Tag Archives: Commercial Spice Distributor

18
Sep
Festivals, For Chefs, Mustard, Mustard Seeds. Oktoberfest, On Spices, Product News, Uncategorized

Oktoberfest Soft Pretzels with Everything Topping

Posted on by Dan Lowry

Long since known for its blast on bagels, Red Goose Everything seasoning is a fabulous topping on Soft Pretzels!

Enjoy these delicious pretzels with mustard or just warm, fresh out of the oven, all on their own.

Red Goose Oktoberfest Soft Pretzels with Everything Topping 

Makes 6 – 5 ounce Pretzel Sticks

2 lbs.                 Frozen Bread or Pizza Dough (Any Brand)

3/4 Cup             Baking Soda

2 Qts.                Water

½ Cup               Red Goose Everything Seasoning

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Thaw frozen bread dough in the refrigerator overnight or until completely soft and pliable.
  3. Place the water in a non-reactive saucepan or metal casserole dish of at least 2” of depth and 9” to 10” in diameter then stir in the baking soda until it dissolves. Place the solution over medium low heat until it JUST simmers.
  4. Portion the dough into 6 equal pieces approximately 5 + ounces each.
  5. Roll out each portion of dough into an 8″ long, thick stick. Repeat for the remaining pieces.
  6. Let the sticks rest 5 minutes.
  7. Place the dough sticks in the gently simmering baking water and poach on both sides approximately 2 to 3 minutes rolling over the sticks as they “poach”.
  8. Remove the sticks with a slotted spatula and place on a non-stick baking pan (approximately 2″ apart from one another). You may also want to spray this pan lightly with a non-stick vegetable spray.
  9. While the dough sticks are still moist and VERY sticky, sprinkle evenly, and heavily, with the EVERYTHING SEASONING so that it will stick to the dough.
  10. Before baking, slash each dough stick with a sharp knife with diagonal cuts approximately 1/4″ deep and 1″ to 2″ apart. Bake for approximately 20 to 30 minutes or until the “Pretzel Loaves” are medium brown and baked through.
  11. Serve plain or with your favorite mustard.

 

27
Jun
Culinary Education, For Brokers & Distributors, For Chefs, On Spices, Product News, Spice History

How Herbs de Provence Came To Be

Posted on by Dan Lowry

Herbs and spices are simply amazing. Each one of them has a history and a story all their own.

Singularly, historians can trace back the origins and uses of nearly each and every herb or spice we use today, going back thousands of years

Commercially produced herb and spices blends however, are a much more recent thing. Often, the bi-product of convenience. Curry Powder is a good example.  (See Red Goose Blog: Curry in a Hurry)

From ancient times, until a few centuries ago, you pretty much had to buy each and every individual herb or spice you used in your dishes. There were no “blends”.  When it came to making a recipe with multiple herbs and spices, you pulled them all out of your pantry, added each one to your dish or ground them together in a mortar and pestle in whatever proportion you desired.

No Chili Powder, no Curry Powder, no “Italian” Herbs Blend, no Herbs de Provence.

Even if you love to cook, there are a couple of down-sides to making your own blends.

Besides needing to have all the individual components available (and fresh), each and every time you make a blend, there is the likely lack of consistency of flavor every time you make it.

As a result, herb and spice blends are, generally speaking, a very good thing. And each has a history all their own.

Take Herbs de Provence for example, one of the more unusual herb and spice blends.

Everyone loves a good story. This one however, doesn’t date back to ancient times.

Its name and the popularity of Herbs de Provence isn’t attributed to some famous French Chef, but rather to a popular American Celebrity Chef, who lived in France for a time and wrote one of the most widely known, and used, cookbooks on the planet.

Julia Child and her best-selling, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, first published in 1961.

This wildly successful book, considered by many to be one of the most influential cookbooks ever published, included a sauteed chicken dish using an herb and spice blend she named: “Poulet Sauté aux Herbes de Provence”.

The rest, as they say, is culinary history.

The usual suspects (plus one)

Before blends, and before Herbs de Provence had an “official” name, those who enjoy preparing the regional cuisine of Southern French needed to have these classic herbs and spices always at the ready, most of which, happen to be cultivated in Southern France. They are: Oregano, Thyme, Savory, Rosemary, and perhaps some Fennel, Tarragon, Bay Leaf, or Chervil if you are making one of the more unique blends.

There wasn’t, (and still isn’t), a “true” recipe for the exact  proportions of each ingredient in Herbs de Provence however the earliest “recipe”, believed to be its ancestor, used nearly equal parts of just 4 herbs. Oregano, Thyme, Rosemary and Savory.

So, you just started there.

This blend, you might notice, lacked the one spice that everyone now identifies it by, and that is, lavender, which Southern France’s is famous for, and which both the locals, and tourists, love.

Lavender

It started to appear in later adaptations of Herbs de Provence and then became quite popular, especially in America.

Lavender gives Herbs de Provence its uniquely perfumed aroma, it’s alluring taste and adds a hint of French romance to what otherwise would be a blend which could just as easily be perceived as Italian.

A dish using Herbs de Provence is unmistakable in any recipe it is used in.

