Seasonings And Spices From Your Garden

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

If you decide that you can easily grow herbs in your garden, then with no less success you can make spices and seasonings for the winter from them yourself. Of course, we are talking about a rather limited range, but that's not bad either. Moreover, I can't help but notice that spicy herbs from my own garden can completely replace a variety of spicy exotics, and make your dishes completely unique. Do not forget that the greens from the garden are always the most delicious and fragrant.

For example, you can provide yourself with dried and ground dill and parsley, basil and celery, cumin and coriander, thyme and marjoram, and a number of other herbs. And without any problems you will be able to prepare garlic powder, which is so popular today in the West and is gradually conquering the Russian market, as well as countless variety of seasonings. True, the source material will not only have to be grown, but also properly processed, and then properly preserved.

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How to store spices and seasonings?

The shelf life of seasonings and spices depends on the amount of essential oils and how finely the seasoning is ground. The more essential oils and the finer the grinding, the faster the fragrance will evaporate. If stored incorrectly, it can disappear within a few weeks.

The biggest opponents of seasoning are heat, light, air, and moisture. The best storage space is in a cool, dry, closed kitchen cabinet.

In order for herbs and spices not to lose their taste and aroma, adhere to the following simple rules when storing them.

1. Dried herbs should be stored in a sealed container in a dark, dry place.

2. Fresh herbs should be used as soon as possible. To preserve it longer, it should be rinsed in cold water, cut off the ends of the stems and placed in a glass dish with a resealable lid - a piece of absorbent paper should be placed on the bottom of the dish. In a cold place, greens can be stored in this way for 8-10 days. Greens can also be stored in oil or frozen, or made into aromatic vinegar.

Aromatic vinegar

You can extract aroma components from plant materials using ordinary or apple cider vinegar. Better, of course, to use apple, given its benefits for the body. However, those who prefer regular table vinegar when dressing salads can use it as a base for preparing a future flavor mixture.

Here, too, everything is very simple. Spicy herbs are washed, dried well, cut and placed in glass jars (you can also put in bottles, but it is difficult to put the grass in them, and it is even more difficult to extract it later). Then all this is poured with vinegar, slightly shaken to remove air bubbles and sent to infuse for 3-4 weeks. At the end of this process, the resulting aromatic vinegar is filtered and poured into suitable bottles. They use it mainly for dressing salads or sauces.

Spicy aromatic vegetable oil

With the help of vegetable oil, aromatic substances can be extracted from herbs and thus preserved. Such flavored oil is useful for dressing salads. Aromatic plants that work well for these purposes include dill, lavender, thyme, or rosemary. Try to prepare such oil for salads with the usual dill for the first time, and you will feel that it is very convenient and, moreover, delicious.

Chopped dill for 1 liter of oil, you can put about 3-4 handfuls. As for the other herbs listed, they are taken quite a bit - about one handful. The oil is infused for 2-3 weeks, then filtered and used as directed. You may not need to filter (to facilitate the process), but then you should fold the whole branches of the plants, and not cut them.

About freezing herbs

Those lucky ones who have spacious freezers can freeze some of the herbs. This option is especially suitable for those herbs that are added to dishes chopped and in large enough quantities. I usually freeze dill, parsley and wild garlic.

Before freezing, the herb should be washed, dried and chopped very finely, then placed in small plastic bags and sent to the freezer. As needed, it is easy to get such a bag, take the right amount of greens from it (there is no problem here, since the contents of the bag are not a solid monolith, but crumbles perfectly). After that, the bag is immediately put back into the freezer.

I want to note that frozen herbs can be added not only to hot dishes (boiled, stewed, etc.), but also to salads. It turns out much tastier than buying imported dill and parsley in winter with an extremely suspicious taste and a complete lack of aroma, and at exorbitant prices.

Useful tips for making seasonings

1. Spicy herbs are most conveniently ground on a coffee grinder. Then you can always have at hand ground dill (both herbs and seeds) and parsley, basil and coriander, and many other spicy plants from those that you like the most. From them, in accordance with your own taste, you can prepare various spice mixtures - seasonings. For example, the now popular fish seasoning is a common mixture of salt, coriander, black pepper, paprika, bell peppers, parsley, and garlic.

2. It is better to grind seasonings-seeds just before cooking in a special mill or in a regular coffee grinder.

3. In a mortar, you can crush juniper berries or peppercorns, for example, for marinade. Condiments such as curries are also prepared in a mortar. In a mortar, you can also prepare a mixture of herbs for cold sauces. Although a regular coffee grinder is fine for all this.

4. The zest can be prepared as follows. Peel the fruit finely, dry the skin and store it in a sealed glass jar. The peel can be ground in a hand mill or conventional coffee grinder as needed.

