Food Lush

Soy Sauce Substitute: Coconut Aminos

By Caitlin

How is my crazy diet going, you (don't) ask? It's going great! As of yesterday I am....officially....halfway THRROO-OUGGHHH my...WHOOOLE THIRRTAYYYY! (Oprah voice) 

It's...going well. I feel pretty great (except for what I expect is HA HAAA another sinus infection), I have more energy, I am getting more sleep and better sleep and am just more clear-headed in general. I am beginning to tire of the relentless cooking and meal planning, yet it is also becoming easier in the sense that it's more routine now. Zach and I have found things we like, and some great new foods we'd probably never have tried otherwise. I think ghee (clarified butter) is going to be a routine part of my diet now. All the delicious butter with out all the mucus-causing dairy component! Delightful!

One problem you have when eliminating all soy, sugars, legumes, and the like is that it can be hard to find a product that lends umami to your cooking. Soy sauce, worcestershire, and most other sauces and seasonings are out. Enter coconut aminos. This soy, nut, dairy, gluten, everything free, raw, vegan liquid gold is shockingly good inspite what all those hippie adjectives might imply, and tastes like a sweet soy sauce. It has been a delightful addition to our diet. Use in stir fries, dressings, marinades, soups, or for dipping sashimi; basically anywhere you'd use soy sauce.  

Photo from http://www.vitacost.com

I've read about coconut aminos before on paleo and healthy living blogs but as I have a rather large cabinet chock full of seasonings, sauces, and spices (such is the fate of being married to a chef), I had little impetus to actually try it. Until now. I scavenged my local Whole Foods, missed the first time, and found it the second. It was in the asian section, near the mirin and soy sauces. (You can also find it on Amazon.) When I got it home Zach opened it up to taste it and it fizzed everywhere. We were disappointed and were going to take it back to exchange it for a fresh one when I had an epiphany: I think it's fermented? A few google searches later and we learned that it's normal for it to fizz when you open it: It's made from the fermented sap of the coconut tree. It sounds like I made that up, but I sure didn't.

Have you tried coconut aminos? And tell me, how is candy? Is candy still as good as I remember? Tell it I said hi.

Spice Up Your Oven Fries

By Julie

I was grocery shopping the other day, absentmindedly looking for something new and fun to jazz up dinner when I happened upon this:

In the spirit of full disclosure, my oven fries have never been anything special, no matter what I've tried. I have yet to find that perfect crispy-fluffy texture, and the flavor is usually blah. So I picked up a packet and figured with an investment of 89 cents, it wasn't too risky to give this a spin.

I've got to hand it to Concord Foods - this seasoning makes one tasty potato. Bacon is the significant flavor, and even though I got barely a hint of chive, I was OK with that because it highlighted the other flavors perfectly. I couldn't stop eating them.

My eight year old son cleaned his plate, but my four year old daughter wouldn't touch them. In fairness, since she didn't taste anything, her opinion doesn't really count. And my husband ate every wedge that was left. So I'm calling this a win for my family.

Concord also makes dip, soup, and salsa seasoning blends, and I think I will be checking them out in the near future. Such a nice little kick for not a lot of money.

(Photo from Concord Foods)

Blackened Mahi Mahi

by Maura

As the lovely and charming Caitlin mentioned last week, we bought some local spices when we were in New Orleans. (I am definitely going to try her recommendation of blackened shrimp caesar salad this week!) I have not tried all the spices I bought, but I have cooked with the River Road Blackened Seasoning a few times.

This spice was really tasty on mahi mahi and salmon. It is spicy and a little goes a long way. It adds a nice kick to a blandish fish like mahi mahi and is a nice contrast to a fatty fish like salmon. Served with a side of roasted broccoli, it is a nice, easy, and healthy meal. I think it would also be good on a well marbled cut of beef.

If you aren't going to be around New Orleans any time soon, you can order this spice mix from World Famous Nawlins Cafe and Spice Market. You can also mix up your own (salt-free) version from this Seattle Times Food and Wine recipe. I've never tried that one, but you can generally trust the Seattle Times.

Do you have a favorite blackening seasoning? Is there a particular food you like to use blackening seasoning with?

