August Spice Rack Challenge - Cumin Spiked Salsa

I like cumin. I use it quite a bit in my Indian and Mexican cooking. But I've been on vacation out in BC (drinking copious amounts of wine, okay moderate amounts). I then got home and promptly forgot about the challenge in the midst of sorting out life (the husband was laid off just before we left for our trip). But today is challenge deadline day and I'm not backing out yet. So a quick and easy salsa sounds perfect.



6 ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 shallot, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, minced (optional, since my hubby dislikes)
1/2 lime
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 - 1 tsp salt
1 - 2 tsp ground cumin (depending on taste)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix and taste and adjust seasoning if needed. (Tip: taste using tortilla chips as to accurately gauge salt amounts, people often forget about the salt on the chip when making salsa or guacamole and can over-salt as a result)

Serve fresh.

June Spice Rack Challenge - Raspberry Mint Cooler

This was almost the month that I quit the Spice Rack Challenge. Not because I'm getting tired of it but because one of my best friends has a mint allergy so severe I was seriously contemplating quitting just to avoid bringing it into my house.

We were once out a a club together I and I watched her throat start to close up after a shot that didn't contain any mint simply because there was cross contamination from a bottle of peppermint schnapps.

In addition to my fear of killing someone, my husband is not a huge fan of mint and so I figured a beverage would be best. If he doesn't like it, I'll drink it all.

All that on my mind I set out to make a mint product that touched very little of my kitchen ware and I used only metal to ensure that the oil from the leaves didn't seep into any plastic aside from the pitcher which I'll not let Pat drink out of.

Raspberry Mint Cooler -from Allrecipes by Patricia Kile


1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons sugar
1 packages frozen sweetened raspberries, thawed
1 can frozen lemonade concentrate
3 cups cold water
Crushed ice

I halved the original recipe and it fills my 2L pitcher. It is quite potent however. I've been enjoying it cut with club soda, about 50/50. My husband, as predicted, doesn't like it.

May Spice Rack Challenge - Broiled Coriander Chicken Thighs

Seriously? It's already May 19th? Where the hell did that come from,and yet, still three months until my BC vacation...sigh.

As I have only until tomorrow to get this recipe up and I'm going to a local brewery after work tomorrow I needed to get cooking today. The first recipe I googled for was the one I used (though I did read a few more before deciding that the first one was best. I didn't have green onions or a lime, but lemon juice worked just fine.

Broiled Coriander Chicken Thighs (By Pam Anderson at FineCooking.com)

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat
Vegetable oil for coating
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbs. ground coriander
2 Tbs. fish sauce
2 tsp. light brown sugar
1/4 lime
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallion greens

Adjust the oven rack to the position closest to the broiler and set the broiler on high. Coat both sides of each thigh with just enough oil to get the seasonings to stick. Sprinkle each side with salt, pepper, and a portion of the coriander, rubbing the seasonings into the meat. Mix the fish sauce and sugar in a small bowl; set aside.

Lay the thighs flat on a broiler pan and broil until they’re opaque on top, 3-to 4 minutes. Remove the thighs from the oven. Without turning them, brush them with the fish sauce mixture and return them to the oven. Continue to broil until the thighs are spotty brown and cooked through, another 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving plate; pour the pan juices over the chicken. Squeeze lime juice over the chicken and sprinkle with the scallions.

I served them with roasted new potatoes and lemon garlic broccolini...mmm!

April Spice Rack Challenge - Dill Batter Bread

All right, spice rack challenge time.

April is Dill and I have it growing fresh in my Areogarden. Did you know that you actually need more dill when fresh than dried because the flavour is more subtle, unless of course your dried dill is years old and then there's no flavour at all.

A few years ago one of my friends gifted me a copy of the Joy of Cooking, the 75th anniversary edition. I was pleased with the gift, but it has sat on my shelf now without me really using it. I'd flip though it for a specific recipe now and then and then use one from elsewhere. The other day however, I watched an episode of Anna and Kristina's Grocery Bag where they tested reviews from the book.

It inspired me to get out the book and have a serious read through it. I decided to try the Portuguese Greens Soup along with Dill Batter Bread and oh my, were both delicious. The recipe for the bread is listed below.

Dill Batter Bread - from the Joy of Cooking
1/2 cup warm water
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
3 cups bread flour (I used a whole wheat/white blend)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
3 tbsp chopped fresh dill (or 1 tbsp dried dill)
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp salt
1 cup cottage cheese
1 egg

Mix yeast and water in bowl and let stand 5 minutes.