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Popular seasoning recipes

Since the days of ancient India, the ability to mix different spices into one seasoning has been considered a great culinary art. The recipes for such mixtures were passed down from generation to generation and were real family heirlooms. As a rule, natural seasonings include all products that have a clear, pleasant sour taste that goes well with a wide variety of dishes - sour cream, tomato paste, etc.

Complex spices include all sauces of both Western European cuisine (French, English) and all other national cuisines, as well as complex compositions that have become widespread internationally (lutenitsa, mustard, ketchup, table horseradish, adjika, etc.).

Garlic Powder

This is probably the easiest seasoning to prepare and the healthiest. It is a yellowish powder with a specific garlic odor, obtained by drying and grinding the garlic heads in a conventional coffee grinder. On sale there is both pure garlic powder and mixed with salt.

Garlic powder is very convenient to use as a seasoning for a variety of dishes where the recipe requires garlic - for meat, fish, poultry, salads, etc. By the way, this seasoning is incredibly popular in the West. And this is quite understandable, because garlic (especially winter garlic) itself is not very well stored. And, despite all the precautions, you have to throw it away a lot. And here, right in the fall, it makes sense to turn the largest heads (which are just the worst of all stored) into garlic powder. And the garlic will not disappear, and in the culinary arts, garlic powder is much more convenient than ordinary garlic, which must be peeled each time and is inconvenient to grind.

Seasoning with tarragon

Vinegar with tarragon - 3 tsp; coarsely ground black pepper - 1 tsp; mustard powder - 1.5 tsp; honey - 1 teaspoon; chopped fresh tarragon - 3 teaspoons; dry tarragon - 2 tsp.

Simmer the vinegar and pepper in a small saucepan. Knock down with honey, mustard, add a little vegetable oil, continue simmering over low heat, then add tarragon. This seasoning is used to add to vegetable dishes - before use, you need to pour the seasoning over the vegetables and let the dish stand for an hour at room temperature.

Horseradish seasoning with bell peppers

Sweet pepper - 600 g; horseradish (root) - 200 g; garlic - 100 g; sugar - 2 tbsp. spoons; lemon juice - 4 tbsp. spoons; salt - 1 tsp; vegetable oil - 2-4 tbsp. spoons.

Chop the pepper, horseradish and garlic with a food processor, combine, add sugar, salt, lemon juice, mix. Put the seasoning tightly in sterilized jars, pour vegetable oil on top and seal with lids. Store in a cool place. The specified amount of food is enough for about 0.8 liters of seasoning.

Horseradish seasoning with cinnamon and cloves

Horseradish (pureed) - 1 kg; sugar - 40 g; salt -20 g; vinegar essence 80% - 40 g; boiled water - 500 g; cinnamon, cloves - to taste.

Preparation of marinade pouring: dissolve sugar, salt in water, bring to a boil, add spices, cover and cool to 50 degrees. Then add vinegar essence and leave for 24 hours. After insisting, filter the filling through cheesecloth and mix well with horseradish. Put the finished horseradish in jars, cover with lids and put in a saucepan with water heated to 50 degrees for sterilization. Sterilization time at a temperature of 100 degrees for 0.5 liter cans is 20 minutes, 1 liter - 25 minutes. At the end of the processing, the cans are hermetically sealed, turned upside down and cooled.

Horseradish seasoning with apple

Horseradish - 1 glass; apples - 2 pcs.; sugar - 1 tsp; milk (sour) - 4-6 tbsp. spoons; table vinegar - 4 tbsp. spoons; salt.

Finely rub horseradish and pour boiling water over it. Apples peeled and grated on a coarse grater, a spoonful of sugar, sour milk, table vinegar and salt to taste are added. Then mix. Used as a seasoning for cold meat.

Horseradish with potatoes

Horseradish (grated) - 1 glass; potatoes (boiled) - 3 cups; water - a little; table vinegar - 1-2 tsp; salt.

A glass of grated horseradish is mixed with boiled potatoes, grated through a sieve. Add a little hot water, table vinegar, salt to taste. Used as a sauce for cold pork, smoked meats and ham.

Horseradish with mushrooms

Champignons - 400 g; horseradish (grated) - 4 tbsp. spoons; sour cream - 1 glass; salt, sugar - to taste.

Finely chopped boiled champignons are mixed with grated horseradish and a glass of sour cream. Salt and sugar are added to taste. This is a universal sauce for the festive table.

Horseradish "in Slavic"

White radish - 200 g; horseradish (grated) - 200 g; rye bread - 200 g; honey - 2 tsp; mint powder - to taste; salt.

Mix in equal amounts grated white radish, grated horseradish, aged in vinegar for 2-3 days, and rye bread crumb toasted in the oven. The resulting mass is ground with table vinegar to the consistency of thick sour cream, honey is added - 2 teaspoons per 1 glass of sauce, fragrant mint powder and salt to taste. It makes an excellent seasoning for meat and fish dishes, which can also be used for sandwiches.