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Content about Spices

Nick finally takes a look back at the chili of his youth.
Cockaigne: an imaginary land of great luxury and ease. —Merriam-Webster Dictionary "Cockaigne was the name of the family home...Any time there's a recipe with this in the title, it means it's an old family favorite." — 'Joy Of Cooking': 75 Years Young, CBS When the words "imaginary land of great luxury" and "chili" collide, usually that means we're set for some...
  Merry Christmas! We're feasting on our old recipe for cardamom cinnamon rolls...better every year.http://thepauperedchef.com/2009/11/cardamom-cinnamon-rolls-our-new-holiday-tradition.html
Smoked paprika transforms a Spanish garlic soup
In today's Dinner Tonight column (the post will be up later this afternoon) I walk through a very simple garlic soup recipe from Mario Batali's Spain: A Culinary Road Trip. It's the kind of a soup I adore, being nothing more than a few cloves of garlic, good chicken stock, and a few pieces of stale bread. The one wild card is hot pimentón, which is a Spanish smoked paprika. I didn't have any on the shelf, and in my...
June 3, 2009
The spiciest way to grill your chicken.
My first bite of jerk chicken, fresh from two hours of mingling with smoke, was everything I wanted it to be.  The rub of allspice berries and black peppercorns mixed with fresh ginger and thyme and created this incredible aroma --one that I couldn't help but adore.  I was completely happy and content until quickly, and without much warning, the spice hit.  A double dose of habanero cut through all of that complexity,...
January 30, 2009
A recipe for Texas-style chili.
Diced instead of Ground Meat I had stopped using ground beef a few years back, after watching a Good Eats episode.  The reasoning makes sense.  When ground beef is used, the fat either needs to be drained off immediately, or needs to be skimmed off the day after when all the fat has accumulated at the top.  But if you use chunks a lot of the juices stay inside, leaving both the chili less greasy and the meat more...
January 29, 2009
The best chili starts with the best chili powder.
That meant forgoing the blend I had in my spice rack and picking up a load of dried chilies from the local Mexican market.  I needed to create my own blend, something that was completely unique to me, but where do I start?  There honestly aren't that many recipes for chili powder out there.  My only real resources were Homesick Texan (great site) and Alton Brown.  Thanks to the large Mexican population in...
Moving beyond pico de gallo into real authentic territory
I thought I knew everything there was to know about salsa.  Tomatoes, garlic, onions, jalapenos, lime juice, salt.  Chop, mix, serve.  It’s an enormous pain, but the alternative (jarred salsa) just doesn’t compare.  Taking the time to chop is a noble pursuit.  That was until Blake visited last weekend.  What he threw together in a matter of minutes turned blood red and clung to every chip like it...