For Chef’s and restauranteurs, there’s nothing more important to your business success. than customers who patronize your restaurant on a regular basis.
Many, almost seem like family.
You may reward them with a customer loyalty program, an occasional drink, appetizer or dessert. But during the holiday’s when we turn our attention to our family, even our “extended” family, there’s no better way to show your appreciation, then offering a gift that you’ve made yourself.
It’s personal.
For generations, baking and packaging tins of delicious homemade cookies were always a family holiday gift giving tradition.
There are however, some interesting and easy to make holiday culinary gift treats that you can make in your kitchen that will really impress.
Some can be made without even turning on the oven, or investing a lot of time.
Depending on your budget, and your time, any one of these ideas make an excellent gift and rather inexpensive gift for your special customers.
Below, each gift idea is rated by its estimated relative cost, minus the cost of the container you might choose.
Generally, we can categorize these ideas in terms of:
COST
$ under 5 dollars
$$ 5 to 10 dollars
$$$ over 10 Dollars
AND EASE
* Easy, ** Medium, *** Challenging
Of course, it’s more personal if all of these ideas are house made and from recipes or products that you would use on your menu. It makes them special and memorable.
Some ideas are: Cost Ease
A House Seasoning Salt (1 cup) $ *
Caramel Sauce (2 cups) $$ **
Hot Fudge Sauce (2 cups) $$ **
Herb Flavored Vinegars (2 Cups) $$ *
Chocolate Clusters (per ½ lb) $$ *
Vanilla Extract (per cup) $$$ **
Vanilla Sugar (per pound) $$ *
Clarified Cooking Butter (per cup) $$ *
Biscotti Cookies (per pound) $$ **
Chocolate Truffles (per pound) $$$ **
Basil Pesto (per cup) $$$ ***
Meat Marinade (Mongolian) (per cup) $$ **
Meat Rubs (per ½ cup) $$ *
House Made Granola $$ **
As for packaging, you can use something as inexpensive as lidded deli cups, or, go all out and purchase nicer, small glass container, small tins or boxes as retailers such as The Container Store, At Home, Hobby Lobby, Michaels or similar outlets.
From early fall and all throughout the winter, you’ll find one particular seasoning in high demand as menus tilt more towards roasts, in particular, roasts of the “bird” kind.
And not only the roasts, but in many cases, the stuffing, dressings and other side dishes that often accompany them.
Although Poultry Seasoning isn’t exactly a “seasonal” seasoning, for all intents and purposes, our expectation of what roasted poultry “taste”, just naturally coincides with the savory flavor of this popular blend of herbs and spices.
Especially at Thanksgiving.
Exactly what is Poultry Seasoning anyway?
To begin, it is of course a seasoning blend, and as such, is always open to interpretation as to not only what specific herbs and spices are used, but in what proportion. Much in the same way curry powder, chili powder or Italian seasoning blends are.
If you’re buying a pre-blended Poultry Seasoning, and find one that you particularly like, stick with it, because it’s quite possible that a different brand will not have the exact same blend formula.
The most common herbs used in this blend are: sage, thyme, marjoram and rosemary. The most common spices being: nutmeg and black pepper.
6 basic ingredients. That’s it.
Among the variations to this blend, are using oregano instead of marjoram, (they’re closely related), and, the use of ginger.
You’ll also occasionally see Poultry Seasoning with the add-ins of onion, garlic, parsley, red bell peppers, celery seed, ground coriander, allspice or savory. But again, it’s not all that common.
Of course, poultry (chicken, turkey, duck, squab, quail etc.), isn’t the only protein whose flavor is graced by this popular seasoning. Pork is another center of the plate meat that is closely associated with Poultry Seasoning, and it’s no coincidence that a bread or corn bread stuffing, seasoned with Poultry Seasoning, is a go-to accompaniment with both.
In addition, gravies and sauces which accompany both poultry and pork dishes are often lightly seasoned with this blend.
Another great use for Poultry Seasoning is as a seasoning in flours and batters used for fried chicken, and with roasted vegetables. You’re even seeing it more and more used in fish dishes and with tofu.
You don’t have to buy the pre-blended Poultry Seasoning. It’s quite easy to create your own, or, you can have the Red Goose Spice Company make one exactly to your specifications if your usage complies with our minimums.
How to Make Poultry Seasoning
Sage and thyme are THE 2 key ingredients in this blend, and as such, you want to be sure that BOTH of these herbs are fresh and full of flavor.
This recipe is a volume recipe, as such, if you are using rubbed sage instead of ground sage, or leaf thyme instead of ground thyme, you will need to use nearly twice as much, as it will be less compacted in your measurement container.
You should also consider blending it with a food processor to ensure that all of the particulates distribute throughout the blend equally.
If all of your ingredients are ground, then all you have to do is stir or toss them to give you an equal distribution.
Lastly, after creating your blend, you’ll want to store it in an air-tight container in a cool place, to extend its shelf life.
