 

[figment3258]

To add to this I like
Nutmeg to add to Mac and cheese also apple pies
Cayenne use this in many dishes also great to mix brown sugar and rub on bacon yum
Basil but I prefer fresh add to alot of things salads pizzas
White pepper great in soups

 

[Kycha]

Dill weed - I toss it with any kind of root veggie(carrots, potatoes) with a little oil or butter. Then I roast the veggies. I also add it to green beans.

Celery seed/salt - I add this to my chicken stock and all kinds of soup.

Saffron - For chicken corn soup and chicken pot pie

Poultry seasoning - another great seasoning for soups or stocks. I also add this to my sausage gravy.

 

[queenofthehive]

Mrs Dash Seasonings - like to add this to roasted chicken, potatoes and fish.

Seasoning Salt - potatoes, grilled meats and chicken

Boullion (sp?) cubes - great subsitute when I am out of chicken stock.

Old Bay Seasoning - great for boiled shrimp and to sprinkle on fish.

 

[Muushka]

Great idea for a thread!

I use

dill weed in chicken salad
crushed red peppers in my BBQ (along with vinegar and other things)
cinnamon for my pork tenderloin
horseradish for my egg salad and potato salad

just joining in the spice fun!

 

[njmom47]

I sprinkle my turkey burgers with a bit of Adobo.
Italian seasoning/parsley in my meatloat/meatballs.
Curry in my chili.

Other than that I don't really use additional spices...maybe that's why dh uses pepper or hot sauce on everything.

 

[cdrn1]

We LOOOOOVE curry powder! Sometimes I pick up a rotiss chicken and make chicken salad out of it, with grapes and craisins and pecans and tons of curry powder. Soooo tasty!

 

[Gigi22]

Tarragon--in grilled tarragon chicken.
Dill--for southwestern potato salad, also in chicken pot pie.
Herbes de Provence--a mix of rosemary, marjoram, thyme, savoury, basil, lavender and sage. Delicious. I use it in a white wine variation of coq au vin and in anything else that I want to give a mildly herbal flavour.
Cranberry vinegar--I made this myself and use it in a vinaigrette dressing on green salad with sliced oranges.

 

[okeydokey]

I use fresh basil in a lot of stuff. We have a ton of it in the garden right now. Eggs, chicken, anything tomato based. I also use the Cavenders Greek seasoning (the salt free one) in just about everything I cook in place of pepper. And garlic, lots of garlic.

 

[AlaskaMOM]

Cumin! Love it, love it, love it....

me too!!


Cumin, love it for taco seasoning, chili, bbq sauce. It adds a smokeyness without being spicey-hot
good chili pwd for same as above
rosemary or thyme for baked chicken and roasting potatoes
chinese casia cinnamon for baking much better flavor than regular grocery store variety

 

[SandrA9810]

Garlic - Fresh or powder - In pretty much anything and everything
Rosemary - I've got a huge bush in the back yard - Mostly on chicken, and fresh bread. I also use the McCormick italian grinder when I make the bread.
Basil - I get a huge bunch of fresh about every other week - Lots of pesto sauce for potatoes and meat
Beau Monde - any kind of meat. I grew up with this being used on pretty much every meat dish in the house.
Fresh cracked salt and pepper


My spice rack also has some Mrs. Dash (usually a garlic variety), Webers grill mates (got 4 of them for 99cents each at the store). I bought this amazing herb blend for bread dipping when I was in Arkansas. It's from Pepper Creek Farms, amazing on a fresh caprese, mixed with the rosemary bread dough, and for dipping with olive oil.

 

[Karlzmom]

Cardamom in my pancakes, usually with apple sauce in them as well.

I always add curry to my chicken salad and my egg salad...or deviled eggs, for that matter.

Cinnamon in my chili.

I love smoke spanish paprika in sausage dishes.

I do a lot of "instinct" cooking. I have a well stocked spice cabinet and do what my son calls "cooking by smell". I seriously open spices and give a "sniff" as I cook and just think about the flavor profile it will add...over time you just start to learn and come up with combinations that work. Have fun!!!

 

[Maybelle]

chili powder for taco seasoning and a chili soup that I make
Cumin-taco seasoning and other uses
curry powder-chicken curry, curried chicken salad
montreal steak seasoning-on grilled chicken, pork chops as well as steak.
cajun seasoning-turkey burgers

and not a spice, exactly but Frank's red hot on just about everything...pizza, cajun turkey burgers, buffalo chicken chowder or dip, meatloaf...that's probably the seasoning I use the most!

 

[powellrj]

someone on the DIS recommended Penzys Spices and they are wonderful! I didn't realize they had a shop not far from me so I became a regular! They also have a mail-order catalog. If you sign-up for their catalog, they have been sending great coupons out several times a year. Usually its for a nice size bottle of one of their newer spices. Once I got a coupon to try anything and got a nice size bottle of a $9 spice I had been dying to try but too cheap to buy!

While I do buy single spices from them, I love the combos. Their sandwich sprinkle is one of my favorites. I also like their chili powder and their BBQ sprinkle. I am too lazy to get up and see what the actual names are of them! If you sign-up for their catalog, it also comes with some really good recipes!

 

[sherry7]

I have 40-50 different types of spices in the kitchen, but I tend to use the same few mostly.

Not really a spice per say, but I like the minced garlic in a jar. I'm talking about the kind packed in water, that you have to refrigerate after opening.

Garlic powder - are you seeing a trend?

Dried minced onion flakes

Cumin - for chili and white chili

Celery flakes - for soups, casseroles, etc

Celery seed - for pasta salad, coleslaw

Fresh ground salt & pepper - I buy the big disposable dispensers at Sam's Club.

Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning - for Spanish Rice, etc.

Dried cilantro - for Spanish Rice, chili, taco meat, etc.

 

[mrsklamc]

someone on the DIS recommended Penzys Spices and they are wonderful! I didn't realize they had a shop not far from me so I became a regular! They also have a mail-order catalog. If you sign-up for their catalog, they have been sending great coupons out several times a year. Usually its for a nice size bottle of one of their newer spices. Once I got a coupon to try anything and got a nice size bottle of a $9 spice I had been dying to try but too cheap to buy!

While I do buy single spices from them, I love the combos. Their sandwich sprinkle is one of my favorites. I also like their chili powder and their BBQ sprinkle. I am too lazy to get up and see what the actual names are of them! If you sign-up for their catalog, it also comes with some really good recipes!

Thanks! I've never been Penzey's but it's where I was planning on heading with the recommendations so this is really helpful.