Homemade Spice Blends

In keeping with my promotion for homemade gifts, here are some great spice blends you can put together in under an hour: chili powder, pie spice, curry powder, ranch dressing mix, jerk spice, Moroccan spice.

Most "Whole Foods" type grocery stores sell herbs and spices in bulk, they may even have the decorative containers to put them in. Or try Cost Plus or Ross for containers.

Make your own label, add a simple recipe and you have a great gift you made yourself !
















Make your own label, add a simple recipe and you have a great gift you made yourself !

Salted Pecan Pie Bars

I made a pecan pie this Thanksgiving that was pretty darn good, I have been too busy to post it and it still needed some tweaking.

Then I had a craving for pecan pie bars...off to search recipes online. I finally found one that was simple to make and to modify. Her photos are more beautiful but I only had to make my version once to be totally satisfied ;-)

My expert cookie maker brother agreed with me when he sampled the one I managed to save for him. These bars have the perfect balance of crust to filling, better even than a pecan pie in my estimation. And the coarse salt on top is a nice touch.

Make these and give them to your friends and family as holiday gifts, it will make them very happy !
Add a bag of pecans, some agave, the recipe and they will ecstatic ;-)

Salted Pecan Pie Bars

Alert : These cookies need to cool completely before you cut them. At least four or five hours in a cool house, longer if it is warm inside or refrigerate them overnight. 
They need time to set the filling.

Ingredients

Crust

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 cups flour 

Filling

• 2 large eggs
• ¾ cup agave sweetener
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups pecans

1) Preheat the oven to 375 F.
2) In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar.

3)Add the flour and beat until coarse crumbs form. If the mixture is too soft, add a little more flour. It should be crumbly but stick together when pressed.

4) Press the crust into a 9×13 baking dish.

5) Bake for 14-15 minutes or until top appears dry and slightly puffed.

6)For the filling, whisk the two eggs, agave, brown sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla. 

7) Stir in the pecans and pour the mixture over the crust. The filling should not be more than just a light layer of sauce over the crust. 

8) Arrange any stray pecans and return to the oven for 18-20 minutes. Remove from oven when the filling appears mostly set. 

9) Sprinkle with coarse sea salt.

10) Now comes the hardest part, they must cool for four to five hours or longer before you can cut them and eat them, otherwise they will not be set enough. They are worth the wait !!

Three more spice mixes...

Here are three more mixes that I made and bottled for gifts this year.

Moroccan Spice

A friend sent me a mixture like this last year. I loved using it in place of curry powder in soups, stews or stir fries. Pair this with some couscous and a tagine recipe.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons ground cumin
• 3 tablespoons ground ginger
• 1 tablespoons salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 2 tablespoons turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice or mace

Jerk Spice

A few years ago Genna got into making jerked chicken, inspired by a trip to the Caribbean. I made her a jerk spice mix for her birthday that year. You mix it with oil and rub it on whatever meat you are cooking !!

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons dried minced onion 
• 5 teaspoons dried thyme 
• 4 teaspoons ground allspice 
• 4 teaspoons ground black pepper 

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1 teaspoon each smoked paprika and regular paprika

Ranch Dressing Mix

One year someone gave me a dry Ranch Dressing mix from a fancy spice store. You moisten a tablespoon of the mix with water, let sit for 5 minutes then mix with 1/2 cup mayonnaise and a 1/2 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt. It made the best salad dressing, I am guessing that adding it to sour cream would make a great dip too. Here is my attempt at reproducing that mix :-)

Ingredients

1/2 cup dried parsley

2 tsp dried thyme

4 tsp garlic powder

4 tsp onion flakes

2 tsp dried basil

2 tsp pepper

2 tablespoon Kosher salt.

I did put this mixture in the spice grinder for a few pulses to mix and make it smoother.

Curry Spice, another gift idea

As promised I am posting the other spice mixes I made as gifts this season. 
One of my favorites is this curry spice made from whole seeds. 
You can pair it with some fancy rice or lentils, your favorite curry recipe or some homemade chutney.

You can easily double or triple this recipe. 

Most natural food grocery stores like Whole Foods have a bulk section for herbs and spices, that the best place to get the raw ingredients.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons whole cumin seeds, toasted
• 2 tablespoons whole cardamom seeds, toasted
• 2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds, toasted
• 1/4 cup ground turmeric
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon cayenne

1) Place the whole seeds in a cast iron or other heavy bottom pan, one that will allow the seeds to be in a thin layer.

2) Toast the seeds over medium low heat, shaking the pan often until they turn color and smell good, 10 to 12 minutes.

3) Allow the seeds to cool.

4) Using a small coffee grinder or mini food processor, grind the seeds into a fine powder.

5) In a bowl add the ground seeds to the turmeric, dry mustard and cayenne, mix well.

6) Make cute labels and bottle. 

If you don't want to bother with the whole seeds, here another recipe that uses all ground spices.