Poultry Seasoning Recipe
Makes approximately 6 cups
2 Cups Ground Sage
1 ½ Cups Ground Thyme
1 Cup Ground Marjoram
¾ Cup Ground Rosemary
1/3 Cup Ground Nutmeg
1/3 Cup Ground Black Pepper
As mentioned, you can substitute oregano for the marjoram. You can also consider customizing this recipe by adding onion powder, garlic powder or any one of the other herbs or spices we’ve mentioned.
Whether you purchase a finished blend, or create one of your very own, fall is a wonderful opportunity to revisit Poultry Seasoning, one of the most popular seasoning blends in a Chef’s repertoire.
The Red Goose Spice Company is a valuable resource for all of your seasoning needs, whatever the season, and whatever your recipe needs are.
Ok, either I’ve got a little too much time on my hands, or, perhaps, maybe I’m searching for a little personal vindication.
Do we REALLY have what the “experts” are saying should be the Top 10 Herbs or Spices in our cupboards?
To find out, I scoured the Web to find out just what the “experts” are saying.
What are these 10?
And who are the runners-up?
To be fair, almost all top 10 lists seem to be biased, either by region, by personal preferences, or, by what the authors think their audiences are expecting to hear, (or read.)
As such, I did kind of a “deep-dive” and gathered, what I think, is a rather broad range of more than 15 credible, (and semi-credible) sources, which includes magazines, food bloggers and food-oriented newsletters, to find out what “they” think.
The authors included general researchers, food bloggers, culinary educators, food enthusiasts, and one, very well-known Chef.
They were:
Tastessence, an on-line foodie magazine/newsletter
Bon appetite, a hard copy and on-line magazine
Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts (Home Gourmet) / Newsletter
MasterClass (Gordon Ramsay) / Article
HUFFPOST / General Research Article
Taste of Home, a hard copy and on-line magazine
Vogue, a hard copy and on-line magazine
Food Fire + Knives (a Foodie Blog)
12 Tomatoes, an on-line foodie blog/magazine
Zestful Kitchen, an on-line cooking Blog
Just Average Jen, an on-line cooking Blog
EHL Insights, a culinary education on-line resource
Kitchen Gadget Review, an on-line magazine
How Stuff Works, an on-line lifestyle magazine
The Spruce Eats, an on-line culinary newsletter
National Today, an on-line newsletter
The Rules:
I specifically omitted sources which focused on what spices and herbs to use for weight loss or health, and believe me, that’s spice fodder for a whole other blog.
Instead, I focused on what most authors, (be it Chefs, foodies or everyday cooks), believe that you should have in YOUR everyday cupboard.
Not all sources listed 10, some listed as few as 5 and some as many as 20. So, I made a spread sheet to note how many times an herb or spice was listed in each article and weighted the results accordingly.
It got complicated.
And, since a number of authors had “spice blends” on their list, (curry powder, chili powder etc.), it forced me to add them to the list as well.
Lastly, while you can debate whether salt is a spice (it isn’t), it was, I’m presuming, left off of nearly everyone’s list.
Kudos.
Likewise, peppercorns (black), which is a spice was left off a LOT of lists. Wha?
Go figure?
As such, this list is the 12 most popular choices, if you want consider salt # 1 and pepper, # 2.
In total, 43 different herbs, spices or blends were on the combined lists. Obviously, some folks just love certain cuisines and their biasness showed.
Among the more interesting findings were:
You don’t achieve 7 total Michelin stars without exploring imaginative dishes.. Gordon Ramsay by far had the most eclectic list of favorites, with Sumac, Fenugreek and Star Anise among his top 10 must haves.
Cinnamon #1? Didn’t see that one coming. Nor Nutmeg/ Mace at # 5.
Seriously… Fajita Seasoning? Someone actually listed Fajita Seasoning. (Their site will be kept on probation.)
The jury was somewhat split between sweet paprika and smoked paprika…. Sweet Paprika won out.
One of my personal favorites, tarragon, had a rather poor showing.
I was rather surprised how many people has crushed red pepper on their list.
And not much love for Basil. Hmmmm?
I think if the question were, if you could only take 10/12 herbs and spices on a journey to a distant planet to colonize, which ones would you choose?
That might have given entirely different, and perhaps more thoughtful, responses.
For me, if I was asked to create my own list of 10 plus salt & pepper, I’d probably weight my list slightly towards the savory side (maybe 6 of the 10) with maybe 4 Italian herbs, Oregano, Basil, Rosemary and my Tarragon, (sorry Thyme.)
I’d complete the list with cumin, garlic, and maybe 1 blend, (I’d wrestle between chili powder and curry powder.),
The remaining 3 would be sweet spices. Probably cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg.
But alas, this is the general consensus among the 16 in this survey.
Salt (Sea Salt preferred)
Peppercorns (Whole Black then ground)
Cinnamon
Garlic
Cumin
Ginger
Nutmeg / Mace
Oregano
Paprika
Rosemary
Basil
Onion Powder, Crushed Red Pepper & Chili Powder (All tied)
And to answer the original question, yes, as it turns out, I do indeed have all of the top 10/12 herbs, spices and or blends in my pantry.
