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Episode 4: All American In the upcoming weeks Janet and Mike will be discussing, in depth, the spices and recipes that Janet is using on her new Food Network show, Spice & Easy. This is where you serious Savory Spicers can get your fill of information that can’t be packed into a 30 minute show. Join us ‘round the table, if you will, to get geeky about spices! |
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Mike: Wow, there was a lot going on in this episode. You were doing some serious dual tasking.
Janet: You think? I was just moving from one thing to another trying to make it happen. That’s what you have to do in the kitchen. It’s all about timing when you’re trying to bring together an entire meal.
Mike: So in this episode we saw quite a few repeats of spices you’ve used in previous shows, especially Mexican ingredients; vanilla extract, oregano and the cocoa. Why did we do that?
Janet: Well we are definitely trying to get people comfortable with the spices. I also hope that people have gone out and bought something like the Mexican cocoa, and now they have two different recipes they can make with it. I also like the fact that even though we used yellow curry again, we added maple sugar and pepper to it and took it in a whole different direction as we did last week, where we added sugar and citrus.
Mike: So folks can buy a basic blend and make two totally different meals by adding different ingredients to it.
Janet: Absolutely!
Mike: Ok, so you started with burgers and even though we both love a good cheeseburger, we never really made them at home. But like you mentioned, ever since my brother Steve made us burgers with the toppings on the inside we’ve definitely increase our burger production!
Janet: That’s because they are fun to make and really, for us, that’s what cooking it all about.
Mike: You mentioned mouth feel as the reason you were using granulated garlic in the burger, but why else should one use it, especially since garlic bulbs are so cheap?
Janet: First of all, you should always have a bottle of dehydrated garlic around for convenience sake. You can keep it around a lot longer than most spices; it will keep its full flavor for 3-4 years if kept in a cool dry place. And if you happen to find yourself without garlic in the house, and it happens, an 1/8 of a teaspoon of the granulated can be used to replace a clove. But the main reason for using granulated garlic is that you can get even distribution of the flavor. When I was making those four patties I wanted each of them to taste the same. By using the granulated garlic, I knew that they would.
Mike: You know me, I love the garlic; fresh, dried, pickled, whatever! Our roasted granulated garlic is my fav. I like that little extra sweetness it has. On to the spicy ketchup, you used medium chile powder, paprika and cayenne to make a simplified version of our Lodo Red Adobo.
Janet: Yes and it has just the right amount of zip for me.
Mike: Adobo is a seasoning that we’ve gotten up close and personal with.
Janet: Ahhhh yes, on our trip to the Philippines. We must have eaten adobo spiced meals every night. The Filipino people are credited by most with creating adobo.
Mike: What I like so much about adobo dishes is that they tend to be vinegar based and I like that zing.
Janet: Which is also why it works so well in our spicy ketchup.
Mike: You topped the burger with the ketchup, but that ketchup is also perfect for dipping the sweet potato wedges in!
Janet: I just love those fries and I know plenty of people are making sweet potato fries, but what makes these different is the combination of maple sugar and yellow curry. Both flavors by themselves pair very nicely with sweet potatoes, but together they are something special!
Mike: As you mentioned on the show that flavor combination is based on our Park Hill Maple Pepper and it is a great seasoning for introducing people curry.
Janet: Especially people who don’t think they like curry. Almost without fail we’ll open the bulk jar and give them a whiff and they are drawn in by the sweetness of the maple sugar, but unbeknownst to them they are enraptured by the loveliness of the curry.
Mike: Ahhh, life at the spice shop. Trickin’ people into in new flavors!
Janet: ‘Treating’ them to new flavors, my dear.
Mike: Okay, onto the donuts with chocolate sauce and that strawberry milkshake too. Cocoa, cinnamon and vanilla, hard to go wrong with these three!
Janet: And we didn’t!
Mike: And you also didn’t with your description of inner vanilla bean seeds; “the caviar of the spice world”, that was perfect.
Janet: Thank you.
Mike: We ended our first round table without talking about vanilla because you said we’d have another chance. So, tell us about vanilla and the differences between the varieties we carry.
Janet: You wanna talk beans or extract?
Mike: Let’s start with beans.
Janet: Alright. Vanilla beans originated in Central America and they are the fruit of an orchid plant. The ripe fruit has no aroma or flavor and has to go through a curing process to develop that unique flavor. Even though there are only two species of vanilla; planifolia and tahitensis, the flavors range depending on the soil and surroundings that they are grown in. That’s why Mexican and Madagascar beans, which are both planifolia, have distinctly different flavors. Quite simply the Mad beans have a creamy sweetness to them and Mex beans have a fuller spiciness. Tahitian beans, the ones I used in the strawberry milkshake, have a wonderful floral fruitiness to them. They go perfectly with strawberries!
Mike: That was a lot to take in. Extracts?
Janet: I’ll try to keep this simple. Pure vanilla extracts are required by the FDA to be 35% alcohol. It takes 100 beans to make a standard vanilla extract. Now we actually sell a double strength vanilla extract, which is made with 200 beans per gallon. A lot of bakers use this to flavor white icing without changing that bright white color! I guess the last thing to mention is that unless you have a severe allergy to alcohol, ours are made with corn alcohol by the way, you shouldn’t worry about the alcohol content as it will cook off during the baking process.
Mike: That was well done. Should we talk about cinnamon now.
Janet: Let’s wait for another time to give them the cinnamon spiel.
Mike: Sounds good. So please join us again next week when we gather round the table to discuss the Spice Gurus episode, which will feature recipes from some of our amazing employees!
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