Spices: the Garden, the Bulk, and the Penzeys

By Julie

There are lots of ways to procure herbs and spices for your pantry collection. If you’re an avid, or even amateur, gardener, you can grow your own in season. In fact, I once heard that herbs are second only to succulents for their growing ease and forgiveness. That little morsel has not stopped me from killing every cilantro plant I’ve tried to grow, but I keep trying. There’s nothing like being able to clip a few sprigs of basil or rosemary right off the plant for the dinner you are in the process of making.  I’ve haven’t yet attempted drying my own for future use, but I will one day.

Then there is picking up those little bottles at the supermarket (or the dollar store – my little trick).  This is fine if you use a particular spice consistently (cinnamon is one such spice in our house), but sometimes you only have a recipe or two that use tarragon, for example, at it’s just not worth the expense of the entire jar.  Dried herbs and spices do last, but they do eventually go flat.  For these situations, I recommend buying just what you need from the bulk section of the store.  Now, not all stores have bulk sections, so you may have to do a little research, but it’s a growing trend in the grocery industry. I used to drive fifteen miles to the one store around with a bulk section, but now there are at least two within a mile, and both of these are regular, everyday markets, not high end, fancypants stores. You can save a ton of money (little scoops of dried spices weight hardly anything, so you can get what you need for pennies) and possibly try out something new that you couldn’t price justify.

And then, there’s Penzeys.  Penzeys is a purveyor extraordinaire of all things herby and spicy. They are a mail order/internet business, but also have store sprinkled around the country. You can get anything from them. You’re probably not going to save a bunch of money this way, but it’s a great way to get those hard to find items. Plus, their seasoning blends are so unique and fun. A favorite around our house is the Arizona Dreaming blend of southwestern flavors that we sprinkle of chicken, pork, and a whole host of veggies. Yum.

There is a world of flavor out there beyond McCormick and Spice Islands. And you don’t have to break the bank to try it.

{Photo Credit: thekitchn.com}

Where Have you Been All My Life, Garlic Bread Sprinkle?

By Ariel

I had my mother and father in-law over Sunday for dinner. Justin suggested making Manicotti, so I went to the store for all the ingredients. I was out of fennel, so I wandered over to my beloved spice aisle and tried to avoid buying anything other than the (ridiculously expensive!) fennel seeds.

Unfortunately, I made eye contact with this:

Did you guys know about this? Am I way late to the party? I'm pretty sure I've never seen garlic bread sprinkle before and I am a very frequent visitor to the spice isle. 

Anyway, long story short, I bought it. I usually make my own garlic bread by slicing a loaf of Italian bread, buttering it up, and loading it with minced garlic, onion powder, parsley, parmesan, and mozzarella cheese. With this neat little creation I still sliced a loaf, buttered, and topped it with mozzarella for some cheesy goodness and I think this way might be better.  n fact, I made it for my in-law's dinner and my mother-in-law all but fought my husband for the leftovers. 

I'd call that a successful product.  What culinary shortcuts have you discovered lately?

[Photo Credit Amazon.com]

Storing Spices

By Nora    

I don't know about you, but I have been at war with my spice jars for quite a long time now. I have SO many, and not enough space to house them. I used to have a spice rack on my counter, but I got sick of looking at it there and got rid of it recently, which only led to more homeless spices in my kitchen. I have one designated cabinet/shelf for my spices, and i'ts not nearly big enough for everything. And as cute as some of those spice storage systems on Etsy are, I just didn't want to buy something that I might get tired of looking at in a few months. I just want to be able to store my spices in cabinet and find the one I need when I need it! Is that so wrong?

So I did a bit of exploring on Amazon and came across the SpiceStor Organizer Spice Rack. It's a simple concept, and it fits in a very small space, which is what i'm dealing with. You mount the clips on the plastic board depending on the spice jars you want to store, and then stick the track on the shelf above and the board easily slides in and out, thus preventing the avalanche of falling spice jars every time you need the ground cloves. It hasn't solved ALL my spice storage issues since I have some awkwardly sized jars that I still don't know what to do with, but for now it has at least prevented me from having an anxiety attack when I open the spice cabinet. 

(Image from Amazon.com)

Gadget Review: OXO Rolling Herb Mincer

By Dani

The first time I ever helped make a fancy dinner was at my collegiate best friend's house in Dallas, and I was asked to help mince up tomatoes and garlic for a garnish. I was happily chopping away when my friend took a glance at my chopping board. Her eyes widened, and she gently admonished, "Dani, we need the vegetables minced."