Thank goodness I don’t have to go out and buy Fajita Seasoning.
Tracing the origins of the hamburger, leads you in so many different directions that it’s really hard to determine exactly who’s responsible and when or where it really happened.
Was it Delmonico’s in New York in 1834? Fletcher Davis in Texas or Charlie Nagreen in Wisconsin in 1885? Otto Kuase or Oscar Weber Bilby in Germany in1891.
And no doubt, anyone under 50 might just think it was Big Boy or the McDonald brothers.
In truth, the closest to a “modern-day” hamburger invention claim would have to be White Castle in 1921.
However, or where ever hamburgers were “invented”, they have since become THE most iconic American meal…ever.
Of course, everything evolves or, is reshaped to suit a new dining audience.
What began as a version of a chopped Salisbury steak somewhere, later became a burger on a bun, and then, beef patties became chicken and turkey burgers.
Today, even the meat itself is gone, in favor of a flavored vegetable protein.
Through all this change, after all this time, one thing the burger chains haven’t really capitalized on are turkey and chicken burgers.
Fried chicken on a bun, yes, in a BIG way.
But grilled chicken burgers on a bun. Nope, (unless you call a heavily-breaded deep-fried patty an actual burger.)
So, that leaves it up to the independents, and to Chef’s in restaurants, clubs, resorts or similar venues, to pick up the poultry torch and bring to America a truly outstanding turkey or chicken burger.
Flavorful, not bland. Juicy not dry. Not heavily breaded then deep-fried but rather, grilled or pan-seared.
There are challenges. Both turkey and chicken are pretty darn lean, which is good, and bad.
Good, because it’s one of their virtues is that they’re low fat and healthy, bad because it can make them dry and more difficult to form into a patty that actually holds its shape, and that doesn’t stick to the grill.
That however, can be overcome by hard-chilling your patties and using a vegetable spray on your grill before placing the patty on it.
Turkey and chicken burgers can be as simple as ground meat with salt and pepper, Unfortunately, they would likely be dry, lack flavor and, unless pan-seared, not hold their shape very well.
To solve that, you need to minimally do a few things.
Start with a mixture of both white and dark meat which is patted dry. A small amount of clean turkey or chicken fat is ok.
Grind it with a normal 1/8” die so that it will bind together when formed.
Adding both egg and panko can assist in the binding and also add moisture.
If grilled, it’s best for the patties to be minimally hard-chilled or frozen. If pan-seared, a fresh patty is preferred.
We’d like to share with you 2 delicious and very healthy recipes which go beyond the simple meat with seasonings.
Both of these recipes can be made with either ground turkey OR chicken.
Each recipe starts with 10 pounds of ground meat.
Turkey or Chicken Burgers with Zucchini and Ricotta
Makes about 4 dozen 8-ounce burgers
10 pounds Ground Turkey or Chicken
2 ½ cups Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese
¾ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
2 quarts Shredded Zucchini (WELL SQUEEZED OF ALL OF ITS JUICES)
¾ cup Minced Green Onion
1 tablespoon Granulated Roast Garlic
2 teaspoons Oregano, Dry
1 teaspoon Thyme, Dry
2 tablespoons Kosher Salt
2 teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
3 extra-large Eggs, Beaten
3 – 4 cups Panko Bread Crumbs
In a large mixing bowl or machine with a paddle attachment, combine all ingredients and mix only until well combined.
Chill to allow the panko crumbs to absorb the juices and moisture from the mix. (Approximately 3 to 4 hours).
Patty, wrap well, and keep chilled or frozen
Greek Mediterranean Turkey or Chicken Burgers
Makes about 4 dozen 8-ounce burgers
10 pounds Ground Turkey or Chicken
2 ½ cups Feta Cheese, Crumbled
2 cups Frozen Spinach, Thawed, Minced and SQUEEZED VERY DRY
1 cup Kalamata Olives, Pitted, Minced, Squeezed dry
1 ½ cups Sun-Dried Tomato, Minced
1 ¼ cup Green Onion, Minced
¼ cup Roasted Garlic, Minced
1 tablespoon Oregano, Dry
2 tablespoons Fresh Rosemary, Minced
2 tablespoons Kosher Salt
2 teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
3 extra-large Eggs, Beaten
3 – 4 cups Panko Bread Crumbs
In a large mixing bowl or machine with a paddle attachment, combine all ingredients and mix only until well combined.
Chill to allow the panko crumbs to absorb the juices and moisture from the mix. (Approximately 3 to 4 hours).
Patty, wrap well, and keep chilled or frozen
We hope that you’ll find these 2 unique burger recipes to complement your summer grill menus and continue the tradition of burger excellence which began somewhere a long time ago.
Even poultry burgers can use a great grilling seasoning and the Red Goose Spice Company has an enormous selection to choose from, including some perfectly suited for your beef burgers and steaks.