 Curry Powder Blend

Ingredients

4 parts ground coriander

2 parts turmeric

2 parts yellow mustard powder

1 parts cayenne powder

1 parts ground cumin

1/2 parts ground cardamom

Still to come: Jerk Spice and Ranch Dressing Mix

Holiday gift ideas...

Homemade gifts are the best in so many ways. While they may take a little extra time, they are certainly less stressful than spending time in a shopping mall !! And if you don't have the time or inspiration to make your own gifts you can support local businesses during the holiday season. I mentioned to a friend that I was buying some charcuterie from our local butcher for some of the folks on my list. She thought that was a great idea :-)

This year I decided to experiment with different spice mixes: curry powder, chili spice, jerk spice, ranch dressing, moroccan spice and pie spices.

They are all blends of a number of herbs and spices. I would recommend going to a natural food grocery store, food coop or herb store to get the raw ingredients.

The one in the photo above is chili powder before mixing.

Here's what I put in it.

Laurie's Chili Powder

6 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons dried oregano

4 teaspoons cumin powder

4 teaspoons garlic granules

3 teaspoons powdered chipotle peppers ( or cayenne peppers)

3 teaspoons onion powder

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1) Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix.

2) Find all the little bottles you have been saving for years...

3) Using a funnel ( I made one out of paper), pour the mixture into a jar. 

4) Make a cute label.

5) You could pair it with some interesting dried or canned beans  and my chili recipe.

      Easy homemade gift !!

Here's my pie spice combination, great in apple dessert, pumpkin pie, sweet loaves, cupcakes, cookies...

Ingredients

1/2 cup ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons ground ginger

2 tablespoons mace or nutmeg

4 teaspoons ground allspice

2 teaspoons ground cloves or cardamom

1) Same as above mix together, bottle, label and give !!

Pair the spice with a pie pumpkin or apples from your local farmer's market or some homemade brown sugar and a favorite cookie or cake recipe.

Or

You can add 4 tablespoons of sugar to 2 teaspoons of this mixture for a gourmet version of cinnamon toast topping. It's also great to sprinkle on top of pies, cookies, hot cereal, or stir into coffee or hot chocolate.

Next up my curries, jerk spice and ranch dressing !!

Gift idea # 7 Chocolate Syrups and Caramel Sauce.

Yum, yum, that's what I have to say about these toppings. The caramel sauce is taken from a ginger cake recipe, you are supposed to pour it over the cake when it is warm. I found the sauce to be great by itself so I always made more than the recipe called for. People would lick their plates when I served it. It is simple to make and great to use on ice cream, or cake or on a spoon. This recipe yields a little less that 2 cups, feel free to double it.

Caramel Sauce
.    1 cup brown sugar, packed
.    1/2  butter
.    1/2 cup whipping cream
.    1/2  teaspoon sea salt

In a small saucepan, stir brown sugar, butter, whipping cream and salt over medium-high heat until mixture comes to a boil. 

Reduce heat to medium-low and stir until smooth, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.
I like to use glass jars so that the sauce is easy to heat. It does need to be kept in the fridge, but it usually doesn't last very long !!


Chocolate Syrups !!

Here are two recipes for chocolate syrup. These syrups are very fun to serve on ice cream, to dress up a cake or in milk , coffee drinks or hot cocoa.

Chocolate Syrup # 1

This first one is from Alton Brown. It makes about 4 cups and is slightly more liquid than the second one. He calls for corn syrup but I am finding that agave works just as well.

Ingredients
    •    1 1/2 cups water
    •    3 cups sugar
    •    1 1/2 cups Dutch-processed cocoa
    •    1 tablespoon vanilla extract
    •    1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
    •    2 tablespoons light corn syrup( or agave)
Directions
In a medium size pot, bring water and sugar to a boil and whisk in cocoa, vanilla, salt, and corn or agave syrup.

Whisk until all of the solids have dissolved. Reduce sauce until slightly thickened.
Strain and cool to room temperature.

Chocolate Syrup # 2
This recipe is from David Lebovitz who writes about food and especially sweet from Paris.
I made this one first, it tends to be slightly thicker but when I tried Alton's I liked things about it too. This recipe makes about 2 cups.


Ingredients.
1 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup, agave nectar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1. In a medium saucepan, whisk together the water, sugar, corn syrup or agave, and cocoa powder.

 

2. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Once it’s just begun to simmer and boil, remove from heat and stir in the chopped chocolate until melted.

 

Strain and cool to room temperature.

Pour into squeeze bottles. I used the agave and corn syrup bottles I had been saving. I used calendar images and plastic contact paper to cover them. You could also use glass bottles or jars.

Gift idea #6 Infused Vinegars and Oils

This is so simple it's almost embarrassing but people love these infused vinegars and oils.

This year I am making three different vinegars. I like to make fruit infused vinegars, they are light in flavor and make great salad dressings, the more common herb infused vinegars tend to a bit heavy or strong in flavor. You will notice that I don't put the fruit into the bottle, you can but it reduces the amount of vinegar and shortens the shelf life.