Combine all other ingredients ASIDE from cottage cheese and egg. I mixed mine in my stand mixer. Add cheese, egg, and yeasty-water. Mix on low speed (or by hand if you don't have a stand mixer - you poor poor soul) until it comes together. Add additional flour or warm water if needed.

Swap to dough hook and knead about 10 minutes on medium-low until dough is smooth and elastic. Oil dough and trasfer to oiled bowl. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise somewhere warm) until doubled (1-1 1/2 hours).

Grease 9-x loaf pan. Punch down dough, form into loaf and place in pan seem side down. Cover again with plastic wrap and let rise about 1 hour.

Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Remove loaf from pan and cool completely on rack.

March Spice Rack Challenge - Spicy Indian Chicken Curry

The March Spice Rack Challenge was cardamom.

For a household that has 34 different containers of spices plus several blends or seasoning mixes you wouldn't think that I would need to buy stuff for the spice rack challenge. But my cardamom was both powder and OLD so I hit Superstore for a new stock of pods. (By the way, if you're in Canada and use a lot of spices that are also commonly used in Asian cuisine, it's all about superstore...huge savings!!!!)

Ty and I love Indian food so it seemed a logical idea to make a curry of some sort and it was off to allrecipes where I found a recipe to use as a base.




6 chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 red onion, finely diced
1 can coconut milk
1 cup chicken broth
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste (I mixed up what I assume this is in my mini food chopper)
2 tbsp curry powder
2" piece cinnamon stick, broken up
8 whole cardamom pods
6 whole cloves
4 bay leaves
15 (I grabbed some) whole black peppercorns
2 tsp coriander seed
red pepper flakes to taste

Toss the chicken, onion, oil, and garlic ginger paste into a pot and let cook on medium heat for 5ish minutes.

Meanwhile dump all lumpy spices into some cheesecloth and make a little bundle so you aren't chomping down on a seed every bite you eat. Add the bundle, the bay leaves, the curry powder, and the pepper flakes to the pot along with the coconut milk and some chicken broth.

Cook uncovered for 30 minutes. Check seasoning (Here I actually added about a half tsp ground cinnamon and 1/2 a chicken stock cube to amp up my flavour.)

(You've now added everything except the bell pepper)

After the 30 minutes has passed, toss in the bell pepper and cook 10 minutes more. The broth and milk should have thickened up into a nice sauce.

Serve with basmati race and/or naan bread.

February Spice Rack Challenge - Pork and Shrimp Meatballs

Sigh....the spice this month was Citrus, but not as simple as using some lemon or lime juice I need to used either citrus peel (fresh or dried) or preserved citrus, neither of which I use much.


I would have automatically made limoncello (actually I am still making limoncello) however the recipe that I follow takes longer than a month to complete so time constraints ruled it out for the challenge.

I was browsing Tasty Kitchen a week or so back and saw this recipe for pork and shrimp meatballs. It sounded pretty tasty and I saved it to use as a starting off point.

I used all the amounts roughly, used more garlic and pock, zested two lemons and added the juice of one.


Squish it all up with your hands, cook according to instructions in linked recipe (though I'm going to bake the ones that I froze when we have the second half of the batch).

I served half for dinner (and overcooked them slightly...oops,I don't fry much) with sauteed asparagus...


...and froze half the meatballs for a later date.


The verdict was that they were pretty tasty, though next time I'll have a dipping sauce to go with them.

2011 Spice Rack Challenge

It's my day off in between three days and three more days of shifts. It's also freezing cold outside so I have no plans to leave the house anytime soon. I am however baking bread, making muffins, and because I've decided to participate in the Spice Rack Challenge I figured that today would be an excellent time to clean out and reorganize my spice cabinet.

Cabinet and Door Post Clean

I wiped down the cupboard and the lazy susan, tossed a few blends that were pretty old, filled jars where I could, noted that I was out of tarragon (which I'll still probably forget to pick up at the store the next time I go, and rearranged everything back in there the best that I could.

I've got a loaf of bread baking in the oven and the dishwasher is running. Banana Oat muffins are up next (recipe and pics posted tomorrow hopefully) and then I'll be making some kind of shrimp scampi and salad for dinner.

And did I mention that I sorted through the vast amount of recipes ripped out of magazines. Must actually try more of those instead of just collecting them...sigh.

I'll leave you with an in progress...


and finished shot (crappy as it is) of last nights breakfast for dinner. We had sweet potato, scallion, and sausage hash topped with poached eggs (and served in pasta bowls...lol).

Sweet Potato, Sausage, and Shallot Hash with Poached Eggs