Give us a call and let us help you select the perfect spices and spice blends to help you showcase your summer grilling creations this season.
Chilaquiles are, at their essence, a very simple dish of corn tortilla chips covered (or tossed) with a spiced tomato sauce (or enchilada sauce), then topped with a queso fresco cheese. The dish is usually accompanied with black beans.
This version is a casserole style and adds chicken, onions, peppers and black beans. The cheese is a shredded Monerey Jack/ Cheddar style similar to what is often called a “Mexican” blend.
Chilaquies Rojo con Pollo
Makes 1- Full Steam Table Pan 2 ½” Deep Casserole or 20 to 24 Portions
As needed Vegetable Spray
¼ cup Olive Oil
2 large Sweet Onions
4 medium Bell Peppers, Green or Red
To taste Salt & Pepper
2 – 10 oz cans Black Beans, Rinsed & Drained
1 cup Cilantro, Chopped
4 – 14 oz bags Corn Tortilla Chips
2 ½ quarts Red Enchilada Sauce (Homemade or Canned)
Sauté the sliced onions and peppers in the olive oil until golden in color then season with salt & pepper.
Spray a full-size steam table pan 2 ½” deep, generously with vegetable spray.
Ladle 2+ cups of the enchilada sauce over the corn tortilla chips and spread evenly.
Lay down the first layer of broken tortilla chips. Cover the bottom completely.
Sprinkle half of the caramelized onion & peppers over chips and sauce.
Sprinkle half of the black beans over the onions and peppers.
Sprinkle half of the pulled, cooked chicken meat evenly over the black beans.
Sprinkle half of the chopped cilantro over the chicken.
Sprinkle 1/3rd of the shredded cheeses evenly over the chicken then a cup of the enchilada sauce over the cheese.
Repeat steps 3 through 9 once again.
Finish with a full layer of broken tortilla chips followed by 2+ full cups of enchilada sauce and the last 1/3 of the cheese.
Place into a 325 F. oven uncovered and bake for approximately 35 to 45 minutes.
Allow to rest 15 minutes and serve.
Note: To ensure that the bottom of the casserole does not burn, it is best to double pan or, to place the steam table pan on a sheet pan and add some water to the sheet pan.
Taco Bell, Qdoba, Chipotle’s, On the Border, Moe’s and all the independents…
One thing is quite obvious.
Aside from pizza, Mexican / Southwest / Tex-Mex / Hispanic foods favorites are THEmost home-delivered meals, coast to coast.
Ask any Uber Eats or Door Dasher.
American’s just LOVE Mexican cuisine.
Or, is it really Mexican?
And, did we really think it was?
Does it really matter?
French Fries aren’t French, (they’re from Belgium), and the list of foods that don’tactually come from the countries that we think they come from, is a mile long (or a kilometer).
As we approach this year’s Cinco de Mayo, many America’s choose to celebrate the occasion by enjoying one of their favorite “Mexican” foods.
Ironically, even our understanding of the Cinco de Mayo celebration is a bit misplaced.
Cinco de Mayo, or the fifth of May, is actually a relatively minor holiday in Mexico.
It isn’t Mexico’s celebration of its independence from Spain, but rather the Mexican army’s May 5, 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War.
Mexico’s actually Independence Day, September 16th, is known as, 16 de Septiembre, which doesn’t have quite the same ring now does it?
Getting back to the food we associate with Mexico, while most of our favorites have their roots in Mexico, it probably comes as no surprise that American’s adapted much of Mexico’s “cultural cuisine” to suit our own tastes.
Many of these recipes came from Mexican’s themselves who immigrated to the U.S. southern states and cooked versions of their ancestral dishes with locally available ingredients.
All the while, adapting to the local tastes.
In some cases, it was the spices, the wraps (tortillas de harina), the combination of ingredients, or the maybe cooking methods.
Like the “original” pizzas from Naples, Italy, or the pasta that we also borrowed from Italy, (that in turn Italy borrowed from China centuries before), things evolve so fast in the food world that while we might give homage to its origins, we might not even recognize it.
Even if it could be delivered across centuries of time to eventually arrive at our front door, via door dash.
But for this exercise, let’s look at those iconic dishes that you’d be hard pressed to find in Mexico in the version that we enjoy them here in the states.
Here, they’re called Tex-Mex.
Before we begin down that trail, it’s understood that nearly anyplace in Mexico where there are American tourists, you’ll likely find hotels, resorts and restaurants who are catering to Americans who want American “style” Mexican cuisine.
Some tourists, never even leave their all-inclusives.
So sorry, Cancun may not actually count, unless you get off the island and into Ciudad de Cancun, the city, or, if you’re lucky enough to have a truly authentic Mexican Chef on your property.
Having said this, here are some examples of our American / Mexican favorites.
Hard Shell Tacos… You will find the smaller, soft flour tortillas or hand-made corn ones in Mexico, usually with braised meats, shredded cabbage, tomatoes and salsa but not the hard ones like we have in the states with ground beef. And generally, not the same fillings either. Most native Mexicans can’t understand our affection for these crunchy, hard to eat shells.
