Spices: an Introduction

Spices are a highly undervalued part of your cooking arsenal. Most people either have

a) an unorganized mess of spices bought here and there for this recipe or that and never used again

B No spices, except maybe a trendy spice rack you found when buying stuff for your apartment

The truth is, there's a reason people say that you should spice up your life! Spices are a cheap way to make your home cooked meals into masterpieces.

If you have a collection of spices going, definitely start experimenting. Cook some chicken in a skillet for dinner and add some spices you think go together. Smell them, read whatever descriptions they provide, taste them on your finger and then take a chance. I learned most of my spicing habits this way and I think it really helps to develop your artistic side of cooking.

Now there is no need to go crazy just yet, if you don't have a lot of spices laying around don't break your bank buying every spice you've never heard of. For those of you who are short on spices here is my list of must haves.  Don't worry about the brand of the product, store brands can be just as flavorful. Some brands provide better containers, McCormick in general has the best grinders you can buy for the price, but over all there is little to no difference between brand names at this level of cooking.

 The Usual Suspects

 Now I personally am not a big fan of salty taste because it is very easy to overpower a great meal with a pinch of salt. However most of us Americans can't live without our salt and if you are going to use salt, this is a great one to start with. You will quickly learn how little you need to use to get a powerful effect. Test it out on some chicken, eggs, popcorn, anything really.

 For those times you want some onion flavor but don't want to cut an onion! Also useful in sauces where you don't want big chucks of onion or on quesedillas.

 This is the one spice to rule them all. I used to use garlic salt as many people do but I found that it was hard to get a good garlic flavor without having an overwhelming salt flavor. Garlic powder is also good for this purpose but garlic pepper is just such a nice blend you can easily add it to anything without worrying about over powering the dish with garlic. Most people know how much pepper to add to something and this blend keeps that balance. Add as much garlic pepper to a dish as you would regular pepper and you are in for a treat!

The following herbs are common in italian cooking (which I love!) and together compose the "Italian seasoning" you will find in the store. While it is perfectly acceptable to buy the "Italian seasoning" bottle, I suggest buying them separately so that if needed you can use them individually.

Thyme 

 Oregano

 Marjoram (I haven't used this by itself yet)

 Rosemary (makes delicious Peasant's bread like at Macaroni Grill)

 Basil

Olive oil cooking oil adds some flavor to your dishes and comes in a nice spray can these days. The nice thing about olive oil is it will teach you the appropriate temperature for your pan as it has a low smoke point and will fill your house with smoke if its too hot. That said, don't bake with it unless you like smokey houses!