Dry mustard for making homemade mac & cheese I dont really use a lot of spice mixes because they usually have a lot of added sodium. Kosher Salt- cleaner taste and doubles as margarita salt Cayenne Pepper- a little goes a long way Cumin- Chili, taco meat Tumeric- mainly for color. Goes in a fresh Corn Bisque I like to make in Summer Black Pepper- in a pepper mill, I dont like it already ground Red Pepper Flakes- adds an extra zip if you feel like "something is missing" from a dish, also awesome for pizza I dont like using dried herbs. I only use fresh. FYI- If you are in Baton Rouge- DONT BUY SPICES AT A GROCERY STORE- go to Atcha Bakery at 3221 Nicholson Dr . Really reasonable prices on spices and really amazing food.
Excellent point. i havent used plain old table salt with iodine added in years. it tastes awful to me. i only use sea salt or kosher salt.
I find this puzzling. Kosher salt is simply unrefined rock salt with all of its impurities. Sea salt has even more impurities (15%) than rock salt and including more potassium and 8% sufites which cause headaches in a lot of people. Refined table salt is 95% sodium chloride. Iodized salt may have a slightly metallic taste to some people, but refined salt is available without iodine. I don't recommend it though, countries without iodized salt sources suffer significant health effects from iodine deficiencies including thyroid problems and mental health problems in children. Why we need iodine Sea salt is expensive, too!
Also, isn't potassium good for athletes? Have always heard lack of it leads to cramps and banannas were also high in potassium and great pre-game (day before) snacks.....especially with softball cause they sometimes play 3 & 4 games a day in Tourn. play (Non collegiate play- Select teams, All Star teams, etc).
I guess it would be kosher salt and cracked pepper for me, as we grow most of our own herbs. I got spoiled years ago working in restaurants with fresh herbs and I absolutely hate using dried spices. Some do work in a pinch to be sure, but most just don't deliver the punch for me.
Iodized salt Sea salt Ground black pepper Fresh black pepper Cayenne Garlic powder Onion powder (rarely use, as I include sauteed onions in about 95% of what I cook) Paprika Cumin Fennel Seed Oregano T-Boy's Bay leaves Onion flakes (rarely used, see above) Parsley flakes (rarely used, normally buy fresh.) Tartar (used for getting stains out of Magnalite pots, especially from boiled eggs) I didn't know you could buy cilantro as a seasoning. No need to around here, as it's a staple of all produce sections.
My staples are salt, pepper, oregano(ground and leaves), basil, bay leaves, nutmeg, cinnamon, ground cloves, ground ginger, ground mustard, allspice, Tony Chachere's original seasoning. I also have onion power, garlic powder, garlic salt, cumin seeds, sesame seeds, Tyme (leaves and ground), Rosemary, and white pepper but I don't use those as much.
I pulled a chili recipe off the CASI website a few years ago. Among other things, it calls for cayenne, black, and white pepper. Wasn't really familiar with white pepper, by that I mean I'd never cooked with it. It's "different" and the chili recipe is very good so I keep it around now. By the way, CASI posts the champion recipe from the world championship in Terlingua each year on it's website. http://www.chili.org/
Try making Cincinnati Chili sometime. There are recipes on the web. They are really proud of it in Cincinatti, but they ruin it by serving it over spaghetti, for Gawd's sake, with beans and cheese and oyster crackers on top. Forget all that. The important unusual ingredient is Cinnamon. You wouldn't think it, but it makes for a really good chili. I serve mine over hash browns.