Burritos…The Burrito you enjoy for $5.99 is a completely an American invention. We like things super-sized with lots of wrap, not so much filling. We got it with Burritos. You can find a Burrito of sorts, in Mexico. You may not recognize it however.
Chimichangas… Well, if Burritos are an American food invention, where do you think a deep-fried Burrito fits in to this equation. Yep, it’s believed to have its origins in Arizona.
Fajitas…The quintessential Tex-Mex contribution to our food world. The sights, sounds, smells and unmistakable taste of seared or charred beef skirt steak on a hot oval skillet is 100% delicious and 100% American.
Loaded Nachos… You’ll certainly find fried corn tortilla chips tomato salsa, guacamole and the white, queso fondido cheese dip in Mexico.
What you won’t find in an authentic Mexican restaurant is a platter of chips buried under an avalanche of seasoned ground beef, yellow cheese sauce (Velveeta or otherwise), and all the toppings we typically associate with this American bar-food favorite.
Chili con Carne… One of the first Tex-Mex foods to originate “North of the Border”. It’s introduction of cumin, which was not typically used in Mexican cuisine, combined with ground beef, tomatoes and chilis made this iconic dish truly different.
Historically, similar dishes were made in the Canary Islands and Morocco so this wasn’t a completely “off the wall” invention.
In fact, it became so popular in Texas that it was known locally as a “bowl of red”. It was even the featured dish at the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 at the San Antonio Chili Stand and then eventually made the official state food of Texas in 1977.
With Cinco de Mayo right around the corner, if you’re looking for a new recipe to add to your Mexican or Tex-Mex repertoire, enjoy our recipe for Chilaquiles Rojos con Pollo.
Chilaquiles is typically a breakfast dish and it can be made with either green chiles (verde) or red (rojos).
It can also be made in a very simple way by tossing corn tortilla chips in sauce and plating with queso fresca and a black bean type stew, or, by making the recipe into more of a baked casserole similar to an enchilada style.
We’ll share with you this modern adaptation that we think you will really enjoy.
With St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner, we’ll spare you all of the usual traditional Irish phrases and “corny” or should we say “corned-e” history lessons.
Save one.
Did you know that the word “corned” in reference to the popular curing of meats actually comes NOT from the residents of Cornwall, England, (the Cornish), but, (according to most historians), from the fact that the original meats used in this preservation process, were preserved using, among other ingredients, salt.
Not just any salt, but salt, potassium nitrate, the size of corn kernels.
This corn sized salt is supposedly responsible for the name “corned”.
Interestingly, it’s a phrase actually attributed to the English, not the Irish, even though the Irish were more well known for their salt cured and processed meat recipes.
Of course, today’s recipes still use salt, (most often kosher or sea salt to avoid the iodine taste), but it’s much finer.
We also, nowadays, use a different meat that was originally chosen by both the English and the Irish for “corning”, which was pork.
Usually from the belly.
In England, and throughout Britain, pork was cheap and plentiful for the commoners who prepared this dish.
Beef however, was a luxury.
All that changed when their migration to America began. Beef was more plentiful, and relatively cheap.
The switch was on.
One thing did stay the same. They stuck with the same primal cuts of beef, as they once used from the hog.
That is, the belly or brisket.
Corned beef was here to stay and became the preferred meat for this corned dish, now so closely associated with Ireland and St. Patrick’s Day.
What about Pastrami?
The difference between corned beef and pastrami.
There are a lot of similarities between corned beef and pastrami but there are some significant differences as well.
Here is a simple explanation:
The similarities are:
They come from the same “general” vicinity of the animal (the brisket or belly/navel/deckle/plate area). Corned beef almost exclusively from the brisket cut and pastrami mostly from the plate or navel area).
They are both cooked with moist heat (not roasted.)
Both are cured.
Both make iconic deli sandwiches!
The differences are:
Corned beef is boiled or simmered while pastrami is generally steamed.
Pastrami is smoked, corned beef is not
The seasonings are slightly different, generally, pastrami is a bit more seasoned and uses black pepper prominently.
Whether you enjoy preparing Corned Beef OR Pastrami, one of the things that you can always know is that the Red Goose Spice company not only has all the herbs and spices you need to create both of these amazing and historic dishes, but we carry a Pickling Spice Blend that is just outstanding!
This is no wimpy, off the supermarket shelf, down the middle of the road pickling spice recipe, but instead, chocked full of crushed bay leaves, cinnamon, mustard seed, allspice berries, whole black pepper, coriander, whole chiles, dill seed and whole cloves.
For most Chef’s, preparing a Corned Beef brisket isn’t something you do every day.
It may actually be something that you only tackle once a year?
These 5 TIPS will give you a great start in making this years Corned Beef Dinner one of the best ever.
The first thing you have to decide is whether you’re buying a pre-cured brisket or, curing one of your own.