However, as the Herbs de Provence blend became more popular, even those in a professional kitchen, had to keep ALL of these individual herbs and spices in their pantry AND fresh, and then measure them precisely each time to obtain a consistent result. Oh, and by the way, lavender seeds aren’t exactly cheap, so unless you’re making this blend a lot, why would you want to have lavender seeds in your pantry?

Kind of a pain.

As expected, it didn’t take long for the purveyors of herbs and spices to seize the opportunity to provide various versions of an Herbs de Provence blend to both the retail and commercial markets.

So, just how is Herbs de Provence used?

Herbs de Provence is extremely versatile. It pairs well with chicken, pork, lamb, fish, vegetables, on salads, salad dressings, even omelets!

Recipes using Herbs de Provence include cooking methods such as sauteing, braising, grilling and roasting. It can be uses as a rub before cooking, added to a liquid or sauce during cooking or even as a topping to a salad or pizza.

Classically, beyond proteins, it pairs well with tomatoes, olives and olive oils, cheeses, root vegetables and many Mediterranean dishes which its why you’ll often see it used in Ratatouille, Tapenades and rustic vegetable stews. You’ll also find it gives off a remarkably fragrant smoke if you moisten it and sprinkle it over coals while grilling.

Whether you currently use Herbs de Provence in your cuisine or, you’d like to explore the amazing versatility of this amazing blend enjoyed by so many foodies on BOTH side of the “pond”, The Red Goose Spice Company has a marvelous version available for immediate delivery to your kitchens.

As Julia Child would say as she ended each and every one of her TV shows…”Bon Appetite!”

 

13
May
On Spices, Product News, Uncategorized

Red Goose’s EVERYTHING Seasoning Blend. With Recipe!

Posted on by Dan Lowry

Special,…memorable.

Sometimes, in moments of true culinary inspiration we indeed find that one “key” ingredient that’s missing and, as a result, we proudly turn ordinary, into EXTRAordinary.

Then again, like a song writer with a “writers block”, try as we might, there are just those times when nothing, absolutely nothing seems to create that same magic.

More of this, less of that and finally pulling out all the stops by trying those long-forgotten seasonings you pushed to the back of the cupboard ages ago, and still, even THEY don’t seem to quite do the trick.

You throw everything at a recipe idea but the “kitchen sink”.

In the end, the kitchen sink is where all of the attempts eventually end up.

We’ve all heard the expression that “sometimes”, less IS more.

But just like every rule has its exceptions, there are actually times when, truthfully, MORE is more.

When anything you try doesn’t seem to be the answer…

Try EVERYTHING!

Red Goose Everything Seasoning Blend.

Long since known for its blast on bagels, Red Goose Everything seasoning is a welcome seasoning addition to your standard breading procedures, in salad dressings mixes, sprinkled on vegetable stir-fry’s, or, as a remarkable salad seasoning topper.

Another delicious application for the Everything Seasoning Blend is on baked breads, or for the recipe we’d like to share with you below, for our Red Goose Soft, Petite Pretzel Loaves.

Red Goose Soft, Petite Pretzel Loaves with Everything Seasoning 

Makes 6 – 5 ounce Petite Pretzel Loaves

2 lbs.                 Frozen Bread or Pizza Dough (Any Brand)

3/4 Cup             Baking Soda

2 Qts.                Water

½ Cup               Red Goose Everything Seasoning

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Thaw frozen bread dough in the refrigerator overnight or until completely soft and pliable.
  3. Place the water in a non-reactive saucepan or metal casserole dish of at least 2” of depth and 9” to 10” in diameter then stir in the baking soda until it dissolves. Place the solution over medium low heat until it JUST simmers.
  4. Portion the dough into 6 equal pieces approximately 5 + ounces each.
  5. Roll out each portion of dough into an 8″ long, thick stick. Repeat for the remaining pieces.
  6. Let the sticks rest 5 minutes.
  7. Place the dough sticks in the gently simmering baking water and poach on both sides approximately 2 to 3 minutes rolling over the sticks as they “poach”.
  8. Remove the sticks with a slotted spatula and place on a non-stick baking pan (approximately 2″ apart from one another). You may also want to spray this pan lightly with a non-stick vegetable spray.
  9. While the dough sticks are still moist and VERY sticky, sprinkle evenly, and heavily, with the EVERYTHING SEASONING so that it will stick to the dough.
  10. Before baking, slash each dough stick with a sharp knife with diagonal cuts approximately 1/4″ deep and 1″ to 2″ apart. Bake for approximately 20 to 30 minutes or until the “Pretzel Loaves” are medium brown and baked through.
  11. Serve plain or with your favorite mustard.

 

01
Apr
For Brokers & Distributors, On Spices

Seeking Distributor for Northwest United States Region

Posted on by Red Goose Spice Company

Red Goose Spice Company seeks to further its national expansion by securing a distributor in the Pacific Northwest.

Red Goose Spice Company is looking for a distributor to manage restaurant and institutional accounts in the Seattle-Tacoma region and southward into Oregon. We provide strong in-house support and generous warehousing allowances.

Established firms serving restaurants, commercial kitchens, and food manufacturers should complete our inquiry form or contact Paul Tsvetkoff directly at 586.466.6154 for more information. Other regions are also available. If you are not in the Northwest, please inquire about your area.