I looked at the giant cubes of tomatoes (what I had considered minced) and realized a simple truth: that I am not a good mincer. I don't have patience for it, and, as the Top Chef judges would say, I don't have good knife skills, and honestly, I just don't care enough to spend the time to really mince anything.

So, imagine my surprise and delight when I realized that Williams-Sonoma sells just the gadget for me. (Actually, the whole store is for me. Of this I am convinced.)

The OXO Rolling Herb Mincer has four blades, so even an impatient knife-wielder like myself can actually cop small enough for a fancy garnish or strong herbs. You do need to pre-chop any larger veggies before you can truly mince anything other than small herbs, but it is a total time-saver, and I love it.

It cleans up pretty easily and is actually a gadget that I use frequently (unlike my zucchinni-steamer-peeler-doodad).

(Photo credit: Williams-Sonoma)

Spice Intervention

By Ariel

Hello. My name is Ariel and I am addicted to spices.

It has come to the point where my cabinet shelves just are not enough room anymore. I need more space. I tried to talk my husband into knocking down a wall or two to extend the kitchen, but something about "support beams" and other such nonsense will keep that idea at bay for awhile. Exhibit A:

That happens to be the bottom from a case of beer. We're very high-tech around here. I also have this that I recieved as a wedding gift:

Not to mention what didn't fit in either storage space.  I need an intervention.  Preferably a stylish and functional one. I really like the Etsy find Nora wrote about a couple years ago, but I need more space. My running favorite is along the lines of Nora's solution, only bigger. I found this little DIY beauty on thekitchn.com and I love the versatility of the space. I could add, subtract, rename, paint, anything I wanted to a sheet metal base and get the perk of having funntional kitchen wall art. We have been warned that light is a no-no for spices, but I honestly blow through most of mine so fast that 6 months really isn't a bad deadline for me. I can still keep my less-oft used spices in the cupboard in a much more manageable environment.

Another option I really like is just adding racks to my vertical space, like so:

(Photo from organizeyourstuffnow)

You know what? I better go with both.

Has anyone had any experience with this whole magnetic trend? I love the idea, I just wonder if I'm just courting a spicy mess on the floor (ba dum bum). Can you ring in how well it works, how it holds up, ease of assembly? Any tricks and tips are greatly appreciated!  

My Newest Obsession: Hidden Valley Dry Ranch Mix

By Ariel

This might be one of those "well duh" posts, and I'm sure most people have seen those dry ranch packets at the grocery store. That said, I recently found it in the form of 16 ounces.

My Sam's Club had this bad boy sitting on a shelf the last time we went. I SWEAR this is new, or new to me. I checked for you Costco members and it looks like it's available in this size there, as well. I used to always keep a few of the packets on hand, but they lacked the convenience and the spontaneous appeal you get when there's a huge tub of it sitting in your cupboard. I use this ranch mix in EVERYTHING now. Chicken, potatoes, hamburgers, roasted veggies, cheese balls, not to mention a lower fat ranch dressing (skim milk and fat-free mayo) and, of course, the dips.  

I threw about a tablespoon full into my pepperoni ball recipe and kicked those up a notch. I religiously add ranch to my parmesan potatoes as well. I guess you could say I have a slight addiction, but this seasoning has officially replaced garlic powder as my most used dry good.  What's even better is that I was paying almost $5 for a 3-pac of one-ounce envelopes, and now I can buy the 16-ounce container for under $15.  If you are not a member or near a Sam's or Costco, you can also make the ranch yours on Amazon for about the same price here.

What's the best thing you've ever bought in mega-bulk?

[Photo from amazon.com]

Fancypants Taco Seasoning

by Elissa

Normally I am able to ignore celebrity chef products and endorsements--most of them just don't seem that appealing to me. But a few weeks ago I succumbed to temptation and bought Rick Bayless's taco seasoning at the grocery store. He has a reputation for knowing his way around Mexican food, and I was looking to improve my taco efforts, which are a weekly staple at our house.

In my defense, it was on sale. My verdict? Pretty good, and definitely a step up from your standard powdered mix. It's a liquid and has good chile flavor, along with some chunks of tomatoes. I'm not sure I'd pay full price, but for two bucks this was definitely worth it. And sometimes little luxuries like this can make a standard meal feel a little less ordinary.