If it’s the latter, you’d better start now because typically, a brisket takes at least 7 days to properly cure.
The good news is that the Red Goose Spice Company makes a fabulous Pickling Spice Blend that is simply amazing and it’s our TIP # 1, right out of the gate.
From there, consider these 4 additional tips.
Trim your brisket and then totally submerge it throughout the refrigerated curing process, in this curing brine recipe below for a whole, 5-to-6-pound brisket. The optional pink curing salt is not essential.
Place all of the above ingredients in a sauce pot of sufficient size, and bring to a simmer.
Remove from the heat and refrigerate the brine until cold, leaving all the pickling spice in the brining liquid.
Once the brine is cold, place your raw brisket in a non-reactive pan or food service storage container and pour the brine over the brisket to cover. Weight down the brisket so that it stays completely beneath the surface of the brine at all times.
Cover the container and keep it in a secure area of the fridge.
Inspect the brisket daily to be sure it remains beneath the brine. You may turn it over every other day to ensure the brisket is being evenly cured.
Brine for a minimum of 7 days. 10 is even better.
Ok, so, if you’ve “corned” your own brisket, wonderful. Regardless, our # 2 TIP gives you a bit of additional flavor AND color to both the brisket and to your resulting broth.
Once your brisket is cured, rinse off any brine, pat it dry, then add a bit of vegetable oil to a MEDIUM hot pan, or griddle, and sear it on both sides until lightly browned. Nice and slow now, not too hot and don’t let it get too browned.
Remove the brisket from the pan and then sauté a couple of white onions, 2 large carrots and 2 ribs of celery, all cut in 1” to 1 ½” pieces. While sauteing, throw in a few whole garlic cloves at the end. The vegetable should have just a bit of color.
You’re sautéing these vegetable to extract some of their sulfur in the onions (and garlic), which in turn will make the resulting broth a bit better.
So, what are the best ways to cook corned beef brisket?
Depending on the number of briskets you’re cooking and the equipment available to you, you have a number of options at this point.
Sous Vide
Slow Cooker / Crock Pot
Braising (Covered in the Oven)
Range Top Simmering (The Traditional Method)
For all of the above cooking choices, we recommend that you strain the original brine mixture, and save the resulting herbs and spices.
TIP # 3 Rather than using just water and a bit of the spices, to cook the brisket in, consider using ½ water and ½ low sodium beef broth or stock. Other options are apple cider and water.
TIP # 4 Sous Vide is considered to be, by far, the best method of cooking corned beef but unfortunately it has some drawbacks, the first being that you may not even HAVE a Sous Vide device, and even if you do, not one large enough to cook a good size brisket… or 2 or 3.
If you do however, we recommend cutting the briskets in half, placing each half in a sous vide bag, then adding 1 tablespoon of the pickling spice, half of the sauteed vegetables and approximately a cup of the water/broth mixture before vacuuming the bag.
Set your Sous Vide for 180 F and your timer for 10 hours. You should have a tender, succulent and juicy brisket you’ll absolutely love.
A second sous vide option is to simply rinse the brisket after fully brining, then vacuum sealing with no additional garnishment, vegetables, spices OR liquids in the bag.
For the remaining 3 cooking choices, the procedures are pretty much the same.
Place the seared brisket in the crock pot, the stove top pot or in a brasier, add the sauteed vegetables, a tablespoon or two of the pickling spice, then your liquids.
If you choose the crock pot and braising method, you only need enough liquid to barely cover. For the stove top method, you’ll want to have nearly double as it is (generally) uncovered.
Cooking times comparison:
Sous Vide: 10 Hours at 180 F.
Crock Pot: 8 hours on a LOW setting to 5 hours on a high setting.
Oven Braising: 3 to 4 hours at 325 F.
Stove Top Simmering: 3 to 4 hours (simmering in liquids)
Once your corned beef briskets are fully cooked, remove them from the cooking broth and reserve until sliced. The broth itself can be strained and used as a jus or, used to cook the traditional vegetable garnishes including cabbage, small potatoes, onions and carrots.
Lastly, our # 5 TIP is that you don’t need “Irish Luck” to successfully cook a delicious corned beef brisket dinner this St. Patrick’s Day.
Scientists agree that our “species” of humans has been walking the earth for at least 100,000 years. And that civilization, as we know it, goes back at least 6 thousand years.
And, not so coincidentally, that’s just about the time of “The Big BANG!”
Of spices that is.
Before that big bang, trees were just trees, bushes just bushes, and no one had any clue, or interest, or knowledge, about just how valuable the bark, leaves, berries, flowers or roots of these plants really were.
Then, for whatever reason, BANG! Humans suddenly discovered their amazing virtues, and we’ve never looked back.
It hasn’t been an easy ride for that pepper to end up in your peppermill.
The spice trade has been part of life, and unfortunately, death.
It’s brought wealth to nations, and it has started wars.