I find fun bottles online at Sunburst Bottles, local stores or use recycled ones, add a handmade label attached with raffia, voila, a great useful, easy and tasty gift !!


Cranberry Orange Vinegar

Ingredients:
1 cup fresh chopped cranberries
1 organic orange, sliced
1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar
4 cups of white wine vinegar

Place all the ingredients into a saucepan.

Bring to a boil, stir and reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let sit until cooled. Strain and bottle. Store in the fridge until you want to give it as a gift.

Strawberry Pineapple Guava Vinegar
I used my frozen strawberries and my fresh pineapple guavas. You can use frozen fruit from the store and pair it with something else if you like. I used apple cider vinegar in this recipe for a slightly mellower taste.

Ingredients:
1 cup frozen strawberries
2 sliced pineapple guavas
3 cups apple cider vinegar

Place all the ingredients into a saucepan.

Bring to a boil, stir, reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let sit until cooled. Strain and bottle. Store in the fridge until you want to give it as a gift.

Boysenberry Balsamic Vinegar
My sister was kind enough to share the frozen boysenberries from her summer harvest.
Pairing them with the balsamic vinegar should be great. You can use blackberries, olallieberries or even blueberries in this recipe. I had great success using dried pears one time.

Ingredients:
2 cups frozen boysenberries
3 cups balsamic vinegar

Place all the ingredients into a saucepan.
Bring to a boil,stir, reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let sit until cooled. Strain and bottle. Store in the fridge until you want to give it as a gift.

Infused olive oils are just as easy. My sister  loves the one I make with garlic, rosemary and lemon. I love the lime infused oil on greens or in salad dressing.

Gift idea #5- homemade brown sugar

If you have a friend or family member who likes to bake, this is a fun and easy gift.
Make a batch of brown sugar , place it in a decorative jar.

Combine it with a couple of printed recipes that use brown sugar like: chocolate chip bars, apple butter, oatmeal cookies or old fashioned gingerbread, you could even add some of the other ingredients like chocolate chips or apples or nuts or candied ginger.
Put it together in a basket , you will have a lovely homemade gift !!
Homemade brown sugar tastes so much better than what you can buy !!!

Gift idea # 4- Granola

I love granola as a snack, with plain yogurt or as a topping for a fruit crisp.
Make either of these granola recipes, fill it full of nuts and dried fruit.
Granola recipe # 1
Granola recipe #2
Put it in a decorative jar, pair with with a set of ceramic bowls or some fancy breakfast tea and it makes a great gift.

Gift idea # 3, homemade cheese and bread

Last Christmas  I got a cheese-making kit from my niece and discovered how simple it was to make fresh cheese. I have made it many times since then to rave reviews at parties and dinners.You certainly don't need the kit to make this fresh cheese.

Make the basic fresh cheese. I use white vinegar instead of lemon for a sure thing. Then turn it into a great cheese spread with garlic and herbs or try the roasted red pepper spread.

Put it into a cute little ramekin add some fancy crackers or homemade bread, voila a great gift !!

I was delighted one year when someone made me several long baguettes and gave them to me on a pretty enamel tray. I still have that tray !!
Remember, gifts don't have to be expensive or fancy, homemade rules !!

Cranberry Orange Bread, gift idea #2

After posting that tough almond toffee recipe I thought I should follow up with this very simple sweet loaf.
I love this recipe, it can be adapted to anything from pumpkin bread, zucchini bread, date nut bread, applesauce bread to this cranberry orange bread.

Make this into two large loaves or 4 or 5 small ones, wrap them in plastic wrap or wax paper and foil, add a bow, instant gift.
People love to get them during the holidays for their own consumption or to serve or bring to that last minute party. They freeze beautifully.

Preheat oven to 325 F.
Grease two 9X5 loaf pans or four to five smaller ones.


Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup canola oil
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 cups chopped cranberries ( or pureed pumpkin or grated zucchini, or chopped dates or applesauce, you get the idea)
zest from one orange (optional)
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp clove powder ( You can vary the spices depending on the type of bread you make.)
1 cup chopped walnuts ( same here use pecans, or other dried fruit like raisins)




Mix together in a bowl, the eggs, oil and sugars.

Before

After

Add the chopped cranberries, orange zest and vanilla extract.

I found the leftover fresh cranberry orange relish and used that and 1 cup of chopped fresh cranberries.

As I looked at the cup of cranberries rolling around on my cutting board, I had inspiration !!
Why not us the chopper thingy Bob uses for the almond toffee.
It worked beautifully !!

Whisk together in a bowl all the dry ingredients, flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and cloves.

Add the dry ingredient to the wet and mix until just combined.

Add one cup of chopped walnut. Pour into your greased loaf pans.

Bake 50 to 60 minutes. Check them after 50 minutes, do that toothpick thing, mine were ready. The little loaves make take a shorter time, try them after 30 to 40 minutes.

I forgot to put in the walnuts so I added them on top after they went into the oven which I actually quite like.

Remove to a rack to cool.
Remember they freeze well and make a great breakfast bread !!