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Alternately, you can, in fact, cook, using spice blends.
It doesn't make you a better or more virtuous cook to eschew blends.
I rarely buy herbs, because I grow most of my own and seldom need to do so. I buy spices individually, and also premade blends. I buy a lot from Spice House and Penzeys (rival factions of the same family). Some of my most-used blends come from those two merchants.
Spice House has a seasoning blend, Vulcan's Fire, that I use on a lot of things. It contains salt, Louisiana chile mash, garlic, habanero chile, shallots, Tellicherry pepper, lime peel, pimenton de la vera, picante, cumin, allspice and powered vinegar.
They also make a spice blend called Hyde Park (named for the Chicago neighborhood) that involves paprika,shallots, Hawaiian sea salt, and grains of paradise.
From Penzeys, I swear by their English Prime Rib Rub blend for making pot roast. It is salt, celery seed, sugar, black pepper, onion, garlic and arrowroot, the last ingredient of which helps thicken juices to make a good savory gravy all on its own.
I also love their Tsardust Memories, which is salt, garlic, cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg and marjoram, and is fantastic on pork, and mixed into ground beef for burgers.
Vulcan's Fire sounds like my kind of mix...very spicy...?
There are some good ones out there, and some cheap ones. I find that the more complex they are (say, more than 5 ingredients not counting salt and pepper), the less appeal they have to me.
The obligatory ones are Garam Masala if you cook Indian, as well as Chinese Five Spice. There are also a lot of good Herbes de Provence and general Italian and eastern Med herbal blends out there.
Penzey's is usually really good with their herb and spice blends, and they have the standards plus a few of their own creations.
One type that I do make my own is Tex-Mex type "taco" seasoning. I have all the individual ingredients on hand, and it is far superior to the Old El Paso/Ortega/etc. mixes that come in envelopes in the taco shell section of the supermarket which contain unneccesary processed ingredients.
Bell's seasoning. I buy a box for Thanksgiving and use it on chicken for the next few months until it's empty. It's good on chicken & turkey sandwiches, too. Smells good, tastes good. The other mixes I use are chili powder & Old Bay.
The Spice House.... The prices are ridiculously expensive....they may have a huge selection, but $33/pound for peppercorns ? $14/pound for Hungarian Paprika ? $25/pound for basil ? Try The Sausage Maker for better prices. Azure Standard another source.
I find a spice mix of Italian seasoning to work very well for me. It goes nicely with most things I cook. I get it at a regional discount chain called the Bi-Mart, for only $1.29, for a bottle containing 24 grams. It's always fresh, as they have a high product turnover. The brand is called, "Spice Classics", by the Han-Dee Pak Co. I see no need to pay twice as much for a big-name brand, that has been on the shelf longer and is less flavorful. I should add, that I often use a few squirts of balsamic vinegar, in addition to the spices.
Last edited by Steve McDonald; 05-23-2018 at 12:37 AM..
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