To understand a little bit more about how we got from there to here, below is a snapshot of some of the more important and interesting sign posts along the spice trade path.
Important Dates and Events Along the Spicy Journey to Your Cupboard
When Where What
BC
5000 Middle East Evidence of spices being used. Among the first are cinnamon, cassia, cardamom, ginger, and turmeric.
4000 Asia/Middle East The “Silk Road” becomes the most important trade route in the world, connecting Asia and the Mediterranean spice Meccas.
3000 Egypt Spices used for embalming. Frankincense and myrrh are popular.
Frankincense resin in olive scoop
2000 Arabia Monopoly of the spice trade for 2000+ years.
1750 Mesopotamia Clay tablets found with recipes using garlic, cumin, and coriander.
1000 Palestine Use of spices in anointing oil and incenses.
Incense holder with burning charcoal, incense resin, and myrrh
992 Arabia Queen of Sheba brings spices to King Solomon.
500 Greece Importance of spices in diet as a medicine.
200 China Cloves imported from the Spice Islands.
AD
1st Century Rome Extravagant use of spices and development of sea-trade with India, which lasted 3 centuries.
330 Constantinople Becomes a trading metropolis, Nutmeg and cloves brought to Europe for the first time from Moluccan (Spice) Islands
500 Arabia Controlled spice trade until the Middle Ages.
1100 Europe Crusades stimulated interest in spices.
1200 England Guild of Pepperers established; merged with the Spicers.
1250 Europe Spices regarded as aphrodisiacs.
1300 Italy Marco Polo’s book stimulates interest in Oriental spices.
1350 Europe Spices used as medicines & fumigants during The Black Death.
1350 Italy Venice and Genoa now begin to control the spice trade.
1400 England The Spicers’ Guild becomes the Grocer’s Company.
1450 Turkey Controls spices; forced other sea route discoveries.
1450 Spain Columbus finds spices in the Caribbean islands.
1500 Portugal Controls spice trade after Vasco da Gama sails to India.
1500 England It’s said that dockworkers now paid bonuses in cloves!
1500 Holland The Dutch and English East India Companies come on the scene and compete with Portugal for world spice trade dominance.
1521 Spain Magellan’s expedition circumnavigates the globe.
1525 Italy Venice’s spice wealth helps finance the Renaissance.
1550 England Drake circumnavigates globe; imports spices to England.
1600 Holland Gradually takes the Spice Islands from Portugal in an attempt to monopolize spice trading.
1600 Spain Competes for spice trade.
1650 Holland Controls spice trade from East Indies.
1700 Ceylon Coffee trees planted; later, grown in Brazil.
1700 Europe Coffee, chocolate and tobacco favored over spices.
1750 Holland Destroys spices to try and create price increases.
1800 England Takes over the Spice Islands, briefly.
1800 America Pepper trade with East Indies makes millionaires in Salem, MA.
1850 Europe Spices decrease in significance a sugar becomes favored flavor.
1900 World Dietary fashions change; spices decrease in cost and importance.
Sources: UCLA History & Special Collections Library, CABI Digital Library (The Association of International Research and Development Centers for Agriculture).
Of course, nowadays you don’t have to form an army, or live a privileged life to afford or have your choice of the huge variety of herbs and spices available to you at the Red Goose Spice Company.
You don’t even have to own a ship; we’ll ship them to you!
Even Chefs get stuck in a seasoning rut once in a while.
We tend to fall in love with OUR favorite recipes.
The tried-and-true favorites we often call them.
And while our favorite recipes are great…you can’t go back to that well too many times without eventually creating a “stale” menu.
Even without realizing it.
The phrase “variety is the spice of life,” has never rang truer than when it comes to deciding what should be on your future menus, and when to consider “retiring” some “old favorites” to make room for some NEW favorites in 2023.
Yes, there will always be a few customers that will perhaps lament about losing a dish that they love, but consider the fact that they may also be one of the many customers that are desperately trying to get out of their time-share resorts.
First experiences can be magical, and for a while it’s THE “thing.” But sometimes, the magic just wears off.
People, whether they admit it or not, do like some variety.
With that said, we’d like to give you some “spicy” options that you may never have tried, to head you on a new course this year.
Five seasoning blends that just might change the way you cook in 2023.
Not surprisingly, most of these blends are from the ancient HOME of spice blends, namely the Middle East.
Even if your customers aren’t necessarily big into traditional Middle Eastern fare, don’t let that deter you. Most all of the spices that make up these blends are ones that your customers are VERY familiar with, including savory spices like cumin, coriander, paprika, fennel, and marjoram as well as sweet spices like cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom.
Adding a bit of these unique spice blends to your current or future recipes can add an enormous range of interesting flavors in your culinary arsenal this year.
Most commonly found in the cuisine of Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco.
Kasbah of the Udayas in Rabat, the capital of Morocco
Ras el Hanout translates from Arabic into English as “head of the house.” Meaning it’s the best and highest quality blend a seller has to offer.
