Hello Everybody!
A couple of articles ago I wrote
about preserved lemons - how to prepare them and
what to do with them. I stopped there because I
ran out of time to submit my article. Yes, I can
be a late bloomer!
What I was going to write more about, were the
spices and herbs and their differences. I know
that you are aware that spices come from the
buds like cloves, bark as in cinnamon, seeds as
in fennel, roots as in ginger and turmeric and
so on.
On the other hand, herbs come
from the leaves of the plant that grow in
temperate zone. Both release their flavor when
heated, especially if they are added at the last
minute of the cooking process. For some reason,
I am still stuck on Morocco and its food and its
spices. I am making, for tonight’s dinner, a
grilled chicken with some Moroccan spices
because I want to use my preserved lemons again.
(The same ones from the previous article) I am
marinating my chicken in olive oil, red wine
vinegar, cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, coriander,
cayenne pepper, salt and a little sugar. After
marinating it for 6 hours, it will be ready for
the grill.
I will have as one of the side
dishes some pearl couscous with preserved lemons
(mine, of course) and some green olives. Maybe I
will grill some of those little assorted peppers
or maybe some eggplants. It is only 1:30PM. I
have plenty time to decide before friends show
up at 6:30. One thing I am not going to tell
them is “this dinner is actually good for you”.
I will just let them enjoy the evening and I
will feel better that I am keeping my friends
healthy. I bet you are wondering how I can keep
my friends healthy just by eating one of my
dinners! Well, let me illuminate you. If you pay
attention to my previous paragraph, my menu
included spices like cinnamon – which
consistently aids the management of healthy
blood glucose levels. Just the smell of cinnamon
will make you more alert and it will make you
less fatigued. Turmeric is the other spice in my
“good for you menu”. Turmeric substantially will
cut blood levels of fat after a rich meal and it
lower insulin level as well. Curcumin the active
ingredient in turmeric has a measurable effect
on mood: it induces neural growth factors in the
brain, almost like taking the antidepressant
Prozac and it protects neurons from Parkinson’s
disease and improves many abnormalities seen in
Huntington’s disease. It also shows promises for
the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. And it is
a lot cheaper!
Cayenne pepper is my favorite
because…first I like the taste and second
because it will burn your body fat. No extra
comment is necessary about the benefit of this
spice, if you get my drift!
Hara Estroff Marano, the author of the article
about spices –the one I picked trough – did not
say anything about the wine to accompany these
spices. On the other hand, why should she. She
is concentrating on the chemistry of the spices,
not my menu!
One of my diner friends just came
in and brought a Sauvignon Blanc wine that was a
great match with spicy food, and we also opened
a beautiful Medoc – just for fun that my other
diner friend brought. I decided to go with the
little peppers on the grill and not the eggplant
as a side dish. I think it was a great choice,
if I might say so myself!
Just wondering now, did we have a
good time because we were comfortable and cared
about each other or that was all due to “the
Spices”?
We are still very
actively selling the beautiful
CUSTOM-MADE DESIGNER
APRONS
by Leslie Cramer to ensure that Grant’s therapy
not be interrupted. He was diagnosed at an early
age with a developmental disability. His mother
and grandmother are doing a wonderful job on the
aprons.
I still love my store and very
happy that we passed the 11 year mark and look
forward to more good years ahead! I really appreciate
all of my customers that keep on coming back and
the new ones that “just” discovered me. They
tell me this is the best kitchen store in Salem!
Hope to see you in the (my) store or cooking
class kitchen. |
