Tuesday, January 13, 2009

This should come in a brown paper wrapper

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I don't know what all you other people read late at night when you're having a little, shall we say, quiet time...but, me, I reach for the Penzeys Spices catalog. When it showed up in today's mail, my day got a whole lot better.

Sweet. Savory. Aromatic. Exotic. They've got it all. And, in my opinion, they do a good job selling their wares. Their stuff is extremely fresh. You can buy it in small or large quantities. Their prices are good. Their selection is huge. And, in addition to individual spices and herbs, they do these fantastic spice blends that have really livened up my recipes.

Here are a few of my favorite items from this gem of a booklet:

  • Bangkok Blend (sweet peppers, garlic, ginger, black pepper, galangal, hot peppers, lemongrass, basil, cilantro - add it to noodles or mix with cooked rice)
  • Breakfast Sausage Seasoning (salt, sugar, paprika, black pepper, sage, dextrose, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, thyme - mix with ground pork or turkey, shape into patties, and fry or broil)
  • Garden Salad Seasoning (Romano cheese, poppy seeds, salt, sesame seeds, onion, garlic, chives, white pepper - sprinkle on salad or a baked potato)
  • Ozark Seasoning (salt, Tellicherry black pepper, spices and herbs, granulated garlic, paprika - good on roast chicken)
  • Parisien Bonnes Herbes (chives, dill weed, French basil, French tarragon, chervil, white pepper - excellent in omelettes)
  • Sandwich Sprinkle (garlic, coarse salt, basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, black pepper - my older son will not eat a chicken sandwich without this)
  • Shallot-Pepper Seasoning (coarse salt, Tellicherry black pepper, shallots, tarragon, bay leaves - great with sauteed chicken or veal cutlets)
  • Soup Base and Seasoning (comes in beef, chicken, ham, pork, seafood, turkey and vegetable flavors - among the best soup stock concentrates I've found)
And there are more, many more, I haven't tried yet. When my birthday rolls around this year, will someone please remember that what I want more than anything else is a gift certificate to Penzeys?

You can shop there too - it's all available here. (And no, they aren't paying me anything. Quite the opposite, I'm afraid.)

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