Similar to curry powder, the recipe of herbs and spices that make Ras el Hanout, as well as their ratio to one another, can vary from shop to shop. You can however, expect to see the “usual suspects” such as: cardamom, black pepper, cumin, ginger, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, chili peppers, coriander, fenugreek, paprika, turmeric, and coriander seed to be in most all of the blends.
Safe to say, that unless you go to the trouble of making your own blend “in-house,” it’s best to find one to buy that you like and stick with it. Especially when you consider that many traditional recipes use more than 4 dozen herbs and spices in their recipes!
Of course, as you might expect, Red Goose has created a traditional blend what we think you will thoroughly enjoy.
Ras el Hanout is pretty much a 50/50 sweet and savory spice blend with a mild amount of heat, if any at all. Its complex flavor is typically used as a meat or a fish rub in specialty dishes.
Moroccan roasted root vegetables: parsnip and carrot with Ras el Hanout .
It’s also added to pasta or rice as a flavoring, and stews and meat casseroles cooked in a tagine.
The main ingredient in Harissa is chiles, so it’s no wonder that this North African spice blend was created by this region after chiles were introduced there in the 14thcentury by spice traders.
Spicy hot, is probably the best way to describe Harissa.
You’ll often find it used as a condiment when it is pureed with olive oil and/or water. Considering its name derives from the Arabic term meaning “to crush, grind, or puree,” it’s quite often how this spice blend is used, as it creates a condiment similar to sriracha and Tabasco sauce.
The dry Harissa blend is also used as a meat rub (especially kabobs), and as a flavoring in stews, soups, vegetables, and rice dishes.
Its flavor is considered to be spicy, peppery and a bit smoky and its typical ingredients include more savory than sweet spices which include: chili peppers, coriander, paprika, red pepper, dehydrated garlic, salt, cinnamon, caraway and ginger.
Biryani spice is named after the rice dish called biryani, developed by the Muslims of South Asia. This dish eventually spread throughout India, Thailand, and Malaysia.
Similar to how curry powder came into being, the blend, represented the usual combination of individual herbs and spices used to make Biryani, and if you buy the blend, it makes the final preparation much easier.
While the ingredients and their proportions vary from region to region, the most common ones are: fennel seeds, cumin, turmeric, nutmeg, black pepper, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves, coriander, mint, ginger, dried onions, green chiles, star anise, allspice, and garlic.
As is true with curry powder, once again there are many spice blend recipes for Biryani, and they all differ according to their region and all with different pre-fix names as a result.
Indian Chicken Biryani served in a terracotta bowl with yogurt over white background. selective focus
For example:
Sindhi biryani, which is popular in Pakistan.
Hyderabadi biryani: This biryani is one of India’s most popular types of biryani.
Malabar biriyani: From the Indian state of Kerala.
Calcutta/Kolkata biryani, likewise from Calcutta
Ambur biryani: From the leather-tanning city in Tamil Nadu
Lucknowi biryani: Based on the Persian cooking style.
Mughlai biryani: With cheese curd, chicken, almond paste, ghee, dry fruits, and green chilies.
More savory spiced than sweet spiced, Zahtar or Za’atar Seasoning (not to be confused with the herb za’atar, a wild, mint-related herb similar to oregano and marjoram), is a mainstay seasoning blend popular all over the Middle East.
Once again, and forgive me if you’ve heard this story before, its recipe varies from region to region adding or subtracting various herbs as spices to satisfy the tastes and traditions of the locals.
While the original recipe does call for the use of the za’atar herb, its not easy to find. So more often than not, the recipes use thyme, oregano, or marjoram as a substitute.
The other key components in Zahtar are sesame seeds and sumac while still others add: dill, savory, cumin, fennel, coriander, orange peel, caraway seed, cinnamon, allspice, hyssop, and even rose buds!
Being a more “savory” flavored seasoning, Zahtar can be used in so many ways, such as: a meat rub, in hummus, as a topping on crusted breads, and even in salads and salad dressings.
It is however, recommended that if using Zahtar seasoning in a cold dish recipe, that it first be “bloomed” by adding it to a heated oil to help release its full flavor potential before then adding it to the recipe.
Translated to “pepper” or “hot,” you’ll love this 5th century Ethiopian spice blend used in its national dish Doro Wat, which is a spicy chicken stew, or, perhaps mixed with oil, mead, or red wine to make a condiment called awaze.
Made from key ingredients such as: red chili peppers, fenugreek, ginger, coriander, cardamom, allspice, cumin, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, and some lesser-known spices grown in that region such as korarima, ajwain, and long pepper, its complex flavor is known as slightly spicy with warm notes of citrus.
The Ethiopian traditional, delicious Derek tibs meat dish
Berbere is also used as a meat rub, in braised casserole dishes, and when used as awaze, as a dipping condiment for breads.
Of course, ALL of these seasoning blends are readily available at the Red Good Spice Company and we hope that you’ll take the opportunity to try one or all of these amazing seasoning blends as you create some of your NEW favorite dishes of 2023!
