When I was a kid, my mother cooked with salt and pepper. If she was feeling very adventurous, she’d break out the Adolf’s Meat Tenderizer. So, when I decided I wanted to learn to cook, spices and seasonings opened a whole new world for me.
Every culture has its own spicing and seasoning secrets. Learning which herbs and spices to use to prepare food with a French, Greek or Italian feel really freed me up to experiment. And learning to use whole spices, only freshly grinding what I need brought extra flavor to our dinner table.
Our 5th Taste – Umami by Nell Jones “Umami” is one of those words that you are searching for to describe the way something tastes but then convince yourself that there is no word to exist for it. Well thanks to a Japanese chemist, there is now a word for that savory, yet not exactly […]
What Kind of Mint Am I Growing In My Garden? Someone recently asked me about the mint growing in their garden. Is it peppermint, spearmint or some other kind of mint? I had no idea so I did a little research so I had a better understanding of mint varieties and then went out to […]
Common Mistakes When Seasoning With Salt Salt is critical for bringing out flavors in the foods we cook. One of my problems with eating out, especially at good restaurants, I find chefs often over salt their dishes. I’m not sure why and this would be a great topic for another article but I find it […]
A Simple Chart Describing Herbs & Spices & How to Use Them Let’s take a look at some of the more commonly available herbs and spices. These listings are by no means exhaustive. Many of the spice plants are not native to the United States; in these cases, I provide the USDA hardiness zone information […]
More Common Mistakes When It Comes to Herbs & Spices Mistake #2 Keeping Herbs and Spices Forever Most of us have a dark, dusty corner of our spice cabinet where old spices go to die. You know the place. It’s where you keep the rarified spices that you bought to make a special dish for […]
How NOT to Season Foods – Common Seasoning Mistakes & How to Avoid Them Spices and seasonings are our passport to a whole world of flavor possibilities. We are very lucky that we live in a time when a host of spices are readily available for our use and experimentation. In the past, wars have […]
Do You Know The Difference Between Tamari Sauce and Soy Sauce? I admit that I’ve never really given this much thought, but to my untrained eyes at least, soy sauce and tamari look pretty much alike. So there must be some reason that both are available. So I did some digging, and this is what […]
Salt and How To Use It To Season Food Everything you wanted to know about salt and why it is the most important seasoning in the kitchen. Professional chefs depend on it to bring out the flavor of the ingredients they are cooking with. This video, Salt of the Season, by my friend Peter Hertzmann, […]
Four Recipes for Cooking With Hot Peppers By contributing writer Mark R. Vogel Some Like It Hot Do you like hot food? I mean really hot food? Are you a chile head? Then let’s talk hot peppers. Chile peppers, of which there are almost 200 varieties, have been cultivated since 6200 B.C. All chile peppers […]
Spice Up Your Life! By: Mark R. Vogel The Quest for Herbs & Spices Every school kid is taught that Columbus discovered the new world. But few of them know why. Columbus was seeking an alternative route to India in an attempt to break the monopoly that Venice held on the world spice trade. Little […]
I'm a work-at-home dad who enjoys cooking, learning everything I can about the culinary world and sharing it with you. To learn more about me... Read More
How to Make the Best Beef Wellington This Beef Wellington recipe has become a tradition in our house. We prepare it every couple of years for Christmas and made it again this year. If I’m lucky, we will have it next year and the year after that. My wife originally found a recipe in Fine […]
Christmas Standing Rib Roast Thanksgiving is a holiday in which turkey really shines. Many of you would rather not deal with another turkey just four weeks after Thanksgiving. Some of you might still have some frozen leftovers. The Christmas meal is a celebratory meal, and as such, celebration food is a natural at the Christmas […]
How to Bake A Ham For Christmas
Baked Christmas Ham Recipe Would you like to serve a wonderfully flavorful and juicy ham for the holidays? Here’s a can’t-go-wrong recipe that will have your guests asking for seconds, and for a plate of leftovers, as well. Be sure to read about the history of serving ham on Christmas and the various types of […]
